The finishing phase of pig production, when animals are grown to slaughter weight, involves increasing space pressure, social instability, and health challenges that require attentive management to prevent welfare deterioration.
The finishing phase is a welfare inflection point in pig production where several factors can combine to create deteriorating conditions for growing animals. As pigs approach slaughter weight, the fixed pen space provided at weaning or placement becomes increasingly inadequate per kilogram of body weight. Competition for feeding space intensifies. Subordinate animals experience repeated aggression, reduced feed access, and chronic stress. The arrival of respiratory pathogens in partly immunised populations causes illness that goes undetected unless stockpeople conduct regular health assessments. Environmental heat stress increases as larger pigs generate more body heat in fixed airspace. Lame pigs that cannot compete for feeding space lose body condition rapidly. None of these welfare problems are inevitable; they reflect management decisions about stocking density, mixing protocols, health monitoring, and environmental control that producers can modify. Higher welfare finishing systems address these factors systematically.