The design of pig living environments fundamentally shapes welfare outcomes, with substrate type, space allowance, and environmental complexity among the most important determinants of pig behavioral health.
Pig pen design is welfare infrastructure, and the choices made at farm construction level shape the welfare of every animal housed in those pens for their entire productive life. The fundamental problem with conventional slatted concrete systems is that they are incompatible with the behavioral needs of pigs, regardless of other management inputs. Without rooting substrate, pigs redirect their foraging motivation toward pen fixtures and each other, causing the tail biting and aggression that are endemic in intensive systems. Deep straw systems address this at source but require more labor and management. The emerging compromise of compost bedding systems with slatted areas offers practical welfare improvements for existing farm infrastructure. Policy reform that requires welfare outcome measurement alongside structural specifications is the most effective regulatory approach.