Our farms originally began as outdoor facilities however research and common sense showed that by bringing the animals indoors it saved the animal from experiencing extreme temperatures, drastically reduced the animal’s exposure to disease and therefore improved the animal’s health, while also keeping the animals safe from predators and sunburn. (It regularly reaches 35 degrees in Summer and below freezing in Winter)
While it was unheard of to bring animals indoors in Australia when we made the transition in the 1960’s, the animals flourished which reassured us we had made the right decision on behalf of our animals.
Our farms are gestation stall free, and our style of housing is described as ‘a loose housing system’. Basically what this means is our animals are in large groups of approximately 30 animals and they have the ability to move freely within the pen. These large pens allow the animals to continue their natural behaviour as pigs are very social animals. Our animals are housed within well ventilated climate controlled buildings which have access to natural light.
Our farms are voluntarily APIQ accredited. It is not a requirement for producers to register themselves for auditing however we believe it is necessary as it shows our customers we are serious about meeting the welfare requirements of the animals, our responsibility as farmers to ensure we maintain and improve the quality of our valuable farming land. The APIQ accreditation also reassures the consumer that we don’t take their trust for granted as we have chosen to ensure we have more than adequate HACCP programs in place.
For further information regarding the APIQ program https://www.apiq.com.au/index.php
