Farm Animal Welfare: Sow Welfare in Group Housing

EU and UK law requires group housing for dry sows. Understanding how group housing affects welfare and where risks lie enables better management.

Key Facts

Individual sow stalls for dry sows have been banned in the UK since 1999 and in the EU since 2013
Group housing is better for sow welfare than stalls but requires careful management to prevent aggression
Mixing of unfamiliar sows causes significant fighting and welfare harm, particularly around feeding
Electronic Sow Feeding (ESF) systems allow individual feeding in group housing, reducing competition
Sow welfare in group systems is affected by group size, space allowance, feeding system, and flooring type
Well-managed group housing systems achieve better welfare outcomes than poorly managed systems

Welfare Considerations

Sow group housing welfare represents both a legislative achievement and an ongoing management challenge. The ban on individual stalls was a major welfare advance - sows can now perform some natural social behaviour, move more freely, and express limited behavioural repertoire. However, group housing is not automatically better welfare than individual stalls if poorly managed. Mixing of sows at group formation causes acute welfare harm from fighting. Competitive feeding systems cause chronic stress for subordinate animals. The welfare of group-housed sows depends critically on management: stable group formation before mixing, feeding system design, space allowance, and floor surface all determine whether welfare is genuinely improved.

What You Can Do

Choose pork from farms with verified good sow welfare indicators including stable group housing
Advocate for sow welfare outcome monitoring to be included in farm assurance audits
Support research into optimal group housing design and management through BPEX and university partnerships
Donate to CIWF for continued advocacy on sow welfare standards
Ask supermarkets to require welfare outcome auditing (not just input standards) for sow housing