Farmed Pig Group Housing for Gestating Sows

Group housing for pregnant sows allows social expression and movement denied by individual stalls, but introduces aggression challenges that require careful management.

Key Facts

Individual gestation stalls (dry sow stalls) were banned in the UK from 1999 and the EU from 2013
Sows in stalls cannot turn around for the 16-week gestation period - severe confinement
Group housing allows movement, social interaction and exploratory behaviour
Mixing unfamiliar sows causes aggression with injury risk - group stability is critical for welfare
Electronic sow feeders (ESF) allow individual feeding in group housing to reduce competition
Providing adequate space, enrichment and stable groups minimises aggression in group systems
The UK's early ban gives British pork a welfare advantage over imported pork from stall-using countries

Welfare Considerations

Group housing for gestating sows is a genuine welfare improvement over individual stalls, but its welfare value depends entirely on implementation quality. A group of 50 unfamiliar sows mixed into a bare concrete pen with no enrichment and inadequate space experiences significant aggression and injury. A stable group of 10-15 sows in a straw-bedded pen with enrichment and electronic feeding systems represents a qualitatively different welfare experience. The transition from stalls to group housing achieved the minimum - getting sows out of stalls. The next frontier is optimising group housing quality to actively promote positive welfare outcomes.

What You Can Do

Choose pork from producers who clearly describe their group housing management quality
Support welfare assurance schemes that audit enrichment provision and aggression management
Advocate for import requirements that prevent UK pork from being undercut by stall-farmed imports
Support research into optimal group housing design for sow welfare
Reduce pork consumption to reward producers investing in genuine welfare improvements