Research

The aim of SOWtrack project is to select animal-based measures (ABMs) and related management-, resource-and environmental-based (so called ‘context’) data for sows and piglets in different housing systems and practices, including slaughter, and then to collect in the field on a large scale and in a harmonised way across EU MSs. These data are to be used to develop a freely accessible prototype database for analysing the correlation between ABMs and related context data. This will enable future quantitative risk assessment of the on-farm welfare of sows and piglets. The database will be essential for keeping track of how welfare standards change over time and in the tracking and mitigation of welfare risks. This project will be based in countries that encompass the diversity of pig farming and management traditions in the EU. All Animal-Based Measures for Tracking Welfare in Sows and Piglets in the major housing systems, based on the EFSA Pig opinion (2022)1 are represented in at least four of the partner countries. This diversity will enable us to test ABMs in very different conditions and to collect context data from all major housing systems within the EU. This is a critical aspect of the SOWtrack proposal as inspectors and policy makers seek standardized protocols for collection of ABM data that scale across husbandry systems, differing management systems and contexts to cover the variation seen in the farms across Europe. At the same time the protocols must remain feasible and efficient to use in practice.