Knowledge
Dossier: Arrival and lairage management
This page provides background information and practical knowledge on the welfare issues related to arrival and lairage management pre-slaughter and how welfare problems can be limited.
Important behavioural and physiological needs of pigs need to be considered to facilitate welfare of pigs arriving and being handled at the slaughterhouse. Three important key areas challenging welfare of pigs are highlighted. Guidance and recommendations to improve the welfare pre-slaughter is given within each key area. In several cases, these are linked with legal requirements. The key areas are:
- Arrival management
- Handling and moving pigs in lairage
- Lairage and comfort around resting
Arrival management
Waiting time before unloading at the slaughterhouse is a serious risk factor:
- Health and fitness of pigs can vary significantly upon arrival, depending on the circumstances on-farm and during loading, ambient temperatures, duration and circumstances of transport and arrival management. Before unloading pigs from trucks at the slaughterhouse, their health status must be assessed.
- Thermal (heat or cold) stress indicates that pigs are outside their thermo-neutral zone (15-21 °C) upon arrival. Pigs are particularly sensitive to high ambient temperatures, due to a very limited number of sweat glands.
Read more & links
Improving arrival management and unloading:
- Strict management for trucks upon arrival in respect to the schedule and the number of pigs being delivered can shorten waiting times of pigs on vehicles.
- If trucks are not able to unload immediately, during high ambient temperatures, technical measures, e.g. elevating roofs and continuing mechanical ventilation must be ensured.
- If trucks have to wait at the premises of the slaughterhouse before unloading and have no means of artificial ventilation, the slaughterhouse must provide protected areas and cooling (e.g. ventilated halls) and/or fans.
Guidance for handling pigs requiring specific care:
- Isolation pens for animals that show fatigue shall be prepared and available for immediate use before any animals arrive (required by Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, Annex III, 2.4).
- Animals that are unable to walk off vehicles must under no circumstances be dragged to the place of slaughter, but be emergency killed where they are lying. Emergency killing can only be carried out by staff holding a valid certificate of competence (required by Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, Annex III, 1.11).
Relevant links
- Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide: A systematic Approach to Animal welfare, Grandin, North American Meat Institute, 2019
- Transportation of cull sows—deterioration of clinical condition from departure and until arrival at the slaughter plant, Thodberg et al., Front. Front. Vet. Sci. 6, pp. 1-17, 2019
- On-farm conditions that compromise animal welfare that can be monitored at the slaughter plant, Grandin, T., Meat Sci.132: 52-58, 2017
- Effect of variations in the environment, length of journey and type of trailer on the mortality and morbidity of pigs being transported to slaughter, Sutherland et al., Vet. Rec. 165: 13-18, 2009
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing, EC, 2009
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97, EC, 2004
Handling and moving pigs in lairage
Understanding the biology of pigs is important to reduce pain, fear and distress during handling and moving:
- Pigs have a pronounced exploratory behaviour; they predominantly use their smell to investigate their surroundings, by sniffing and stopping.
- The pig’s eyesight is poor; optical irregularities, such as shadows, rays of light or other optical distractions, can have a significant effect on pigs’ willingness to move forward.
- Walking is the type of locomotion shown by relaxed animals. They generally prefer to move in small groups (5-7 pigs) beside and behind each other.
Read more & links
Improving handling and moving:
- Pigs should be moved applying as little pressure as possible. Handlers need to be trained accordingly and hold a certificate of competence.
- The layout and construction of lairage should encourage pigs to move freely within lairage passageways and races to the stunning area.
- The size of groups being moved, ramps for unloading, the layout of lairage, lighting management, surfaces of floors, the level of noise and airflows and handling of animals are significant for pigs’ ease of movement.
Relevant links
- Scientific Opinion on the welfare of pigs at slaughter, EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Welfare, EFSA Journal, 18(6):6148, 113 pp., 2020
- Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide: A systematic Approach to Animal welfare, Grandin, North American Meat Institute, 2019
- Gute fachliche Praxis der tierschutzgerechten Schlachtung von Rind und Schwein, BSI Schwarzenbek, 2013
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing, EC, 2009
Lairage and comfort around resting
The purpose of lairage pens in slaughterhouses is to give pigs a chance to rest following arrival to the slaughter plant.
Lairage can have a positive effect on a pig’s physical and mental state before slaughter, provided that:
- Familiar pigs in groups are maintained, as pigs are social animals that live in groups in which members know each other individually.
- Pigs have enough space to lie in half lateral recumbency, preferably full recumbency with higher temperatures.
Read more & links
- Pigs have access to water in sufficient quantity and of good quality (required by Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, Annex II, 2.3). Water requirements and the frequency of pigs drinking depend very much on climatic conditions, diet, environmental stressors, frequency of water provision and the physiological state of pigs.
More specific guidance to improve resting and to minimise potential aversive behaviour in lairage pens:
- At low ambient temperatures, sufficient amounts of appropriate bedding material should be provided and the ventilation rates in lairage adapted.
- At high ambient temperatures, if the slaughterhouse does not provide air conditioning, other means to support the thermoregulation e.g. by increasing space allowance or showers, must be ensured.
- Following Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 “Each animal shall have enough space to stand up, lie down and, (...), turn around.” {Annex III, 2.1}. There are no legal requirements concerning space allowance for pigs in lairage pens.
- Pens for pigs should be equipped with at least one drinker for 12 pigs and at least two drinkers per pen, lowering the risk of deprivation of water for pigs ranking low in hierarchy.
- Animals which have not been slaughtered within 12 hours of their arrival shall be fed, and subsequently given moderate amounts of food at appropriate intervals (Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, Annex III, 1.2).
Relevant links
- Tierschutzüberwachung bei der Schlachtung und Tötung, Handbuch, 2020
- Gute fachliche Praxis der tierschutzgerechten Schlachtung von Rind und Schwein, BSI Schwarzenbek, 2013
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing, EC, 2009
- Lying characteristics as determinants for space requirements in pigs, Ekkel et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 80, pp. 19-30, 2003