Overcoming barriers, facilitating change
Virtual Workshop August 12th-13th 2021
As part of the Free Farrowing series of workshops, a virtual event (organized by FLI, SEGES, SRUC and Vetmeduni Vienna) was held over two days.
Day 1’s theme was Country change stories: getting to know the barriers for change. In this session we learnt from the experience of countries where the introduction of reduced confinement systems took place through legislation long ago (Sweden), has been taking place recently through industry initiatives (Denmark), or is about to take place following new legislation (Germany). This was followed by a round-table update from participating countries.
Click on the links in the programme table to view the available presentations and posters. Summaries of the live discussions and chat, as well as questions and answers to the presentations are linked at the bottom of the page.
Day 1: Country change stories
| Title | Presenter/Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Introduction and welcome | Dr Sabine Dippel, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Germany |
| What motivates farmers to make changes enhancing animal welfare (how can science help)? | Dr Inger Anneberg, Aarhus University, Denmark |
| Country change stories | Chair: Dr Antje Schubbert, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Germany |
| Updates from Sweden | |
| Change experiences by a Swedish policy influencer | Mattias Espert, Chairman of Sweden’s Pig Association, Pig Producer |
| Change experiences by a Swedish scientist | Dr Anne-Charlotte Olsson, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden |
| Change experiences by a Swedish farmer | Jeanette Elander, Pig Producer, Sweden |
| Updates from Denmark | |
| Change experiences by a Danish policy influencer | Dr Christian Fink Hansen, Director at SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Denmark |
| Change experiences by a Danish scientist | Dr Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen, SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Denmark |
| Change experiences by a Danish farmer | Asger Krogsgaard, Pig Producer, Denmark |
| Updates from Germany | |
| Change experiences by a German policy adviser | Matthias Chapman-Rose, Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Germany |
| Change experiences by a German scientist | Dr Charlotte Grimberg-Henrici, Schweinespezialberatung Schleswig-Holstein e.V., Germany |
| Change experiences by a German farmer | Jan-Hendrik Hohls, Pig Producer, Germany |
| Country updates | Chair: Professor Sandra Edwards, UK |
| Round up of countries | Invited participants asked to share updates on FFL status, new initiatives, legislation in their countries |
| Review of farrowing crate standards in New Zealand | Dr Gwyneth Verkerk, Chair of the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC), New Zealand |
| Perception of free farrowing: interviews with stakeholders | Dr Camilla Munsterhjelm, University of Helsinki, Finland |
| Certification of new farrowing systems in Austria | Dr Claudia Schmied-Wagner, The Austrian Animal Welfare Label, Austria |
| Experiences from a 5000-sow farm in Poland (poster) | Kasper Sørensen, Pig Producer, Poland |
| Report on Norwegian research experiences and pen development | Professor Inger Lise Andersen & Dr Marko Ocepek (in absentia), Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway |
Day 2: Research updates, Q&A
Day 2 involved thematic discussions of the latest research based on the participants’ submissions. This was followed by Q&A. Click on the links in the programme table to view the available presentations and posters.
| Title | Presenter/Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Experience with free farrowing / temporary confinement systems | Chair: Professor Johannes Baumgartner, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria |
| Pen design for temporary crating, by the example of the BeFree farrowing pen in practice | Christian Auinger, SCHAUER Agrotronic GmbH |
| Temporary crating systems on a commercial farm in Spain | Heng-Lun Ko, University of Barcelona, Spain |
| Effect of a free lactation pen system on aspects of sow welfare | Dr Keelin O’Driscoll, Teagasc, Ireland |
| From crate to temporary crating in an experimental farm: performances and behaviour | Dr Nicolas Villain, Chambres d’Agriculture Bretagne, France |
| Temporary crating and free farrowing: an on-farm study | Vilja Hukkinen, University of Helsinki, Finland |
| Piglet mortality in a bedded group farrowing system | Associate Professor Yuzhi Li, University of Minnesota, USA |
| Experiences with the ‘Boxberger farrowing pen’ in a pig port stable (poster) | Dr Eva Maria Görtz, Bildungs- und Wissenszentrum Boxberg, Germany |
| Experiences with different free farrowing pens in conventional housing of pigs (poster) | Dr Eva Maria Görtz, Bildungs- und Wissenszentrum Boxberg, Germany |
| Biological needs in free farrowing and temporary confinement | Chair: Dr Emma Baxter, SRUC, UK |
| SowNest – Predicting sow performance through nest building profiles | Dr Anna Wallenbeck, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden |
| Effect of removal of confinement 3 days post-partum on exploratory behaviour and inactivity in domestic lactating sows | Dr Gudrun Illmann, Institute of Animal Science, Czech Republic |
| Sow behaviour and temporary confinement during the periparturient period | Professor Thomas D. Parsons, University of Pennsylvania, USA |
| Free farrowing and family feeding: toward improved gut health and daily gain of piglets | Dr Annalisa Scollo, European Association of Porcine Health and Management (EAPHM), Italy |
| Fear responses of pigs from farrowing crates and PigSAFE pens | Megan Hayes, University of Melbourne, Australia |
| Preliminary experiences on organic farrowing pen size (poster) | Dr Herman Vermeer, Wageningen University and Research The Netherlands |
| Skin temperature cannot identify sows with increased rectal temperature (poster) | Dr Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen, SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Denmark |
| Aspects of management and sustainability | Chair: Dr Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen, SEGES, Denmark |
| Confinement of sows in Sow Welfare And Piglet protection pens for 2 or 4 days around farrowing reduced the number of crushed piglets without affecting sow activity | Dr Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen, SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Denmark |
| Milk supplementation for prolific litters in farrowing pens for crated and loose housed sows | Professor Lene Juul Pedersen, Aarhus University, Denmark |
| Free farrowing systems in The Netherlands | Dr Anita Hoofs, Wageningen University, The Netherlands |
| Pro-SAU: Evaluation of novel farrowing systems with possibility for the sow to move temporarily | Dr Birgit Heidinger, HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Austria |
| Detailed analysis of farmers’ records of piglet mortality in free farrowing systems in Switzerland | Cornelia Vontobel, Agroscope Tänikon, Switzerlan |
| Potential implications of using different farrowing systems in UK (link to report) | Dr Claire Barber, AHDB Pork, UK |
| Sow welfare and environmental emissions | Dr Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen, SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Denmark |
| Piglet mortality in litters raised by temporarily confined sows in pens with automatic up and down floors (poster) | Dr Trine Friis Pedersen, SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Denmark |
| Pens for loose lactating sows with large litters (poster) | Dr Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen, SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Denmark |
Summary of live discussions and chat
Click on the link below to access a summary of the live discussions and chat from FFL21:
Freedom in Farrowing and Lactation (FFL21): Summary of live discussions and chat
Summary of questions to presentations
Click on the link below to access a summary of the questions to presentations at FFL21:
Freedom in Farrowing and Lactation (FFL21): Questions to presentations
Citation for workshop
Freedom in Farrowing and Lactation 2021 (FFL21) Virtual Workshop: Overcoming barriers, facilitating change. August 12th-13th 2021. www.freefarrowing.org
