Pregnant sow housing has become a huge issue in today's world, mainly due to the efforts of HSUS and other animal rights groups. Because of these efforts, pork producers are being forced to change the way that they house sows through individual state laws and by demands from food retailers. This is being done even though many pig farmers and veterinarians agree that there are many humane options for sow housing and what is being mandated may not always be in the interest of the animals under our care.
A few years ago, I took the Veterinarian's Oath stating that I would relieve animal suffering and protect animal resources. In the systems that I have worked with, one of my primary responsibilities is to be an advocate for the animals and always support practices that promote animal well-being.
Before I get into sow housing, I want to share a quote from W.D. Hoard. Although he was a dairy farmer and wrote this quote in terms of cows, I find it to be a guiding principle that we also follow when raising pigs. He said, "The rule to be observed in this stable at all times, toward the cattle (pigs), young and old, is that of patience and kindness. A man's usefulness in a herd ceases at once when he loses his temper and bestows rough usage. Men must be patient. Cattle (pigs) are not reasoning beings. Remember that this is a Home of Mothers. Treat each cow (sow) as a mother should be treated. The giving of milk is a function of motherhood; rough treatment lessens the flow. That injures me as well as the cow (sow). Always keep these ideas in mind when dealing with my cattle (pigs)."
The gestation period of a sow is roughly 114 days. To easily remember in case it comes up at a bar trivia contest, this comes out to 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. During this period, approximately 12-15 pigs are growing inside of the sow and she has nutritional requirements to allow for pig development as well as her own maintenance needs. In order to maintain her pregnancy, she must live in a calm, stress free environment. For many years, pig farmers have utilized the gestation stall or individual maternity pen to meet these needs of the individual sows. In addition, sows in modern farms are raised indoors to protect them from weather extremes. Gestation barns are maintained between 65 and 70 degrees year round which is very comfortable for sows. The video below from a pig farmer in Missouri gives a good overview and a look inside of a gestation barn that utilizes individual sow housing:
There are a lot of people who are opposed to this type of sow housing saying that it is inhumane and that sows suffer in this type of system. I have worked with many pig farmers and have observed several thousand sows housed in stalls and I am confident that this type of housing supports animal well-being. If you were to walk through one of these barns, you will see that the majority of the time, sows are lying down asleep. This is very typical behavior for pregnant sows, regardless of housing type as long as their needs are being met (the same behavior is seen even in sows outdoors if their nutritional requirements are adequate). Sows do know when it is time to eat and when that time is near, they will stand and vocalize. After getting a full belly, they calm back down and rest comfortably the rest of the day. Many of the videos circulating today show sows just prior to feeding time and impart the idea that sows are "going insane" all day long. A major benefit to individual stalls is that sows are protected from aggression of other sows. Sows can be very territorial and will fight to establish a hierarchy leading to injuries. Individual housing eliminates fighting improving animal well being.
Today, however, pig farmers are being mandated to convert farms to group housing for pregnant animals. There are several different configurations of group housing including; small pens, large pens, static pens, dynamic pens, and electronic sow feeding systems. Some farmers prefer these systems and they do have merit but come along with significant challenges. Most notably, these systems allow sows to interact with one another which leads to the fighting mentioned previously. Although the fighting will stop once a hierarchy is established, the result is often higher incidence of lameness, injury, and sometimes mortality. An important point to make is that even though sows have more room to walk around, they usually prefer to lie touching each other similar to the way that they lie in individual stalls.
I want to be clear that I am not bashing one type of housing system over the other and many pig farmers utilize both types of housing systems on their farms. I am a believer that farmers should have the ability to choose which system they feel is best for their animals.
I would also like to point out that sows have become even more productive in modern housing systems than they were 50 years ago when they were outdoors. We actually produce approximately 29% more pigs today with 39% fewer sows that we had 50 years ago. Since reproduction is a luxury for animals, increased production means that the needs of our sows are being met and stress has been reduced to point which allows them to reproduce at their maximum potential. I think that the productive capacity of a sow is directly tied to her state of well-being.
As a final note, with any system, the degree of animal well-being is directly related to the quality of care given by the caretakers. Overall, pig farmers utilize educated, highly specialized labor to provide the best care possible for their animals. In addition, there are numerous training programs utilized by farmers including Pork Quality Assurance which teach the best methods of animal care. One of the things that I do on a daily basis is work with caretakers and I am continually amazed at the degree of concern that they have for animals and the respect of the responsibility that they have to ensure animal well being.
To summarize, individual sow housing is not inherently inhumane and is a system which meets the needs of the animals in our care. Farmers and veterinarians should be allowed to choose the housing system that they feel best meets the needs of their animals and not be forced to choose a system that can sometimes be adverse to animal well-being.
