Transition from individual gestation stalls to group housing for sows improves welfare when managed correctly — key factors determine success or failure.
Group housing for gestating sows represents a genuine welfare improvement over individual confinement, but only when implementation manages the aggression and competition risks inherent in social housing of breeding sows. The welfare gains — freedom of movement, social interaction, opportunity to express natural behaviors — are substantial and well-documented. The implementation challenges are solvable through electronic individual feeding systems, stable group formation, adequate space allowances (minimum 2.25m2 per sow), and enrichment provision. Farms that implement group housing well report welfare improvements alongside productivity maintenance. Farms that implement it poorly, with inadequate space, no individual feeding, or dynamic group mixing, may produce worse welfare outcomes than stalls — highlighting that the system design matters as much as the system type.