Flooring type is one of the most critical welfare determinants for farmed pigs, affecting foot health, lameness, hygiene, thermal comfort, and behaviour expression across all production stages.
Flooring is a welfare bottleneck in pig production. Slatted concrete, while hygienic and labour-efficient, creates a surface that abrades skin, damages claws, causes slipping injuries, and prevents natural behaviour expression. Pigs have strong motivations to root and investigate — denied appropriate substrate, they redirect these behaviours destructively or exhibit frustration. Lame pigs suffer chronic pain affecting feeding, social interaction, and reproductive performance. Transitions to rubber-matted or bedded systems consistently improve welfare indicators. Legislative pressure and retailer standards are increasingly demanding better flooring conditions, and the economic case is strengthening as the productivity costs of lameness become better quantified.