Welfare
Free-range
Free-range pigs live outside and sleep in small metal huts filled with straw. Only 4% of our pigs have this sort of good life but half our breeding sows are free-range. Although there is no legal definition of 'free-range pork' the RSPCA believes that the term 'free-range' should only be used where the pig (and the sow that bred the pig) has been kept outside for its entire life, in paddocks with plenty of space to move around and soil to root in.
Outdoor-bred
Outdoor-bred pigs are born outside and transported to a 'finishing' unit after approximately three or four weeks. This is usually an indoor barn that can have varying welfare levels.
The RSPCA believes that the term 'outdoor-bred' should only apply to pork when the animal has been transferred to a finishing system that provides plenty of straw and has a mostly solid floor. Pigs like straw because it allows them to behave naturally. They root in it and sows use it to build nests.
Indoor
In the UK, indoor sows are kept in groups then moved to individual farrowing crates about a week before they are due to give birth. Farrowing crates are restrictive pens, which prevent the sow from turning around and which aim to reduce the risk of the sow lying on and crushing her piglets. They usually remain in these farrowing crates until their piglets are weaned at about 4 weeks old. Once weaned, the piglets are transferred to a variety of different indoor systems, which provide varying levels of welfare.
Indoor straw
65% of British pigs spend their whole lives indoors. Some are given straw but none of these pigs get to go outside.
Indoor slats
Our least pampered pigs live on slats without straw. They do not get to go outside.
These pigs are given toys to play with so they don't get bored and bite each other. These are Britains lowest legal welfare conditions.
Sow stalls
Sow stalls are banned in Britain, but are widely used throughout the rest of Europe. Essentially this is an intensive-farming method for mass-producing pigs.
Pregnant sows are locked in a stall for most of their pregnancy – three months, three weeks, three days. They are moved to a slightly bigger farrowing crate to give birth and suckle their piglets. Once weaned the piglets are transported to a finishing unit.
For the sows, a month later, the cycle starts all over again. Back in heat, impregnated and back in a sow stall. And so it goes for the rest of their lives.
These pregnant pigs can't follow their natural instincts. They have to defecate where they sleep (in a normal situation a pig would keep it's nest very clean). Their muscles begin to waste and their bones soften. Sometimes their legs can't support their own weight.
These social animals can't interact. Boredom sets in, their eyes dull, and they appear in a state scientists have compared to clinical depression in humans.
Up to five years in a cage... This is the cheapest and most efficient way of producing the bacon we eat and is a method widely practised in Europe
The RSPCA are currently running a campaign called "Rooting for Pigs" to try to provide more transparent labelling of pork products, as there are no legal definitions for what terms such as 'outdoor-bred' and 'free-range' actually mean at the moment. Find out more about this campaign: www.rspca.org.uk/pigs
Castration
Male piglets are castrated because the hormones they produce as they mature gives the meat a foul taste called 'boar taint'.
Although we used to castrate all male piglets in the UK, these days commercial pigs grow so quickly that they are usually slaughtered within the first year of their lives before they mature and therefore there is no need for castration.
Only 1% of UK pigs are castrated and this usually takes place on organic or rare-breed farms where pigs grow at a slower rate. While castration is sometimes a distressing experience for the piglets, once completed, these animals enjoy a longer life, often in the highest welfare environments.
In Europe, 99% of pigs are castrated as they like to grow their pigs through maturity to a bigger size.
