In the UK, the Defra-sponsored PigSAFE project has
developed a higher welfare indoor free-farrowing pen that
considers the biological requirements of both the sow and
her litter (Edwards et al., 2012). Experimental development
(greater than 100 farrowings on each of two sites)
and commercial evaluation (300 farrowings across two
sites) have demonstrated that the PigSAFE pen can achieve
comparable production performance to that in crates
(Edwards et al., 2012). The pen is now available for testing
by commercial pig producers. Simultaneously, a number of
other alternative indoor free-farrowing systems have
become available. These include a Danish design