Farm Animal Welfare

Pig Welfare and Genetic Welfare Selection

Genetic selection can improve pig welfare by including welfare-relevant traits alongside production traits. Modern genomic tools make welfare-positive selection increasingly feasible.

Key Facts

Traits including disease resistance, stress reactivity, and maternal behaviour are heritable
Genomic selection allows welfare traits to be included in breeding indices
Halothane gene elimination in the 1990s demonstrated genetics-welfare success
Tail biting susceptibility and bone strength are welfare-relevant traits being researched
Breeding companies are beginning to incorporate welfare traits into selection programmes

Welfare Considerations

Genetic welfare selection is a long-term, scalable welfare intervention. Including welfare traits in selection indices improves welfare across all offspring of selected parents, reaching millions of animals over generations.

What You Can Do

Support breeding companies incorporating welfare traits in selection programmes
Advocate for welfare trait inclusion in pig breeding indices
Learn about the genetics of pig welfare-relevant traits
Choose products from farms using genetics with welfare trait selection