Farm Animal Welfare

Farmed Pig Housing Pen Design Welfare

Pen design for pigs significantly affects aggression, injury, and the expression of natural behaviours, with evidence supporting specific design features for improved welfare.

Key Facts

Pen shape affects aggression levels with square pens producing more agonistic encounters than rectangular
Solid-walled dividers reduce visual stimulation and aggression in adjacent pens
Feed barrier design affects competition and injury from jostling at meal times
Dunging area placement affects cleanliness and reduces lying area contamination
Group size affects social dynamics with large groups of similar-sized pigs being more manageable

Welfare Considerations

Pen design is a physical welfare intervention with lasting effects throughout a pig's production life. Poor pen design that creates bottlenecks, limited food access, or inadequate resting space causes daily welfare harms through competition, aggression, and injury. Design features that allow multiple animals simultaneous food access and enable pigs to establish comfortable distance from pen mates reduce chronic social stress.

What You Can Do

Support farm assurance schemes that specify evidence-based pen design requirements
Engage with producers about pen design improvements as a welfare investment
Advocate for pen design standards to be based on welfare evidence
Support research into optimal pen geometry for different pig production stages
Choose pork from certified systems with documented housing welfare standards