Concrete flooring — particularly fully slatted concrete — causes significant welfare problems for pigs including lameness, joint damage, and inability to perform rooting behaviors.
Fully slatted concrete flooring concentrates multiple welfare problems: it prevents natural rooting behavior, causes foot and joint damage, and provides no thermal comfort for lying. Its persistence in pig production reflects economic convenience rather than animal welfare. The Austrian ban and EU phase-out demonstrate that the transition to partially slatted systems with bedded lying areas is technically and economically feasible at commercial scale. The welfare benefits of bedded systems are clear and substantial. Consumer and legislative pressure are both driving faster adoption of these changes in key production countries.