Humanely meeting the daily needs of our animals.
At Christensen Farms we diligently and ethically nurture and protect our animals. Every step of our animal welfare program promotes the health, safety and well-being of our animals, using The Pork Producers Code of Practice as a foundational guideline.
Each animal caretaker, each farm site, and each contract partner is required to be Pork Quality Assurance Plus® certified, and is responsible for obtaining re-certification annually. Throughout our stages of production, we meet or exceed industry-leading guidelines to humanely address the environmental, nutritional, medical and daily needs of our animals.
Our well-ventilated, well-kept, temperature-controlled facilities protect animals from harsh temperatures and risk of disease. Access to quality water and high quality nutrition helps animals remain healthy as they grow, while stringent biosecurity practices greatly reduce threat of disease. Our veterinarians properly diagnose issues and develop appropriate treatment plans and protocols. Our farm staff responsibly tends to the daily care of our animals – ensuring eyes on every animal, every day. To maintain safe handling and transport of our herds, all live haul transporters, whether employees or contractors, are required to be Transportation Quality Assurance® certified.
In addition to daily operational improvements, we work continuously to advance our animal welfare program through annual training and internal on-farm assessments. We also receive feedback through external third-party audits to strengthen our program.
Christensen Farms maintains a zero-tolerance policy for animal abuse or neglect.
CHRISTENSEN FARMS ANIMAL WELFARE ELEMENTS:
- We protect and shelter pigs from weather extremes with temperature controlled facilities that also safeguard air and water quality in the natural environment.
- We maintain well-kept facilities to allow safe, humane and efficient movement of pigs.
- Our personnel are trained to properly care for and handle swine for each stage of production assigned to them with zero tolerance for mistreatment of the pigs in their care.
- To ensure animal dietary needs for all production phases are met, we provide nutritionally balanced diets, developed by our nutritionists and access to good quality water.
- We observe our pigs daily to assure basic needs for food and water are met, and attend to additional care, if needed.
- Our herd health programs are developed in consultation with our veterinarians, followed by our employees and producing partners administering the appropriate care needed every day.
- We follow strict biosecurity measures to protect the health of the herd.
- We provide transportation that avoids undue stress caused by overcrowding, excess time in transit or improper handling during loading and unloading.
- We continuously assess and improve the living spaces of our animals to ensure their well-being and comfort.
- We use individual maternity pens to provide caretakers with the best opportunity to safely fulfill the individual needs of each animal.