Gestation crate

A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a metal enclosure used in intensive pig farming, in which a female breeding pig (sow) may be kept during pregnancy and for most of her adult life. The enclosures measure 6.6 ft x 2.0 ft (2 m x 60 cm).

There is no bedding. The floors of the crates are made of concrete, and are slatted to allow waste to be collected below, which is then flushed into open-air pits known as lagoons. A few days before giving birth, sows are moved to farrowing crates where they are able to lie down, with an attached crate from which their piglets can nurse.

There were 5.36 million breeding sows in the United States as of 2016, out of a total of 50.1 million pigs. Most pregnant sows in the US are kept in gestation crates. The crates are banned in the European Union, Sweden, Canada, and in nine states in the US (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon and Rhode Island). However, farrowing crates, in which female breeding pigs can be kept for up to five weeks, are not banned.