Document type : dossier published by LIT Ouesterel
Author: LIT Ouesterel
Preview: in this project, LIT OUESTEREL [...] brought together professionals from the pig industry (farmers, building technicians, scientific animal welfare specialists, ethologists, sociologists, epidemiologists, ergonomists, distributors, students and associations) in order to co-develop innovative prototypes for pig farm buildings in terms of animal health and welfare, taking into account the various economic, technical and logistical constraints and for all stages of breeding and rearing (insemination, gestation, maternity, post-weaning and fattening).
4 innovative farming concepts
[...] the association collected some 200 ideas for the design of innovative housing for pigs that would promote animal health and welfare. The ideas were produced with the help a specially-designed set of cards that allowed professionals to devise their ideal buildings. From these, 4 concepts were finally selected, each with a variety of innovative features. Sketches were produced for the four ideal farms to make sure that the concepts were represented as faithfully as possible.
Common to the 4 farm concepts is the desire to improve attention to animal welfare and they agree on the core goals of:
- getting rid of animal restraints;
- stopping mutilation (castration, caudectomy, grinding);
- enriching animals' living environment (material, auditory or social) [...].
what next?
Theassociation is currently analysing the possible impacts (including economic impacts) of these different farming concepts, and will soon publish its findings.
Dossier of designs for innovative pig buildings to promote animal health and welfare
Workshop 1 report
Workshop 2 report
Workshop 3 report
