Nest building materials for sows during farrowing

Nest building behaviour

Nest building is a strong behavioural need driven by changes of hormones around birth. Under production conditions, sows are still highly motivated to seek out an isolated nest site for nest building. Preventing nesting behaviour is as such associated with frustration and stress, and therefore associated with poor welfare. Therefore, it is important that the farrowing environment provides both sufficient space, as well as sufficient amount and quality of nest materials.

Crates versus zero confinement systems

For crated sows during farrowing, type and allocation of material must be considered carefully, particularly with respect to floor type. Materials should either be presented quite frequently in front of the sows or be materials that can be attached to the side/front of the pen, e.g. rope and jute sacks. In pens with zero-confinement, many scientific studies show that the allocation of large quantities of good quality nest material not only contributes to meeting the sow's need for nest building, but also contributes to increasing sow maternal care and improving piglet survival and growth.

Introphoto: Crated sow with loose materials (©WUR)