Farm Animal Welfare

Pig Stockmanship Training and Animal Welfare

Good stockmanship is one of the most important determinants of farm animal welfare and responds well to training and assessment.

Key Facts

Human-animal relationships on farm significantly affect animal fear and stress responses
Pigs handled positively with gentle voice and touch show lower fear responses
Aversive stockmanship including electric goad use increases fear and stress
The Human-Animal Relationship score is a validated welfare assessment tool
Training stockpeople in positive handling improves welfare across the herd

Welfare Considerations

Stockmanship is the hidden welfare factor that determines how the same housing system produces either good or poor welfare outcomes. Pigs that fear their caregivers experience chronic stress that compromises immune function, reproduction, and growth. Training farm workers in positive handling and understanding pig behaviour is a high-impact welfare investment with benefits across the entire herd.

What You Can Do

Support stockmanship training programmes incorporating positive handling
Advocate for handling skills assessment in pig welfare certification
Engage with pig producers about the welfare and production benefits of positive stockmanship