Farm Animal Welfare

Pig Finishing Stage Welfare Monitoring

The finishing stage represents the longest phase of pig production welfare - systematic monitoring enables early intervention and welfare improvement.

Key Facts

Finishing pigs spend 70-80 days in finishing accommodation before slaughter
Body lesion scoring at finishing reveals cumulative welfare insults from mixing and tail biting
Mortality rates and vet intervention records provide welfare benchmarks across farms
Growth rate variation within pens indicates social and health welfare challenges
Pre-slaughter inspection by veterinarians identifies welfare problems requiring intervention

Welfare Considerations

Finishing pig welfare is often less visible than farrowing or weaning welfare but affects the most pigs for the longest time. Systematic monitoring including lesion scoring and mortality tracking makes welfare problems visible and actionable.

What You Can Do

Advocate for mandatory welfare monitoring at finishing as part of farm assurance
Support development of validated welfare indicators for finishing pigs
Engage with abattoir welfare inspection data as a feedback mechanism for farm welfare