andliveforaboutninedays,untiltheyandtheirpigletsrejoin
the group.^64 As we shall see, factory farming makes it
impossibleforthepigsto follow theseinstinctive behavior
patterns.
Pigs in modernfactory farms have nothingto do but eat,
sleep,standup,andliedown.Usuallytheyhavenostrawor
otherbeddingmaterial,becausethiscomplicatesthetaskof
cleaning. Pigs kept in this way can hardlyfail to put on
weight,but theywillbe bored and unhappy. Occasionally
farmersnotice that their pigs likestimulation. One British
farmer wrote to Farmer’s Weekly describing how he had
housed pigs in a derelict farmhouse and found that they
played all around thebuilding, chasingeach otherup and
down the stairs. He concluded:
Our stock need variety of surroundings.... Gadgets of
different make,shape andsizeshould be provided....Like
human beings, they dislike monotony and boredom.^65
Thiscommon-senseobservationhasnowbeenbackedupby
scientific studies. French research has shown that when
deprivedorfrustratedpigsareprovidedwithleatherstripsor
chainstopull,theyhavereducedlevelsofcorticosteroids(a
hormone associated with stress) in their blood.^66 British
researchhasshownthatpigskeptinabarrenenvironmentare
so bored that if they
aregivenbothfoodandanearth-filledtrough,theywillroot
around in the earth before eating.^67
Whenkeptinbarren,overcrowdedconditionspigsareprone
to “vice,” as hens are. Instead of feather-pecking and
cannibalismpigstaketobitingeachother’stails.Thisleadsto