PIGLET RESEARCHERS SAY SOWS CAN BE BRED NOT TO CRUSH YOUNG
September 1st, 2008 BY KEITH NUTHALL
BEING a good mother in a piggery is pretty simple: don't crush your piglets. But the tendency of sows to be clumsy and kill their young is a problem, leading to sow stall usage - criticised on welfare grounds. Now, a European Union-funded research project 'Welfare Quality' has found mother pigs can be bred to avoid squashing piglets. On average, 20% of piglets per litter are accidentally crushed by free range mothers - for farmers with 250 sows, a loss of Euro 50,000 annually. Welfare Quality researchers found piglets born from ...
BEING a good mother in a piggery is pretty simple: don't crush your piglets. But the tendency of sows to be clumsy and kill their young is a problem, leading to sow stall usage - criticised on welfare grounds. Now, a European Union-funded research project 'Welfare Quality' has found mother pigs can be bred to avoid squashing piglets. On average, 20% of piglets per litter are accidentally crushed by free range mothers - for farmers with 250 sows, a loss of Euro 50,000 annually. Welfare Quality researchers found piglets born from ...
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