BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Anim. Sci.
Sec. Animal Welfare and Policy
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fanim.2025.1588436
Sows turned unhindered at less than their own body length - Implications for farrowing pen design
Provisionally accepted- 1SEGES Innovation P/S, Aarhus N, Denmark
- 2Scotland's Rural College, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
- 3Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, United Kingdom
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Periparturient and lactating sows need to turn around when expressing important nest-building and piglet-gathering behaviors. To determine the minimum pen width required to allow unhindered turning, 26 Danish crossbred sows were selected in late gestation to represent younger (parity 2-4) and mature (parity 5-6) ages. A test pen measured 2.6m on one side, with the other side being adjustable in intervals of 0.2m (1.2–2.2m). Each sow was encouraged to make three food-motivated turns at each of the 6 pen widths according to a randomized design. Direct observations of the time taken to complete a turn and a subjective score of turning difficulty (range 1-6) were supplemented by automated analysis of video recordings, measuring the maximum curvature of the body during a turn and the proximity to the pen walls at the time of maximum curvature. Turns took longer to complete when pen width was 1.2m and 1.4m. Inability to complete some turns occurred at 1.2m and more turns were scored as hindered when pen width was ≤1.6m. Older, larger sows were more frequently hindered. Body curvature during a turn was greater when pen width was 1.2m, while distance from pen walls at maximum curvature only increased in pen widths of ≥1.8m. In conclusion, the trial indicated that a minimum width of 1.6m should be provided to allow unhindered turning for the full grown late pregnant sows. This should be factored into a suitable overall farrowing pen design for loose sows to avoid negative impacts on sow and piglet welfare.
Keywords: Loose housing, Turning behavior, pen and sow dimensions, Lactating sows, pigs
Received: 05 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Moustsen, Baxter, Boldsen, Nielsen and Edwards. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen, SEGES Innovation P/S, Aarhus N, Denmark
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.