Both common sense and overwhelming scientific evidence show that the crates are not only cruel - but also unnecessary. In one seven-year study, the average number of piglets weaned from each sow in a farrowing crate was no higher than the average number for sows kept in open space. On the factory farm, piglets are removed from their mother at three weeks of age. This is far short of the natural 13 to 17 week nursing period or even the six weeks allowed on less intensive farms. The piglets are put into crowded pens.
Floors are bare wire mesh, perforated metal, plastic-coated metal, fiberglass, or concrete.
There is no straw or other bedding. In such cramped, stressful, and barren environments, the young pigs commonly begin tail-biting. Rather than providing sufficient space and the environmental variation necessary to eliminate such conditions, producers cut off the pigs' tails. And although innumerable drugs are given to pigs throughout their lives - pain relievers are not among them. Drugs and Pork Factory farming would not be possible without the routine use of antibiotics and other drugs.