Pig Gestation Crate Phase-Out Progress

The campaign to eliminate gestation crates for pregnant sows has achieved significant but incomplete progress globally.

Key Facts

Gestation crates confine individual sows for most of their 16-week pregnancy in stalls too narrow to turn around
The EU banned gestation crates except for the first 4 weeks of pregnancy in 2013
Several US states have banned gestation crates and major food companies have made transition commitments
Group housing with electronic sow feeding systems allows individual feeding while enabling social behavior
Some breeding companies have shown that group-housed sows can achieve comparable productivity to crated systems

Welfare Considerations

Gestation crate welfare science is unambiguous: confinement in a space too small to turn around for months deprives sows of fundamental locomotion, postural freedom, and social interaction. The evidence of frustration, stereotypic behaviors, and psychological effects from prolonged immobility is consistent across decades of research. Progress on elimination has been substantial — EU legislation, state bans, and corporate commitments have together shifted a meaningful portion of global production. However, commitments made years ago remain partially unfulfilled, and global production outside affected jurisdictions continues with crate housing. Maintaining pressure through certification, legislation, and consumer preference is essential to completing this transition.

What You Can Do

Choose pork from gestation crate-free certified operations
Demand accountability from food companies that have made gestation crate commitments
Advocate for federal gestation crate legislation in the US and other jurisdictions
Reduce pork consumption or choose plant-based alternatives
Support organizations tracking and enforcing corporate gestation crate phase-out commitments