A pork checkoff-funded workshop that reviewed scientific literature for gestating sows and gilts found no evidence that stalls or well-managed pens caused significant levels of stress.
The review was performed by a multidisciplinary panel of scientists led by John McGlone, an animal scientist from Texas Tech University.
“Based on the complete body of available scientific studies, the review concludes that well-managed pens and gestation stalls produce similar states of welfare of pregnant sows based on measures of physiology, behavior, performance and health,” he says.
The review looked for evidence that the welfare of sows and gilts housed in indoor group pens is different from those housed in stalls.