Maternity rings
Back in 2015, the SunPork Group embarked on a journey to eliminate mating stalls and farrowing crates from our production systems and move towards a close-confinement free breeding model.
By eliminating confinement of our sows at all points in her productive life, we aimed to significantly enhance sow welfare and create a viable alternative for all Australian pig producers which would elevate the social credentials of our entire industry.
Today, we are proud to announce that we have developed a patented maternity ring that eliminates sow confinement while protecting her piglets. What’s more, the maternity ring delivers these results within the existing farrowing footprint of 4.3m2. A solution which maintains space allowances and farrowing performance whilst also protecting the welfare of the sow, her piglets and our animal carers has never been achieved anywhere else in the world.
Take a look at SunPork’s journey below:
The SunPork Team have compiled a significant body of research which demonstrates measurable welfare benefits from using rings over crates using the Five Domains animal welfare assessment model.
Please visit this link to view our published study:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1339947/full
The SunPork Group is committed to supporting producers to adopt this new technology by:
- Making the maternity rings available to industry via a third-party manufacturer
- Assisting with training and development of other producers who wish to utilise the technology
- Conducting research initiatives to further improve the ring system for all producers
- Assist as required with the Standards and Guidelines process to ensure maternity rings and their associated space allowance are acceptable as an outcome-based standard.
Please contact us if you’d like any further information.
"Significantly enhancing the welfare of our sows, piglets,
and animal care staff. "
