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Industry Partners
Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
THE FUTURE OF SOW HOUSING: STALLS OR GROUPS
Posted in: Nutrition, Pork Insight Articles, Prairie Swine Centre old, Welfare by admin on July 6, 2017
One of the more controversial aspects of pig production is the housing of gestating sows. Gestation stalls have been identified as one of the three most restrictive practices, along with battery cages for hens and crates for veal calves, throughout the history of the modern animal welfare movement.
This speech outlines pros and cons of four different group housing systems:
- Floor feeding
- Low cost
- High space requirement
- Increased agression
- Trickle/Bio-Box feeding
- Lowered aggression
- Moderate space requirements
- High cost
- Individual feed stalls
- Meets individuals nutritional needs well
- Increased labour costs but decreased space and input
- minimal agression
- ESF
- Greatest control of feed intake
- Ability to monitor animals intake directly over time
- High cost
- additional training