Scientific evidence increasingly supports group housing over gestation crates for sows, with multiple welfare benefits demonstrated despite management challenges.
The scientific consensus strongly supports group housing as providing better welfare for gestating sows than individual confinement. While group housing presents management challenges - particularly aggression and competitive feeding - these are addressable through proper system design, feeding strategies (electronic sow feeders), and stockperson training. The profound behavioral restrictions of gestation crates cause chronic frustration and psychological suffering that outweigh perceived management benefits.