Find out more about breeding conditions of pigs in farms around Europe.
An extensive study compared how healthy and happy animals are in different types of organic farms. Ecological breeding systems in Europe offer several possibilities for housing. From inside stables through stables with an outdoor enclosure to year-round outdoor housing. The same is true for ecological pig farming, however the diversity of systems were taken seldomly into account. The aim of this study was to find out and compare the influence of each system on living conditions (so-called welfare), health and productivity of reared pigs. The extensive data collections took place through direct observation of the animals and examination of recorded footage. A total of 22 scales were used for measurement; of which 17 measured health, 3 productivity and 2 animal behaviour. The researchers observed pregnant females, weaned piglets and pigs for fattening, in a total of 74 farms in 8 different countries.
Health and living conditions of the animals were over-all very good, with a few exceptions suffering from occasional respiratory issues, diarrhea in weaned piglets or shortened tails, occurring especially in inside stables. The incidence of these problems was minimal in animals living in year-round outdoor housing. However, within twelve months researchers have noted a relatively high loss of suckling piglets in all types of housing, which accounted for about 20 %. According to researchers all three types of the mentioned ecological systems provide suitable living conditions, however, breeders should focus on improving the health of pigs living in inside stables and also on reducing the high mortality of piglets. The obtained results can now serve as part of a strategy to further improve breeding conditions and at the same time encourage further studies focusing on, for example, the causes of death in breastfed piglets.
The complete scientific paper can be found here:
LEEB C., G. RUDOLPH, D. BOCHICCHIO, et al. Effects of three husbandry systems on health, welfare and productivity of organic pigs. Animal [online]. 2019, 13(09), 2025-2033 [cit. 2020-11-19]. ISSN 1751-7311. Dostupné z: doi:10.1017/S1751731119000041