Why dustbathing is a fundamental behavioral need for pigs and how to provide it in commercial settings.
The wallowing and dustbathing behavioral drive in pigs represents a welfare need that intensive indoor systems cannot fully meet. Pigs evolved with access to mud and rooting substrate that serves multiple biological functions from temperature regulation to skin health. Indoor pigs denied these behaviors cannot express this fundamental drive, and the resulting frustration contributes to the stereotypic behaviors and skin problems common in intensive systems. Outdoor production systems that provide wallowing access represent the most welfare-positive approach to pig farming for this behavioral need.