Holdings Sustainability Report 2022 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 12
PIGS
Animal Care
Animal Welfare
To Equip
1
To create a culture focused on promoting and
protecting pig welfare by equipping all staff with
clear guidelines, tools, and training.
2
3
To Verify
To verify welfare culture through internal and
external audits.
To Respond
To respond to animal welfare concerns in a way
that results in continual improvement of pig
welfare on PIPESTONE managed farms.
Animal Housing
Adult pigs can be kept in a variety of housing systems. There are welfare trade-offs for all systems.
Individual stalls remove the need for hierarchy formation, which minimizes or all together removes
aggression, injury, and competition. It allows for individualized feeding and nutrition, facilitates easy
observations, and allows for easy and safe medicating, vaccinating, heat checking and pregnancy detecting
by caregivers. The tradeoff is that individual stalls restrict movement, exercise, and the display of some
natural behaviors. Sows in stalls must be able to:
• Lie down fully on its side without head having to rest on a raised feeder
• Stand up without having to touch the bars on top of the stall
• Stall size must be appropriate for the physical size of the pig
Individual stalls are acceptable when monitored and maintained by responsible, trained animal caretakers.
Pen housing allows for movement, exercise, and the display of more natural behaviors. The tradeoff is that
in pen gestation there is hierarchy formation which can result in aggression, injury, and competition for
resources (food, water, space to lie down). Pen gestation can also increase the difficulty for caregivers to
medicate, vaccinate, heat check, or pregnancy detect. We will fill pens/mix pigs in a manner which reduces
the need to remove animals from the pen. Animals which have been injured, lost condition, or for some
other reason cannot compete for resources will be removed from the pen. Sows in pens will be able to:
• Lie down, stand up, and turn around.
• Easily access feed.
Pen housing is acceptable when monitored and maintained by responsible, trained animal caretakers.
Farrowing/Lactating sows will be housed in individual maternity pens. During farrowing and lactation,
it is important to balance the needs and welfare for both the sow and the piglets. Individual maternity pens
restrict movement, exercise, and the display of some natural behaviors for the sow. However, they improve
piglet welfare by decreasing injury and death resulting from crushing by the sow. They also improve the
caregiver’s ability to safely monitor, medicate and assist during the farrowing process. At PIPESTONE, all
farrowing and lactating sows will be housed in individual maternity pens.
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Pipestone Management