Gestation crates confine pregnant sows in spaces too small to turn around for months at a time. Understanding the welfare science helps evaluate ongoing debates about pig housing in agriculture.
Gestation crates represent one of the most widely criticized practices in modern intensive agriculture. The welfare science is unambiguous — sows confined in spaces where they cannot turn around, engage in social behavior, or satisfy basic movement motivation experience profound and prolonged suffering. Stereotypic behaviors like repetitive bar-biting are not breed characteristics; they are behavioral responses to an environment that cannot meet fundamental needs. Group housing systems, well managed, provide dramatically better welfare while remaining economically viable.