{"id":70567,"date":"2016-09-02T15:20:45","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T14:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veganuary.com\/blog\/truth-factory-farmed-pigs\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T09:22:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T08:22:42","slug":"truth-factory-farmed-pigs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veganuary.com\/en-us\/truth-factory-farmed-pigs\/","title":{"rendered":"How Are Pigs Farmed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pigs suffer on factory farms. Learn more about this cruel industry below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meet Esther<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Credit @estherthewonderpig<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

If you think there is something fundamentally different about farmed animals than, say, a dog or a cat, then you probably haven\u2019t met Esther the Wonder Pig<\/a>. Esther was bought as a pet micropig but she turned out to be the same huge breed of pig that is reared for meat on farms worldwide. Esther was a huge character, loved to sleep, eat, run in the fields, and cuddle up with the dogs, cat, and humans in her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Esther was given the chance to show her intelligence, personality, and zest for life, but all pigs have the same capabilities as her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are more intelligent than the dogs with whom we share our homes, and can solve problems as well as chimpanzees<\/a>. Pigs can also learn words and phrases, be house trained, and even play computer games. We just don\u2019t give them the chance to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pigs suffer on farms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most pigs in the US are reared on intensive farms. For those used for breeding, their life is a cycle of forced impregnations followed by months spent in a crate barely larger than their bodies. Very soon after birth, their piglets are taken from them, and the cycle begins again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two types of crates are used on a typical US pig farm: Pregnant pigs are first put into highly restrictive metal gestation crates, which are so small that they are unable to turn around or lie down comfortably. While some states have banned gestation crates, the latest available USDA data shows that over 76% of pigs are raised in total confinement<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once mother pigs are close to giving birth, they are moved to farrowing crates where the piglets will be delivered and nursed. Farrowing crates are only slightly larger than gestation crates, adding a restrictive attachment through which the piglets can nurse. Deprived of the ability to nuzzle her piglets or even turn around to see them, she has enough room only to stand and lie down. Farrowing crates are widely used by all major pork producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Animal Aid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the wild, pigs would find a private place, and build a nest in which to give birth. On farms, all they have are the metal bars that prevent them moving and a concrete floor that causes painful pressure sores. In desperation, they go through the motions of nest-building<\/a> inside their cage but it is, of course, utterly futile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When born, the piglets suckle from their mother but she is not able to reach them and nuzzle them. If they are sick, all she can do is watch them die. She will be kept in this confinement until the young are taken from her. She will be returned to a pen, and will soon be impregnated again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And again, and again, until she is exhausted and her body can no longer endure the strain. Then she will be sent to slaughter as a \u2018cull sow\u2019, and her body turned into low-quality products like hot dogs and sausages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping pigs alive in the filth and squalor of factory farms requires a lot of veterinary medication. This shocking photo was taken by Animal Aid investigators at a Somerset pig farm in the UK (though it could just as easily have been a US factory farm).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Animal Aid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Piglets suffer too<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pigs have been bred to have as large a litter as possible, and many of their piglets are still-born or die at birth, or soon after. They rarely receive veterinary care. Investigators have found their tiny bodies abandoned in the aisles of the units and dumped in garbage bags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Animal Aid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In nature, weaning is a gradual process, often taking three to four months. On farms, the early separation between mother and piglets causes distress to them both. It is quite common for them to call out to one another in the vain hope of being reunited<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this stage, most piglets in the US will have their tails docked with hot or cold pliers. No sort of anesthetic is required. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They will also have their teeth clipped or ground down. The pig industry claims that such procedures are necessary to prevent piglets from injuring each other. However, pigs rarely harm one another when living wild. It is a problem related to their stressful living conditions where overcrowding and boredom is rife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n