The design of farrowing accommodation for sows giving birth has major welfare implications for both sows and piglets, with farrowing crates preventing natural behavior but reducing piglet crushing.
The farrowing crate represents a classic welfare trade-off: it protects piglets from being crushed by preventing sow movement, but causes significant suffering to sows who cannot perform strongly motivated nesting behaviors. Sows in crates show abnormal repetitive behaviors and elevated stress indicators. The solution is not simply removing crates but designing free farrowing systems that minimize crushing through good pen design, solid flooring with grip, protected creep areas, and provision of nesting material. Sweden, Norway, and Switzerland have demonstrated that free farrowing is commercially viable.