Pigs in Agricultural Production
Agricultural production is the production of crops,
livestock and/or poultry.
The pig’s role in agricultural production is to breed piglets in large quantities, which will then go onto the production of meat. The pigs help us as people as they provide us with a range of meat which we are all very reliant on and use on a day to day basis. Pigs are produced in the most efficient and economical way, as this saves businesses money as the more time that they are looking after and paying for the livestock, the less money they will turn over each year. This unfortunately results in the welfare of the pigs negatively, especially the breeding sows. The 5 freedoms can help understand and determine the pigs’ welfare. When intensively breeding the sows they may be kept in sow stalls (although this is not legal in the UK). This is when breeding sows are kept in individual stalls in an attempt to reduce aggression between the breeding sows. These stalls are very small and only have a concrete floor and provide a trough of water in most cases. This affects the welfare of the sow as she cannot express normal behaviour such as foraging for food, and also preparing a nest for her young to be born. It also means that the sows are not free from discomfort as they have very little space to move around and little if any bedding to comfort them. Both the sows and the piglets are given just concentrate feeds rather than a mixture of concentrates and forage. The pigs are also fed at set times do they often become hungry and develop stereotypies such as bar biting and excessive chomping. This affects the welfare of the pig as they are not free from hunger and thirst. When piglets are weaned from their mother they may show behaviours such as chewing one another’s tails due to boredom as there is a lack of enrichment and possible hunger. Piglets may be weaned from their mothers from as young as 2 weeks old whereas in the wild the pigs would stay with their mothers up to 17 weeks. This can cause the piglets to become susceptible to disease as the mother’s milk helps build up their immune system meaning a lack of it means the piglets are open to catching disease. This may affect their welfare as the piglets may not be free from pain injury and disease also, due to the piglets being taken of their mother from such a young age, this can cause fear and distress in both the piglets and the sows as it is not natural for them to be separated so early. |