The welfare of breeding sows is a central concern in pig production. Understanding the challenges from gestation to farrowing helps drive meaningful reform.
Sow welfare encompasses the full reproductive cycle — from gestation through farrowing, lactation, and weaning — with significant welfare challenges at each stage. The gestation crate debate centres on a fundamental trade-off: individual confinement prevents some aggression injuries but causes profound behavioural deprivation. Sows in crates cannot turn around, root, or interact socially for months at a time. The farrowing crate question is more complex — crates prevent piglet crushing deaths but restrict maternal behaviour, and loose farrowing systems have demonstrated viability with appropriate management. Progressive producers are demonstrating that higher welfare systems are commercially viable, but industry-wide transition requires regulatory pressure and consumer support.