The Codes of Recommendation for the Welfare of Livestock : Pigs (1991) suggest that the minimum total floor space for pigs growing to 20 kg should be 0.15 m2 per pig. This space allowance should be adequate for sleeping, feeding, dunging and exercise. However, no allowance has been made for the space the pig needs to signal submission during an aggressive interaction, and it may be that this is one of the reasons why weaning is associated with such a high level of aggression and a reduction in growth rate. The objective of this experiment was to try to reduce aggression and belly-nosing and to improve weight gain by building a hide area (using a barrier) into conventional weaner pens. The steel-framed barriers that were used took up very little space in the pens. Three trials involving 120 Large White X Landrace piglets were carried out. In each trial, piglets were weaned at 24 days and were assigned at random to one of four treatments; straw pen with a barrier, straw pen with no barrier, flatdeck cage with a barrier, flatdeck cage with no barrier, each group contained ten piglets.
