In order to comply with the new legislation, producers may need to convert existing sow stall sheds, re-commission old buildings to satisfy the legal requirements, or invest in new purpose-built sow housing facilities.

To ensure that any housing system delivers good welfare outcomes for sows, Compassion has produced a technical booklet, outlining examples of well designed and managed group housing systems. It discusses the elements required for good housing, particularly around mixing of sows, and looks at the main systems in commercial use, adding practical solutions and tips for best practice.

The four key legislative points of the new COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2008/120/EC for sows are: as of 1 January 2013, all holdings must comply with the following:

Part of the unobstructed floor area available to sows and gilts must be of continuous solid flooring (Article 3, 2a)

Sow stalls will be prohibited from four weeks after service to one week before the expected time of farrowing (Article 3, 4)

Sows and gilts must have permanent access to manipulable material (Article 3, 5)

In order to satisfy hunger, all dry pregnant sows and gilts must be provided with bulky or high fibre food (Article 3,7)

Click here to read the ‘Indoor Housing systems for dry sows – practical options’ technical booklet

Click here to find out more about our Good Pig Award

Group housing for sows - new EU legislation!