Canadian hog farmers to get updated code of practices

Jun 03, 2013

Canadian hog farmers to get updated code of practices

Pig code of practices open for public comment

The National Farm Animal Care Council released its draft of the updated pig code of practices. The code is a set of best practices for the hog industry to follow for the care and handling of pigs. The draft will be open for a public comment period until Aug. 3, 2013.

The key areas of revisions will include:

Castration (controlling pain)
Euthanasia (methods)
Pig & sow space allowance
Sow housing – i.e. group housing, sow stalls
Social management of sows

The pig code of practices committee is comprised of industry stakeholders including: producers, veterinarians, processors, researchers, engineers, government representatives and welfare experts. The code was initiated for revision in Dec. 10, 2010 and it’s scheduled to be released Dec. 2013.

As it stands, as of July 1, 2024 sows will be required to be housed in groups, but individual stalls will be allowed for 30 days after breeding. Pig barns built after July 2014 will need to be built with the new requirements.

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