Dossier

Group-housing and mixing of sows

Council Directive 2008/120/EC laying down minimum standards for the protection of pigs states that pregnant sows must be housed in groups from four weeks after service until one week before the expected time of farrowing. Mixing of unfamiliar sows leads to agonistic behaviour to establish social relationships, and is therefore a challenge to sow health and welfare. Further challenges for sow welfare are: living in groups associated with competition for limited resources (especially food), lack of satiety due to restrictive feeding of pregnant sows, and climate and climate and resting comfort, in particular on heat stress.

Source photo: © FLI, A. Schubbert

This dossier aims to help Competent Authorities and other stakeholders with issues related to sow group-housing and mixing. The dossier is updated periodically by the EURCAW-Pigs team. The text is meant to support Competent Authorities, and is not legally binding.

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The legal requirements related to group-housing and mixing of sows can be found in Council Directives 98/58/EC on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes, and 2008/120/EC on minimum standards for the protection of pigs. In EURCAW-Pigs' Thematic factsheet on group-housing and mixing of sows, the relevant legal requirements are summarized and presented in conjunction with the four focus areas for inspections.

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Sow welfare during pregnancy increases when group-housing facilities and management practices consider more the behavioural and physiological needs of sows and do not force them to cope with stressful housing environments. For mixing of sows, e.g., research results suggest to use particular mixing pens in which sows should be kept for the first 2-3 days after mixing. These pens should allow the sows to achieve a flight distance of 10-12 m.

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In 2021, the EU Commission announced it intends to phase out stalls for sows after weaning and in early pregnancy by 2027. The announcement was part of the Commission’s response to the European Citizens’ Initiative “End the Cage Age” launched in 2018. EURCAW-Pigs made a compilation of examples of group-housing systems for sows after weaning and in early pregnancy (see ‘Show more’).

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Pregnant sows are generally fed at a restricted level to avoid overweight/high body condition score and the risk of problems at farrowing. However, restrictive feeding has welfare implications as it may lead to hunger, stereotypic behaviour and increased aggression. The causes of and ways to reduce these risks to animal welfare were reviewed (see ‘Show more)’.

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Welfare indicators can be used to monitor the welfare of group-housed sows. For four key areas to focus on during inspections, EURCAW-Pigs identified relevant indicators to assess the welfare of pigs. Each indicator is described in an indicator factsheet, by suggesting an inspection and scoring method, and summarizing the underlying welfare concern and legal requirements. See 'Show more' for all indicator factsheets.

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For good practices implementing EU legislation on-farm, inspiring examples and demonstrators are identified. The examples of commercial farms given here address some good practices regarding group-housing and mixing of sows. Demonstration of good practices are excellent ways and proven methods of dissemination of knowledge, exchanging ideas, harmonizing assessments, and changing attitudes.

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Inspiring video: Fibre rich food

Restrictive feeding - Vision Pig: In this short video, Jan-Hendrik Hohls, a German Farmer, states that the best material to enrich sows is the food itself. Especially dietary fibre rich food keeps sows busy with food intake for 4h per day. This promotes calmness in the group and avoids negative social interaction. Feeding rich dietary fibres ration needs a manure systems that can deal with it. That’s why Jan-Hendrik Hohls uses a mechanical manure system underneath the slats.

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Aus dem Themenblock "Sauenhaltung": Zufriedene und ruhige Sauen - das Futter als wichtiger Faktor

Vision Pig - MuD Tierschutz

In collaboration with national training bodies and national reference centers on animal welfare, EURCAW-Pigs develops training guides for the different welfare topics as standards for national training in EU Member States.

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