Floor type is one of the most important welfare determinants for pigs. Concrete slatted floors cause chronic leg and foot problems while alternative flooring dramatically improves outcomes.
Pig flooring welfare is concrete in its consequences - literally. Pigs kept on bare concrete slatted floors throughout their lives develop foot lesions, joint problems, and gait abnormalities at substantially higher rates than those on solid flooring or deep litter. The slat design that allows waste to fall through is economically convenient but physiologically inappropriate for an animal that evolved to walk on varied, yielding natural surfaces. Foot lesions are painful chronic conditions that affect approximately 50-70% of pigs in slatted systems. The welfare case for solid resting areas, rubber-coated slats, or deep litter straw systems is supported by consistent evidence of lower injury rates. These improvements require greater management investment but represent genuine welfare gains for individual pigs.