Litter quality is a critical determinant of pig foot health and overall welfare. Poor litter management causes painful foot lesions and infectious disease that affect millions of pigs in conventional systems.
Foot health is a fundamental welfare issue that connects directly to the flooring system used in pig housing. Slatted concrete, while efficient for slurry management, causes chronic foot pain for a substantial proportion of pigs. Foot lesions cause gait abnormalities, reluctance to compete for food, and reduced overall activity - all welfare-relevant consequences. The solution is known: bedded systems provide far better foot health outcomes. The barrier is the slurry management infrastructure of modern pig units, designed around slatted floors. Transitioning the industry to bedded systems would substantially improve welfare for hundreds of millions of pigs but requires significant capital investment and management change.