Effects of outdoor housing of piglets on behavior, stress reaction and meat characteristics.

Well-designed housing systems are important from the viewpoint of animal welfare and improvement of meat production. In this study, we investigated the effects of outdoor housing of pigs on their behavior, cortisol levels, and meat characteristics. Two groups that were born and raised in a spacious outdoor pen (4×10 m for every two sows) or a minimum-sized standard pen in a piggery (1.