Sow Stalls
RSPCA Australia Knowledgebase, "What are the animal welfare issues with sow stalls?" https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-are-the-animal-welfare-issues-with-sow-stalls/ ; Tasmanian Government, Regulatory Impact Statement: Restrictions on the Use of Sow Stalls, May 2013
References
Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur / EAST / We Animals
What are Sow Stalls?
A metal-barred cage used to individually confine a female breeding pig during pregnancy and before birth. Its widespread use in intensive pig farming is primarily driven by economics, allowing more sows to be housed per shed while preventing aggression between confined animals.
A standard sow stall measures just 2 metres long and 60 centimetres wide, only enough space for the sow to stand or lie down; she cannot turn around and can take no more than a single step forward or backward. Stalls are typically floored with bare concrete or slats, with no bedding.
A sow's pregnancy lasts roughly sixteen weeks. Around a week before giving birth, she is moved from the sow stall into a farrowing crate, where she remains confined for up to six weeks to give birth and suckle her piglets. Weaning triggers a return to fertility within four to six days, and she is remated almost immediately, often while still confined in a stall, before being returned to a sow stall or group housing for the next pregnancy. This cycle repeats with little to no unconfined time between one pregnancy ending and the next beginning.
A sow is kept only as long as she remains sufficiently productive, and is typically culled once her performance declines, often after around two years and five litters. A pig can naturally live up to 15 years. The most common reasons for culling are reproductive failure and lameness. Once culled, a sow's meat is sold as "cull sow meat," a distinct, lower-value category generally destined for processed products like sausage and bacon rather than sold as standard pork.
