What are pork
producers doing to protect their animals' welfare?
Producers have supported the creation of a
Pork
Checkoff
Animal Welfare Committee that meets
regularly and monitors topics related to animal welfare.
The committee uses Checkoff funds to research and
educate producers in topics related to animal welfare,
such as animal housing, euthanasia, space allowance
and caretaker training.
Producers have used information generated by the
Animal Welfare Committee and its group of international
expert advisers to make production
adjustments and to measure pig welfare on their farms.
Every day, pork producers manage their animals in
the way that best fits the facilities the animals are in
and that supports the animals’ well-being.
Science-based management
practices have been adopted by
swine producers to improve the conditions of the
animals they raise.
For example, to better control the temperature and
environment, some producers house their animals
inside. To avoid obesity or malnutrition, producers
formulate special diets with the help of professional
nutritionists so the animal can develop normally and
healthfully, with all of its nutritional needs fulfilled. To
avoid piglet mortality, farrowing stalls that prevent the
sow from lying on them are in use on many farms today. These
are only three of the many ways producers care for their
animals’ well-being on a daily basis.
What is the focus of
the Checkoff’s
Animal Welfare
Committee?
The committee’s main goal is to get
educational
materials to producers on a variety of
welfare-related
issues.
Pork Checkoff-funded research is extremely
important in terms of providing science-based answers
that pork producers can use to assess the welfare of
their animals. |
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What are some
of the behaviors that producers watch and measure with pigs
to determine their health?
Basic ones would be their feeding
and drinking
behaviors, because if an animal is healthy, it
eats and
drinks in a normal way. If an animal is sick, it will maybe
spend more time off its feet and decrease its
eating and drinking. The animal may be unresponsive
to what is going on in the environment around it. Small
pigs all huddled together and shivering may indicate
that the environment may be too cold. Conversely, piglets
lying on their sides and lying individually, may
find the environment too hot.
What are the different
types of production systems used for swine?
Pigs are raised using confinement,
hoop production
or pasture systems, as outlined in the chart on
the
following page. Confusion often exists when using the
term “confinement.” All pigs are confined, including
those on pasture or in hoops, except for feral, or wild,
pigs. “Confinement” in this text refers to pigs produced
under a roof and on partially or totally slatted floors. |
