Farrowing crates confine sows for 4-5 weeks around birth, severely restricting movement and natural behavior. Evidence-based alternatives — including free-farrowing pens and welfare-positive crate design — are transforming pig welfare globally.
Farrowing crates represent one of the most severe routine confinement practices in commercial animal agriculture. Sows are unable to express the nest-building behavior that is a fundamental pre-farrowing drive, cannot respond fully to piglets in distress, and are deprived of movement for weeks. The welfare case for transition to free-farrowing alternatives is strong: loose systems with appropriate design achieve equivalent piglet survival while allowing near-complete behavioral expression. The agricultural community's decades-long resistance to transition is increasingly untenable as evidence mounts and regulatory timelines firm up in leading welfare jurisdictions.