Intensive livestock farming — space per animal (3D)
About this app
A pen in cross-section for fattening pigs and broilers across the five German husbandry levels from barn to organic: space per animal to scale next to a bath mat or an A4 sheet, animals per pen, outdoor run and the consequences for manure, feed and animals per area. All figures sourced from German animal welfare law, the labelling act and the EU organic regulation.
With explain mode: an AI tutor walks you through the app, points out what matters in the scene and answers your questions.
What the housing level sets
The housing level decides how much floor space an animal has, what climate it experiences and whether it can go outside. The lowest level is the German legal minimum: 0.75 m² for a fattening pig of 50 to 110 kg and at most 39 kg live weight per square metre for broilers. Above it come Barn+Space, Fresh-air barn, Outdoor/Pasture and Organic, the levels of the German animal husbandry labelling act and the retail label “Haltungsform”. “Factory farming” itself is not a legal term; pollution-control law does set size thresholds above which a barn needs a formal permit.
What you see
A barn pen in cross-section, to scale: 15 m² for fattening pigs or a 2.4 m² section of a broiler house. One animal is marked, and the coloured patch beneath it is its share of the floor. Next to it lies an everyday object, a 70 × 120 cm bath mat for the pig and an A4 sheet for the broiler. When you change level, the animals rearrange, the area grows and outdoor climate and runs appear. The Impact panel shows how many animals stand on 100 m² of barn floor and how manure and feed per square metre change.
Things to try
At level 1, put the bath mat under the marked pig: its 0.75 m² is slightly smaller than the mat. Switch to the broiler and compare its roughly 513 cm² with the A4 sheet. Then step through the levels and watch the number of animals in the same pen fall. Organic broilers also get at least 4 m² of outdoor run each, drawn to scale.
Frequently asked questions
- How much space must a fattening pig have in Germany?
- Under § 29 of the German farm animal welfare ordinance, a fattening pig of over 50 to 110 kg needs at least 0.75 m² of freely usable floor space; above 110 kg it is 1.0 m². The Barn+Space level requires 0.844 m², and EU organic rules require 1.3 m² indoors plus 1.0 m² outdoors for pigs up to 110 kg.
- How much space does a broiler chicken get?
- The ordinance caps stocking density at 39 kg live weight per square metre. With a 2 kg final weight that is about 19.5 birds per square metre, or roughly 513 cm² per bird, less than an A4 sheet of 623.7 cm². Organic rules allow at most 21 kg per square metre plus at least 4 m² of outdoor run per bird.
- Is factory farming a legal term?
- No, no German law defines it. What the law regulates are minimum areas per animal and permit thresholds: from 2,000 fattening-pig places or 40,000 broiler places, a barn needs a formal permit with public participation under the 4th Federal Immission Control Ordinance.
- Where do the figures in the app come from?
- The areas come from the German farm animal welfare ordinance, the animal husbandry labelling act, the Haltungsform criteria and EU implementing regulation 2020/464 on organic farming. For broilers, area is converted from kg per square metre assuming a 2 kg final weight. The Germany figures come from Destatis, the Environment Agency and the BVL.
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