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In the wild, sows build themselves a large comfortable nest to give birth in. They dig out a patch of earth and then collect foliage and lay it down in the dug out area to make a soft bed.  In Austrian  pig farms as well as the one documented here, sows are given no possibility to build a nest -  it’s not cost effective for the farmer. But still, the sows show that their need to make a nest is important by their attempts to scratch and dig at the concrete floor.

When the piglets are born, the mother has a strong maternal need to care for her babies. But, trapped behind bars, she can’t even touch them. The piglets can reach her underneath the bars  in order to suckle. The modern intensive farmer fears that the sow would bite her babies to death or smother them when laying down if it were not for the farrowing crate. That wouldn’t be surprising  considering the way sows are forced to live! In a natural environment with enough space and where mother and piglets can form a bond, these kind of problems are hardly ever heard of.

But here it’s all about keeping costs to a minimum and maximising profit. Animal welfare is not a priority.

The film showing the birth of the piglets demonstrates this cost-benefit calculation: The piglets are born directly onto slatted floor, cold bare concrete – and the mother can’t help them, she can’t even sniff them to see if they are alright.

Group housing
In the breeding unit where X15 and X11 were born, sows are sometimes allowed to spend time in groups. From 2013 group housing for sows in Austria will become compulsory by law.

But what does this apparent improvement really amount to?
Due to the fact that there will be various exceptions, what this really means for sows is that they will have 11 weeks between births where they can have some freedom of movement, but they will still have 9 weeks at a time caged up in a sow stall. Nearly half a sow’s life will still be spent in isolation behind bars.

In the heated discussion about this so called improvement, the central question is often not heard due to the massive resistance from the agricultural lobby:

What, apart from having the right through brute strength, allows us to degrade the lives of these intelligent, friendly individuals to tortured breeding machines?

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The usable floor space that each pig should have in group housing is set out clearly in the animal welfare act. For groups of up to 5 pigs, young sows must have 1.85 m² and older sows must have 2.5 m². For bigger groups of over 40 pigs there is a gradual reduction of these measurements by up to 20%.

When keeping the expectant mothers separate, the minimum space allowed is 1 m².

One week before the due date, the mother of X15 is removed to give birth. There she stays during the suckling-period until weaning.
Weaning means to take the piglets from their mother.
The farrowing crates must be designed for unhindered nursing of the piglets. In most of these boxes the mother is caged in a farrowing crate.
Behind the farrowing crate must be enough floorage to support an independent or assisted birthing.
Furthermore it has to be designed to prevent the piglets from injury while suckling or approaching the mother.
The minimum floor space for farrowing crates is 4 – 5 m² per sow depending on her body weight.

The number of piglets averages to 10 per birth. The first indications for the forthcoming birth are changes in the vulva-area of the dam
which show up approximately one week before giving birth.
The area around the vulva shows a doughy (= edematous) swelling. Approximately 6 hours before giving birth to the first piglet the mother begins to lactate.
24 hours before the birthing the mother starts to be unsettled.
She changes her position frequently and starts with nest-building-behaviour. About one hour before birthing the mother lies down.

The birth of X15 begins on 26th June 2009 at 7:15 a.m. X15 is the third-born. His body-weight is 1.530 gram. He starts his first attempt at walking directly after birth.
First of all he has to get rid of the unbilical cord,
which divulses near to the placenta. Afterwards he begins to explore the surroundings.

The mother of X15 tries to keep the piglets within eyeshot – as far as the circumstances allow her to. While the sow is giving birth,
the carer should be present to be able to give assistance incase of complications or rather to inform the vet. It is important that every piglet is provided with colostrum as fast as possible. Colostrum is a secretion which is produced by the mammary glands directly after giving birth, which contents high protein, vitamin, mineral nutrients and leukocytes. The absortion of immunoglobolines from the colostrum is of utmost importance for a passive immunization of the piglets. Also important is the occurence of antibodies against barn-specific infectious agents.

For X15 and his siblings the serious side of life begins already tomorrow.

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You will find more pictures of the new-born piglets on Flickr.

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We will accompany two of them intensively. We call them X11 and X15 – both siblings, just been born.

X15 will spend his life in a common Austrian pig plant. In contrast, X11 will grow up on a pet sanctuary after spending his first weeks next to his mother.

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You can see more photos of the new arrivals in our Flickr site album “The first weeks”.

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