Farm Animals

Pig Group Housing Sow Welfare

Group housing of gestating sows provides welfare benefits through social expression and movement, but requires careful management to prevent aggression and ensure all animals access feed.

Key Facts

EU law required phase-out of sow stalls for most of gestation by 2013
Group housing allows sows to move freely and express social behaviours
Electronic sow feeding (ESF) systems allow individual feed allocation in group pens
Mixing sows at grouping causes aggression and requires management intervention
Larger groups of 5-7 sows show less per-individual aggression than very large groups

Welfare Considerations

Group housing is a welfare improvement over individual stalls, but aggression and feed competition require active management. Well-designed systems deliver substantially better welfare.

What You Can Do

Support farms providing group housing for gestating sows
Advocate for complete sow stall bans globally including in the UK farrowing pen context
Raise awareness of the difference between group and stall housing welfare outcomes
Support research into optimal group sizes and pen design for sow welfare