Wean-to-finish systems house pigs from weaning through to slaughter weight in a single building, reducing handling stress from transfers but requiring careful management of the diverse welfare needs of pigs at very different life stages in the same facility.
Wean-to-finish systems offer welfare advantages through reduced movement and associated handling stress, but create management challenges around the changing needs of growing pigs. The critical welfare challenge is ensuring space allowances scale appropriately with body weight — a pen sized correctly at weaning will be severely overcrowded by finishing weight if animals are not moved or thinned. Environmental enrichment must be appropriate for the age of pigs, with more robust items needed as pigs grow and lighter items become insufficient. Social stability after initial weaning mixing should be protected by maintaining group composition. Tail docking and castration welfare impacts are still present regardless of system type.