Gestation crates confine pregnant sows in spaces so small they cannot turn around, causing severe welfare harm. Group housing alternatives offer significantly better welfare outcomes and are increasingly mandated by law and retailer standards.
Gestation crate confinement is among the most welfare-damaging practices in modern industrial agriculture. Sows are highly intelligent, socially complex animals with strong motivations to explore, root, nest, and interact. Crate confinement frustrates virtually all of these behavioral needs simultaneously for months at a time. Research has documented the consequences: sows in crates show elevated cortisol, impaired immune function, bone density loss, cardiovascular deconditioning, and psychological deterioration evidenced by stereotypic behaviors and learned helplessness indicators. The scale of the welfare problem is enormous — hundreds of millions of sow pregnancies occur in gestation crates globally each year. Group housing systems, while requiring more complex management, consistently produce better welfare outcomes on behavioral, physiological, and health measures. The transition to group housing is technically feasible and increasingly economically supported by regulatory change and retailer purchasing standards. Consumer pressure has been a major driver of industry commitments to phase out crates.