A pig presses its back against a round brush in a pig shed. Photograph.
All the sows used the brush at least once during the study period. On average, each sow used the brush 1.5 times per day, and a typical brushing session lasted twelve seconds. Photo: Axel Sannö

Mechanical brushes may support natural behaviour in sows housed indoors

Page reviewed:  04/06/2026

Mechanical brushes are sold as enrichment for pigs, but little research has examined their use. A new study from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the first to investigate this behaviour systematically, found that sows readily used the brushes and that competition for access was rare.

Read the full article in Swedish. 

This text was translated to English with AI assistance.

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