Gestation crates confine pregnant sows in spaces too small to turn around. A global movement toward group housing alternatives has demonstrated that welfare improvement is economically feasible.
Gestation crates represent one of the most extreme routine confinement practices in industrial animal agriculture. Sows — intelligent, social animals — are prevented from turning around for months on end. The scientific evidence of suffering is unambiguous: elevated stress hormones, stereotypies like bar-biting, muscle weakness from immobility, and behavioral despair. The good news is that group housing systems are proven alternatives: they are now standard in the EU and adopted by many major food companies through voluntary commitments. The welfare improvement from gestation crate elimination is large, proven, and achievable without prohibitive cost increases for producers.