Gestation Stalls - The Facts

• Pigs reared outdoors must deal with extreme changes in temperature, snow, rain, mud and parasites. Pigs housed in gestation stalls in modern buildings are provided with a more uniform temperature and protection from the weather.
  
  
• Pigs are aggressive animals; when housed in pens as a group they have an established order of dominance. Pigs at the lower end of the pecking order can suffer severe bites from more dominate animals, and subordinates will have less access to their daily diet unless steps are taken to minimize these conflicts. Gestation stalls are one way in which farmers can provide more individual attention to pregnant sows as well as provide protections from other pigs.
  
  
• In addition to keeping sows from biting one another, nutritional programs can be individually designed for sows that need more or less feed, depending on their body type. Record keeping that can trace medicines used and feed additives also is easier when sows are kept in stalls.

The American Veterinary Medical Association position statement on gestation sow housing.

In 2002, the American Veterinary Medical Association adopted the following position on the housing of pregnant sows: "PREGNANT SOW HOUSING"

RESOLVED, that the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) adopts the following as the AVMA position on the use of stalls for housing pregnant sows:

The American Veterinary Medical Association supports the use of sow housing configurations that:

1. minimize aggression and competition between sows;
2. protect sows from detrimental effects associated with environmental extremes, particularly temperature extremes;
3. reduce exposure to hazards that result in injuries;
4. provide every animal with daily access to appropriate food and water; and
5. facilitate observation of individual sow appetite, respiratory rate, urination and defecation, and reproductive status by caretakers.

Current scientific literature indicates that gestation stalls meet each of the aforementioned criteria, provided the appropriate level of stockmanship is administered."

How the U.S. pork industry is responding to the welfare needs of its animals.

• All U.S. pork producers are committed to maintaining the industry's tradition of responsible animal care.
• Producers' livelihoods depend on the well being and performance of their livestock. To do anything short of providing the best, humane care possible would be self-defeating.
• There are a variety of production systems used in the industry today. There is no one ideal system in which the facility alone can meet all the needs of the animal. The single most important factor in addressing the welfare of animals is the husbandry skills of the producer. Calling for change only for the sake of change will not benefit the animal and it may endanger food safety, the health of the animal and the environment.
• The industry is doing all that it can to make sure that it successfully addresses animal welfare and its relationship with food safety, the environment and the health of our animals. Each if these vital areas must be addressed in a way that ensures that they are kept in balance in relationship to each other without sacrificing their individual critical points. That is the nature and essence of pork production and of animal agriculture.