Pig Production Guide

• Overview
• Pig Production
• Environment
• Assurance Scheme
• Legislation
• Breeding Indoors
• Breeding Outdoors
• Finishing Indoors - Straw
• Finishing Indoors - Slats
• Finishing Outdoors

Finishing Indoors - Slats

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Finishing pigs in indoor slatted accommodation requires specially designed buildings where the floor has gaps in it to allow waste to drain away from where the pigs are housed.  When concrete slatted floors are used for pigs kept in groups, there are regulations on the maximum width of the openings.

There are also laws regarding the numbers, feed size and rules to ensure all pigs in a group have access to food in a way that avoids the chance of aggression. There are also controls on the number of water outlets, flow rates, temperatures levels, noise levels and the amount of light.  All of these are checked every three months as part of the pig assurance scheme requirements. 

Slatted buildings do not use straw as a bedding material however each pen is required by law to include some material such as wood or plastic toys which allow the pigs to display their natural behaviour.

Rearing and finishing pigs are usually kept in the same small groups throughout.  Ideally they are kept in their litter group of 10-11 piglets however where pen spaces do not allowed this litter groups are usually only mixed together once at the beginning of the rearing stage (7kg or 12kgs).  The principal reason for this is to minimise the risk of disease spread between groups of pigs and reduce the incidence of fighting and stress of pigs that occurs when groups are mixed together and they have to determine a new pecking order.

Feed makes up 60 per cent of the production costs within rearing and finishing. Normally pig rations comprise cereals, protein, minerals and vitamins in a compound form. A pig’s diet must be well balanced and meet the needs of the pig which means it will have to change at different stages of growth. As pigs get older and heavier the amount of protein they need falls which means a cheaper diet can be used.

Antibiotic growth promoters are prohibited from pig production.  Antibiotics may only be used for therapeutic purposes to treat disease and must be prescribed by a veterinarian.