Animal Welfare Status and Meat Quality Attributes of Finishing Pigs Across Diverse Farm Production Scales
Abstract
The intensification of pig production in developing countries raises concerns about animal welfare and its impact on pork quality, as well as industry sustainability and product value. This study aimed to evaluate the welfare status and post-slaughter meat quality of finishing pigs across different production scales in Vietnam. A cross-sectional survey of 45 farms (small, medium, and large-scale) was conducted using the Welfare Quality® framework (four principles and twelve assessment criteria). Subsequently, 18 crossbred pigs were slaughtered to analyze Longissimus dorsi quality (10th-15th ribs), including pH, color, chemical composition, and fatty acid profiles. Results indicated that the good feeding principle scored significantly higher in large-scale farms (LF: 80.28) compared to medium (MF: 67.89) and small-scale farms (SF: 59.95) (p<0.001). Conversely, the good health principle recorded the lowest scores across all scales (LF at 7.80, MF at 7.51, and SF at 7.74; p<0.01). Acceptable levels were obtained for appropriate behavior and environmental comfort (40-60 points). While pH remained similar across groups, meat from LF pigs exhibited significantly lighter color, higher protein content, and increased drip loss (p<0.01). Notably, the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids and the UFA/SFA ratio (unsaturated fatty acids/saturated fatty acids) were greater in pigs raised on the LF, suggesting a favorable lipid composition. Briefly, large-scale production systems demonstrated enhanced animal welfare and beneficial meat quality traits, indicating that improved housing management and nutritional strategies contribute to more sustainable and higher-quality pork production.
Full text article
References
Alem, W. T. (2024). Effect of herbal extracts in animal nutrition as feed additives. Heliyon, 10(3), e24973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24973
Alotiby, A. (2024). Immunology of stress: A review article. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13(21), 6394. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13216394
Angela, C., da Fonseca de Oliveira., Costa, L. B., Weber, S. H., Ramayo-Caldas, Y., & Dalmau, A. (2023). Mixed management in growing and finishing pigs: Differences between gender and their impacts on behavior, growth performance, and physiological parameters. PLoS ONE, 18(4), e0284481. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284481
Balthazar, G. d. R., Silveira, R. M. F., Soares, T. C., & da Silva, I. J. O. (2025). RobôFrango: Proof of concept of a mobile biosensor robot for environmental monitoring in broiler houses. Results in Engineering, 28, 107796. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.107796
Bordignon, F., Provolo, G., Riva, E., Caria, M., Todde, G., Sara, G., Cesarini, F., Grossi, G., Vitali, A., Lacetera, N., & Pezzuolo, A. (2025). Smart technologies to improve the management and resilience to climate change of livestock housing: A systematic and critical review. Italian Journal of Animal Science, 24(1), 376-392. https://doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2025.2455500
Bossert, L. N., & Coeckelbergh, M. (2024). From milkingbots to robodolphins: How AI changes human-animal relations and enables alienation towards animals. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 920. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03441-3
Boyle, L. A., Edwards, S. A., Bolhuis, J. E., Pol, F., Šemrov, M. Z., Schütze, S., Nordgreen, J., Bozakova, N., Sossidou, E. N., & Valros, A. (2022). The evidence for a causal link between disease and damaging behavior in pigs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 8, 771682. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2021.771682
Butucel, E., Balta, I., McCleery, D., Morariu, F., Pet, I., Popescu, C. A., Stef, L., & Corcionivoschi, N. (2022). Farm biosecurity measures and interventions with an impact on bacterial biofilms. Agriculture, 12(8), 1251. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12081251
Camp, M., J., Boyle, L. A., Solà-Oriol, D., Muns, R., Gasa, J., & Garcia Manzanilla, E. (2021). Effect of space allowance and mixing on growth performance and body lesions of grower-finisher pigs in pens with a single wet-dry feeder. Porcine Health Management, 7(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40813-020-00187-7
Celso, E. G.-S., & Elise, P. G.-S. (2024). Cholesterol availability and adrenal steroidogenesis. Endocrinology, 165(4). https://doi.org/10.1210/endocr/bqae032
Chen, D. R., Cheng, K., Wan, L., Cui, C. Y., Li, G., Zhao, D. H., Yu, Y., Liao, X. P., Liu, Y. H., D’Souza, A. W., Lian, X. L., & Sun, J. (2024). Daily occupational exposure in swine farm alters human skin microbiota and antibiotic resistome. Imeta, 3(1), e158. https://doi.org/10.1002/imt2.158
Cheng, Q., Wang, H., Xu, X., He, T., & Chen, Z. (2024). Indoor thermal comfort sector: A review of detection and control methods for thermal environment in livestock buildings. Sustainability, 16(4), 1662. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16041662
Chidgey, K. L. (2024). Review: Space allowance for growing pigs: animal welfare, performance and on-farm practicality. Animal, 18, 100890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2023.100890
Cho, H. A., Song, M. H., Lee, J. H., Oh, H. J., Kim, Y. J., An, J. W., Chang, S. Y., Go, Y. B., Song, D. C., & Cho, S. Y. (2023). Effects of different stocking density and various phytogenic feed additives dosage levels on growing-finishing pigs. Journal of Animal Science and Technology, 65(3), 535. https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2023.e19
Clavell-Sansalvador, A., Río-López, R., González-Rodríguez, O., García-Gil, L. J., Xifró, X., Zigovski, G., Ochoteco-Asensio, J., Ballester, M., Dalmau, A., & Ramayo-Caldas, Y. (2024). Effect of group mixing and available space on performance, feeding behavior, and fecal microbiota composition during the growth period of pigs. Animals, 14(18), 2704. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14182704
Coutellier, L., Arnould, C., Boissy, A., Orgeur, P., Prunier, A., Veissier, I., & Meunier-Salaün, M.-C. (2007). Pig’s responses to repeated social regrouping and relocation during the growing-finishing period. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105(1-3), 102-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2006.05.007
D’eath, R., Arnott, G., Turner, S., Jensen, T., Lahrmann, H., Busch, M., Niemi, J. K., Lawrence, A., & Sandøe, P. (2014). Injurious tail biting in pigs: How can it be controlled in existing systems without tail docking?. Animal, 8(9), 1479-1497. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731114001359
Delsart, M., Pol, F., Dufour, B., Rose, N., & Fablet, C. (2020). Pig farming in alternative systems: Strengths and challenges in terms of animal welfare, bosecurity, animal health and pork safety. Agriculture, 10(7), 261. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture10070261
Dhabhar, F. S. (2014). Effects of stress on immune function: the good, the bad, and the beautiful. Immunologic Research, 58(2-3), 193-210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-014-8517-0
Duniere, L., Frayssinet, B., Achard, C., Chevaux, E., & Plateau, J. (2024). Conditioner application improves bedding quality and bacterial composition with potential beneficial impacts for dairy cow’s health. Microbiology Spectrum, 12(4), e0426323. https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.04263-23
Gagaoua, M., Gondret, F., & Lebret, B. (2025). Towards a ‘One quality’ approach of pork: A perspective on the challenges and opportunities in the context of the farm-to-fork continuum – Invited review. Meat Science, 226, 109834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2025.109834
Gao, L., Er, M., Li, L., Wen, P., Jia, Y., & Huo, L. (2022). Microclimate environment model construction and control strategy of enclosed laying brooder house. Poultry Science, 101(6), 101843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2022.101843
Guo, X., Wang, Y., Zhu, Z., & Li, L. (2024). The role of plant extracts in enhancing nutrition and health for dogs and cats: Safety, benefits, and applications. Veterinary Sciences, 11(9), 426. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11090426
Han, Z., Wang, K., Dai, L., Li, K., & Wang, X. (2024). Recent application of heat pump systems for environmental control in livestock facilities–A Review. Agriculture, 14(12), 2309. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14122309
Haq, I. U., Rahim, K., Yahya, G., Ijaz, B., Maryam, S., & Paker, N. P. (2024). Eco-smart biocontrol strategies utilizing potent microbes for sustainable management of phytopathogenic diseases. Biotechnology Reports (Amst), 44, e00859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2024.e00859
He, M., Gao, J., Wu, J., Zhou, Y., Fu, H., Ke, S., Yang, H., Chen, C., & Huang, L. (2019). Host gender and androgen levels regulate gut bacterial taxa in pigs leading to sex-biased serum metabolite Profiles. Frontiers in Microbiology, 10, 1359. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01359
Hemeg, H. A., Moussa, I. M., Ibrahim, S., Dawoud, T. M., Alhaji, J. H., Mubarak, A. S., Kabli, S. A., Alsubki, R. A., Tawfik, A. M., & Marouf, S. A. (2020). Antimicrobial effect of different herbal plant extracts against different microbial population. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 27(12), 3221-3227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.08.015
Herlin, A., Brunberg, E., Hultgren, J., Högberg, N., Rydberg, A., & Skarin, A. (2021). Animal welfare implications of digital tools for monitoring and management of cattle and sheep on pasture. Animals, 11(3), 829. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11030829
Honikel, K.-O. (1997). Reference methods supported by OECD and their use in Mediterranean meat products. Food Chemistry, 59(4), 573-582. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-8146(97)00002-2
Horwitz, W., & Latimer, G. W. (2012 ). Official Methods of Analysis of the AOAC International (19th ed.). AOAC International.
Hultgren, J., Segerkvist, K. A., Berg, C., Karlsson, A. H., Öhgren, C., & Algers, B. (2022). Preslaughter stress and beef quality in relation to slaughter transport of cattle. Livestock Science, 264, 105073. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2022.105073
ISO. (1973). Meat and meat products - Determination of total fat content. International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/6038.html
ISO. (2000). Animal feeding stuffs - Determination of the contents of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium and zinc - Method using atomic absorption spectrometry. International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/33707.html
ISO. (2005). Animal feeding stuffs — Determination of nitrogen content and calculation of crude protein content. Part 1: Kjeldahl method International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/39145.html
ISO. (2017). Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Gas chromatography of fatty acid methyl esters. Part 2: Preparation of methyl esters of fatty acids International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/72142.html
ISO. (2021). Meat and meat products — Determination of total phosphorous content. International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/76935.html
Karaer, M. C., Čebulj-Kadunc, N., & Snoj, T. (2023). Stress in wildlife: comparison of the stress response among domestic, captive, and free-ranging animals. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10, 1167016. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1167016
Kim, K., Cho, E., Kim, K., Kim, J., Seol, K., Sa, S., Kim, Y., & Kim, Y. (2016). Effects of stocking density on growth performance, carcass grade and immunity of pigs housed in sawdust fermentative pigsties. South African Journal of Animal Science, 46(3), 294-301. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajas.v46i3.9
Kiyimba, F., Hartson, S. D., Mafi, G. G., & Ramanathan, R. (2024). Glycogen supplementation in vitro promotes pH decline in dark-cutting beef by reverting muscle’s metabolome toward a normal postmortem muscle state. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 72(45), 25275-25285. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.4c06490
Lecorps, B., Weary, D. M., & von Keyserlingk, M. A. G. (2020). Regrouping induces anhedonia-like responses in dairy heifers. JDS Communications, 1(2), 45-49. https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2020-0023
Lee, B., Luttman, A. M., Ernst, C. W., Raney, N. E., Oh, S., & Siegford, J. M. (2024). Assessing the relationship between pigs’ stress resilience and their behavior in response to weaning. Frontiers in Animal Science, 5, 1461526. https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2024.1461526
Lomax, M. A., Karamanlidis, G., Laws, J., Cremers, S. G., Weinberg, P. D., & Clarke, L. (2013). Pigs fed saturated fat/cholesterol have a blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function, are insulin resistant and have decreased expression of IRS-1, PGC1α and PPARα. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 24(4), 656-663. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2012.03.013
Ma, J., Yu, Q., & Han, L. (2022). The effect of postmortem pH decline rate on caspase-3 activation and tenderness of bovine skeletal muscle during aging. Journal of Food Biochemistry, 46(9), e14215. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfbc.14215
Ma, Q., Wang, Z., Xu, H., Wei, Y., & Liang, M. (2024). Effects of dietary cholesterol on ovary development and reproductive capacity in Pacific white shrimp broodstock, Litopenaeus vannamei. Aquaculture Reports, 38, 102346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aqrep.2024.102346
Maydych, V., Claus, M., Dychus, N., Ebel, M., Damaschke, J., Diestel, S., Wolf, O. T., Kleinsorge, T., & Watzl, C. (2017). Impact of chronic and acute academic stress on lymphocyte subsets and monocyte function. PLoS One, 12(11), e0188108. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188108
Michelle, N. L., Ha, M., Dunshea, F. R., Chauhan, S., D’Souza, D., & Warner, R. D. (2024). Impact of cooking temperature on pork longissimus, and muscle fibre type, on quality traits and protein denaturation of four pork muscles. Meat Science, 209, 109395. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2023.109395
Michielon, A., Litta, P., Bonelli, F., Don, G., Farisè, S., Giannuzzi, D., Milanesi, M., Pietrucci, D., Vezzoli, A., Cecchinato, A., Chillemi, G., Gallo, L., Mele, M., & Furlanello, C. (2024). Mind the step: An artificial intelligence-based monitoring platform for animal welfare. Sensors, 24(24), 8042. https://doi.org/10.3390/s24248042
Miller, K. A., Johnson, E. M., Matchan, S. A., Goehring, D., Ross, J. W., & Gabler, N. K. (2023). Strategies to manage barn feed supply to prolong and hold late finishing pigs during a supply chain disruption. Translational Animal Science, 7(1), txac166. https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txac166
Moniruzzaman, M., Kim, D., Kim, H., Kim, N., Chin, S., Karthikeyan, A., Han, K., & Min, T. (2023). Evaluation of dietary curcumin nanospheres as phytobiotics on growth performance, serum biochemistry, nutritional composition, meat quality, gastrointestinal health, and fecal condition of finishing pigs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10, 1127309. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1127309
Morgado, J. N., Lamonaca, E., Santeramo, F. G., Caroprese, M., Albenzio, M., & Ciliberti, M. G. (2023). Effects of management strategies on animal welfare and productivity under heat stress: A synthesis. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10, 1145610. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1145610
Mosquera, J., Hattum, T. v., Nijeboer, G., Hol, J., Dooren, H. v., & Bokma, S. (2019). Ammonia and odour emission from a veal calves housing system with V-shaped manure belt and ‘Groene Vlag’ slatted floor. Wageningen Livestock Research. https://doi.org/10.18174/478308
Njimoh, D. L., Assob, J. C., Mokake, S. E., Nyhalah, D. J., Yinda, C. K., & Sandjon, B. (2015). Antimicrobial activities of a plethora of medicinal plant extracts and hydrolates against human pathogens and their potential to reverse antibiotic resistance. International Journal of Microbiology, 2015, 547156. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/547156
Ogawa, N. N., Silva, G. L., Barbon, A., Flaiban, K., Silva, C. A. D., Rocha, L. M., & Bridi, A. M. (2024). Animal welfare assessment and meat quality through assessment of Stress Biomarkers in Fattening Pigs with and without Visible damage during slaughter. Animals, 14(5), 700. https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2013v34n6Supl2p4213
Orlowski, S., Flees, J., Greene, E. S., Ashley, D., Lee, S.-O., Yang, F. L., Owens, C. M., Kidd, M., Anthony, N., & Dridi, S. (2018). Effects of phytogenic additives on meat quality traits in broiler chickens. Journal of Animal Science, 96(9), 3757-3767. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/sky238
Orzuna-Orzuna, J. F., Lara-Bueno, A., Gloria-Trujillo, A., Mendoza-Martínez, G. D., Miranda-Romero, L. A., & Hernández-García, P. A. (2024). Growth performance, dietary energetics, blood metabolites, carcass traits, meat quality, and gene expression of lambs supplemented with a polyherbal phytogenic additive. Veterinary Sciences, 11(11), 520. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci11110520
Qui, H. N., Guntoro, B., Putra, A., Thu, N., Liangco, N., Dang, C., Linh, N., & Vui, N. (2025). Improving competitiveness among small-scale pig farmers: Challenges, innovations and sustainable practices in the mekong delta, Vietnam. Journal of Animal Health and Production, 13(2), 470-479. https://doi.org/10.17582/journal.jahp/2025/13.2.470.479
Reza, M. N., Lee, K.-H., Habineza, E., Samsuzzaman, Kyoung, H., Choi, Y. K., Kim, G., & Chung, S.-O. (2025). RGB-based machine vision for enhanced pig disease symptoms monitoring and health management: a review. Journal of Animal Science and Technology, 67(1), 17-42. https://doi.org/10.5187/jast.2024.e111
Riesner, K., Hammerich, L., Jahn, D., Ellinghaus, A., Polenz, D., Grohmann, L., & Unger, J. K. (2025). What must not be named. EMBO reports, 26(8), 1929-1934. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44319-025-00429-1
Rodrigues, G. R. D., Rezende, V. T., Mercadante, M. E. Z., Bonilha, S. F. M., Canesin, R. C., Raineri, C., Valente, J. D. P. S., Ligori, V. A., & Gonçalves Cyrillo, J. N. D. S. (2024). Animal growth models as a tool to estimate resilience indicators in Bos indicus and Bos taurus heifers: Selection effects and genetics parameters. Livestock Science, 282, 105435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2024.105435
Salisbury, L. J., Fletcher, S. J., Stok, J. E., Churchman, L. R., Blanchfield, J. T., & De Voss, J. J. (2023). Characterization of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway in Dioscorea transversa. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 299(6), 104768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104768
Silpa, M. V., Gunasekaran, I., Narasingam, B., Ramajothi, A., Arulselvam, V., Dona Mary, E., Ernest Angelin Shyona, D., Gajendirane, K., Ebenezer Binuni, R., & Veerasamy, S. (2025). Impacts of heat stress on growth performance and its mitigation in small ruminants. Animal Frontiers, 15(3), 6-20. https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfaf021
Song, J., Wang, X., Cao, Y., He, Y., & Yang, Y. (2025). Effects of corn–soybean meal-based fermented feed supplementation on growth performance, meat quality, fatty acid profiles, nutritional values, and gut microbiota of lean-type finishing pigs. Foods, 14(15), 2641. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods14152641
Terlouw, C., & Gagaoua, M. (2023). Stress at slaughter: A key factor in the determination of meat quality? Foods, 12(6), 1294. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12061294
Terlouw, E. M. C., Picard, B., Deiss, V., Berri, C., Hocquette, J. F., Lebret, B., Lefèvre, F., Hamill, R., & Gagaoua, M. (2021). Understanding the determination of meat quality using biochemical characteristics of the muscle: Stress at slaughter and other missing keys. Foods, 10(1), 84. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10010084
Thawee, N.-A., Vorasayan, J., Pitiruek, K., Arunyanart, S., Niyamosoth, T., & Pathumnakul, S. (2024). Optimizing vertically integrated pork production supply chain: A lagrangian heuristic approach. Heliyon, 10(6), e26407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26407
Valros, A. (2024). Managing tail biting in pigs: Preventing risk factors or docking tails? In Advances in Pig Welfare (pp. 261-287). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85676-8.00002-X
Vermeer, H. M., Dirx-Kuijken, N., & Bracke, M. B. M. (2017). Exploration feeding and higher space allocation improve welfare of growing-finishing pigs. Animals, 7(5), 36. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani7050036
Williams, E., Sadler, J., Rutter, S. M., Mancini, C., Nawroth, C., Neary, J. M., Ward, S. J., Charlton, G., & Beaver, A. (2024). Human-animal interactions and machine-animal interactions in animals under human care: A summary of stakeholder and researcher perceptions and future directions. Animal Welfare, 33, e27. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2024.23
Witkowska, D., & Ponieważ, A. (2022). The effect of housing system on disease prevalence and productive lifespan of dairy herds - A case study. Animals, 12(13), 1610. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12131610
Zhang, T., Yuan, D., Xie, J., Lei, Y., Li, J., Fang, G., Tian, L., Liu, J., Cui, Y., Zhang, M., Xiao, Y., Xu, Y., Zhang, J., Zhu, M., Zhan, S., & Li, S. (2019). Evolution of the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway in animals. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 36(11), 2548-2556. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz167
Zhu, D., Tang, Y., & Wu, L. (2023). Consumer preference for pork safety characteristics: Considering rational and irrational behavior. Food Control, 148, 109659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2023.109659
Authors
Copyright (c) 2026 Tropical Animal Science Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors submitting manuscripts should understand and agree that copyright of manuscripts of the article shall be assigned/transferred to Tropical Animal Science Journal. The statement to release the copyright to Tropical Animal Science Journal is stated in Form A. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA) where Authors and Readers can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format, as well as remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, but they must give appropriate credit (cite to the article or content), provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
Article Details
How to Cite
