Outdoor pig production offers significant welfare benefits through space, enrichment, and natural behaviour opportunities, but requires careful management to maintain good welfare outcomes.
Outdoor pig systems generally provide better welfare than conventional indoor systems, but they are not uniformly excellent. The welfare benefits of outdoor access - rooting, wallowing, space, and environmental complexity - are real and measurable. But poorly managed outdoor systems with inadequate shade, muddy wallows, ineffective predator protection, or insufficient nutrition can result in welfare problems that indoor systems avoid. The quality of outdoor pig system management is as important as the system type - which is why welfare certification schemes that monitor outcomes rather than simply requiring outdoor access are essential.