There are many different types of acceptable housing types in use for housing gestating sows in today's U.S. pork industry. These housing types usually fit in one of two categories:

• Individual housing
• Group housing

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV) have reviewed existing scientific literature on gestational sow housing and have published position statements that concluded that both types of housing types have advantages and disadvantages.

The individual housing category includes the individual stall system. In this system, sows are housed in a structure large enough for one sow. There are variations in stall designs. Some of the advantages of individual housing include:

• minimize aggression and injury among sows
• reduce competition for resources
• allow individual feeding
• assist in the control of body condition sow sows to not become too thin or too fat
• provide for the safety of the worker

Some of the disadvantages of individual housing include:

• restriction of movement and exercise
• restricts ability to perform foraging behaviors
• sows have limited social interaction

In the other housing category, sows are housed in groups. Group sizes may range from five sows per pen up to more than 100 sows per pen. Free access stalls, trickle feeding, electronic sow feeding stations and deep bedded systems are just a few of the many different variations in group housing systems in use. Some of the advantages of group housing include:

• freedom of movement and exercise
• social interaction

Some of the potential disadvantages of group housing include:

• aggression and injury
• uneven body conditions
• inability to forage if no manipulable materials are present

There are many factors that contribute to the success of a particular type of housing system. Studies have concluded the success of housing systems may be dependent in great measure to the caretaker's husbandry skills.

The AVMA and AASV have concluded that regardless of the type of housing system in use, the system should:

• minimize aggression and competition among sows;
• protect sows from detrimental effects associated with environmental extremes, particularly temperature extremes;
• reduce exposure to hazards that result in injuries, pain, or disease;
• provide every animal with daily access to appropriate food and water;
• facilitate observation of individual sow appetite, respiratory rate, urination and defecation, and reproductive status by caregivers; and
• allow sows to express most normal patterns of behavior

The official statement of the National Pork Board statement on sow gestation housing:

National Pork Board Statement
"The National Pork Board builds its animal care and well-being programs on this foundation: What is best for the pig? The board also relies on the best scientific research available, and the best scientific research now available indicates there are several types of production systems that can be good for pigs. Those systems include open pens, gestation stalls and open pastures."

"Regardless of the system, what really matters is the individual care given to each pig."

"Through the Pork Checkoff, the National Pork Board provides educational programs and materials that focus on how producers can best assure the well-being of their pigs. These programs offer methods that help producers take an objective look at each animal's well-being, independent of the size of operation or the specific type of housing. Producers are then able to decide for themselves the type of production system that is best for their animals, and for them given their resources and markets."

Wayne Peugh
Past President, National Pork Board

For more information on the position statements of the AVMA and AASV, please visit:
http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/animal_welfare/pregnant_sow_housing.asp

http://www.aasv.org/aasv/sow_housing.htm

For more technical information on housing types, please visit:
http://www.pork.org/PorkScience/Documents/
SWINEWELFARsowsandspace.pdf

http://pork.porkgateway.org/c/document_library/get_file?repository_id=1&file_path=%2F&file_name=01-01-03g_c052006.pdf

For more information and statistics about the pork industry, click on this link: http://www.pork.org/NewsAndInformation/QuickFacts/default.html

To view the Proceedings from the 2007 Sow Housing Forum, click here: http://www.pork.org/producers/sowhousingforum.aspx