Evaluación del bienestar animal en sistema de cama profunda aérea y sistema de traspatio en la etapa de engorde de la producción porcina, Chone-Ecuador, año 2024-2025.

Abstract

Pork production is key to the global agroindustry and human consumption. In Ecuador, the pork sector contributes 1.4% to the Gross Agricultural Added Value, with 80% of the meat coming from backyard farms and 20% from industrialized farms. However, more than 70,000 domestic producers face resource limitations, which affect animal welfare due to deficiencies in technical management, genetics, sanitary control, and nutrition. The study assessed animal welfare in backyard and deep-litter systems during the fattening stage using the Welfare Quality methodology. The results showed 30.92% welfare in backyard systems and 92.63% in deep-litter systems, with the latter being more efficient in the principles of good feeding, housing, health, and behavior, and showing animals with optimal conditions for human consumption. The backyard system presents serious technical deficiencies, such as deteriorating facilities, poor waste management, and inadequate nutrition, which affect both animal welfare and profitability. The lack of standardized practices limits the system's efficiency. The study suggests implementing better practices in backyard farms to improve animal welfare and increase productivity. It also proposes that backyard production could be transformed into a deep-litter system on a small and medium scale, which would favor the technical and socio-economic development of rural producers.