Pig Welfare

This online resource will cover broad welfare challenges associated with the current pig production systems, including issues linked with housing and management systems, and welfare issues common to all production systems. It also aims to provide the reader with opportunities to think about and implement strategies to improve the welfare of pigs in the systems commonly used where they live.  

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Introduction

Pigs are gregarious, living in herds or loosely organized communities. This means that pigs are highly motivated to socially interact with each other. Domestications of pigs began around 8500 BC, where pigs were reared in forests or on pasture in small family-run style farms until 1960s when larger industrial production systems began to be introduced. Currently, just under 1bn pigs are produced annually in the world (just under half are reared in China), mostly for pork production. There are a variety of pig production systems worldwide from the small-scale, minimal-investment systems, with often only a few animals, to large-scale commercially-oriented enterprises. Each system has its own challenges for pig welfare. For example, confined intensive pig production systems can provide shelter, healthcare and nutrition for pigs but pigs’ natural behaviours are often restricted. In contrast, free-ranging or less intensive outdoor systems provide pigs with the freedom of expressing natural behaviour, but they may be more prone to health problems such as parasite infections due to more opportunities for direct/indirect contact with wild animals.  

You can download a glossary of terms, which relates to the various pdfs, below.

About the resources

This online resource will cover broad welfare challenges associated with the current pig production systems, including issues linked with housing and management systems, and welfare issues common to all production systems. It also aims to provide the reader with opportunities to think about and implement strategies to improve the welfare of pigs in the systems commonly used where they live.  

Firstly, we will develop our understanding of pigs and pig production systems. This includes the life cycle of wild boars, the life cycle of pigs in commercial production systems, and most common management systems used worldwide.

Then, we will focus more on the most important welfare challenges for pigs using the Five Domains model (see more in Introduction to Animal Welfare module).

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You can download the pdf resources below on the welfare aspects of nutrition, physical environment, health, affective states, and the human-animal relationships (HAR).

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