Crate stand
A crate is a part of a pig pen, which is used in pig production to keep breeding sows during pregnancy and suckling.
In the farrowing pen, the crate should prevent the piglets from being crushed by the sows. In addition to the lower mortality of the piglets, more sows can be kept on a smaller area and the expenditure per animal (including personnel costs) can be reduced. The floor on which the animals are kept can be either a partially perforated and coated with plastic slatted floors or sprinkled in.
Keeping in crates is prohibited in many countries or only allowed for a limited period of time.
Arguments from supporters and opponents
The main argument from proponents of the stalls is that it would crush fewer newborn piglets. So far, 23 out of 26 studies have come to this conclusion. Annually higher piglet losses of 4.8 to 8.8% can be expected. Attention is also drawn to the danger for farmers who take care of them. Steffen Hoy , Professor of Animal Husbandry and Husbandry Biology at the University of Giessen, is quoted as saying that, based on physiological test results, there is no evidence that pigs are inflicted pain or suffering in crate crates or that they have been harmed as a result. Pigs with good maternal characteristics could attack and injure them if there is no technical separation.
Opponents of keeping in crate crates question the higher losses or see other causes. They indicate that the pigs are more susceptible to disease and stress in the housing system with the stalls. Furthermore, reference is made to public opinion. The majority of those questioned would reject pigs being kept in crates.
Situation in Germany
In the TierSchNutztV , Section 5 (“Requirements for keeping pigs”), Section 24, the requirements for crate crates are described.
According to this, sows may be kept in crates from one week before the expected farrowing date up to four weeks after the subsequent covering , which is usually carried out as artificial insemination . In farrowing pens, protective grids for the piglets and sufficient space behind the mother sow are required, which can only be achieved with crate crates. The stipulated size of a stall is 200 cm × 65 cm for gilts (until after the first farrowing) and 200 cm × 70 cm for old sows. In addition, the animals must be able to stretch their heads and, when lying on their side, their feet.
Since the crate stands commonly used in Germany do not usually allow the limbs to be stretched out while lying down, Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner wanted to delete this sentence from the ordinance. The federal states still have the option of influencing the content of the draft ordinance. This should be discussed in the Federal Council Agriculture Committee on December 2nd. This was postponed due to many amendments from the federal states, as well as the associated votes in the Federal Council, which were scheduled for December 20, 2019 and March 13, 2020. The planned new regulation of sow husbandry by the Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner has been criticized by animal welfare organizations because it violates animal welfare law and disregards several court decisions. In June 2020, twelve animal welfare organizations presented a concept for ending crate stall keeping.
Situation in Austria
Crate stands are generally prohibited in Austria, although the current implementing regulation for the Federal Act on the Protection of Animals (TSchG) provides for transition periods for existing systems until 2033. Since January 1, 2013, breeding pigs may be kept in crates for a maximum of 206 days per year. In newly built, converted or first-time use stalls, pigs may be kept in crates for a maximum of ten days while they are being covered. The long transition periods were justified by the fact that otherwise, according to Agriculture Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich, of the 9,000 pig farmers in Austria, probably 3000–4000 would have stopped production, which means that the majority of the piglets would have been produced abroad in farms with crates.
Situation in Switzerland
In 1977, a ban on crate crates was decided in Switzerland and the transition periods have expired since 2007, so that since then sows have been kept in crate crates for a maximum of ten days after the litter. Since Switzerland is not an EU country, they can market against imports of cheaper meat produced from abroad foreclose and additionally pay farmers compensation because of higher animal welfare standards.
Situation in Sweden
Crate stands have been banned in Sweden since 1988. There are reports that after Sweden joined the EU in 1995, 90% of producers gave up production in the liberalized internal market, and Sweden's self-sufficiency in pork fell from 102% in 1995 to 76% in 2010. The meat was mainly imported from countries where crate stands such as Denmark and Germany were still allowed. It is reported by Swedish studies that there is no higher crushing losses in piglets in farrowing pens without crates.
Web links
- Animal welfare and farm animal husbandry ordinance §24 in Germany
- Animal Welfare Act of Austria
- Animal Protection Ordinance of Switzerland
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hessel et al. The exercise pen for suckling sows
- ↑ a b Chamber of Agriculture Upper Austria: "The entire pig industry is concerned: Excessive animal welfare in livestock husbandry harms our economy - only domestic pig production secures domestic jobs" , press release from August 26, 2011 (PDF)
- ↑ a b Verein gegen Tierfabriken (Austria) : facts and figures on the keeping of pigs in crates (accessed on March 24, 2015)
- ↑ Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety : Animal welfare requirements for pig farms (accessed on March 24, 2015)
- ↑ Federal Administrative Court (Germany) : Judgment of the Higher Administrative Court of the State of Saxony-Anhalt on the keeping of pigs in crate stalls final (accessed on March 6, 2020)
- ↑ Sows live so miserably in Germany. Retrieved March 6, 2020 .
- ↑ Demo in front of the Chancellery , accessed on December 9, 2019 in Pressenza.com
- ↑ Finally let the pig out / Twelve animal welfare organizations present concept for the immediate end of crate stall keeping, from June 22, 2020 in Verbaende.com
- ↑ Die Presse : Pig breeding: Crate stand ban from now on law , March 12, 2012
- ↑ Die Presse: Pigs locked up less long in crates , December 21, 2011
- ↑ tier-im-fokus.ch : No crate stand ban in Switzerland , February 12, 2014
- ↑ Farmer. The trade journal for the rural family: Free farrowing pen in Sweden since 1988 (accessed on March 24, 2015)
- ↑ bauernzeitung.at: Crate stand ban in Sweden: 90 percent of pig farmers have had to give up since 1995, June 15, 2011