This readme file was generated on [2025-09-04] by [Menant Ophélie]

*Note:
[text within square brackets should be changed to specific information about your dataset.]
*help text within asterisks should be deleted before finalizing your document**

# GENERAL INFORMATION 

* Title of Dataset: Survey_production_health_welfare_outdoor_pig_farms_Ireland
* Description of Dataset: Survey of 40 questions answered by 90 participants that raised pigs outdoor in the island of Ireland for personal or commercial purposes. Single choice, multiple choices and open questions cover the following topics:demography, husbandry, feed and water management, animal health management and, farmer attitudes and perceptions of the outdoor pig industry. 

* Teagasc Department: Pig Development Department
* Teagasc Programme: OneWelPig

* Keywords: Outdoor, Pig, demographic, Welfare, Health, Production, Management, Challenges, Changes, Republic of Ireland, Northen Ireland, Single choice questions, Multiple choices questions, Open questions
* Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data:This study was funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Ireland (Grant number 2021R600)
* Does this data contain personal data (y/n):n

## Open data
* Do you want to make this data openly available on the Teagasc Open Data Portal (y/n)? y
* If yes, which license will you apply to the data? (Suggested: CC BY-NC; credit must be given to the creator, and the work may only be used for non-commercial purposes):CC BY-NC


## Data Creator Information 
Data creator name (main researcher involved in generating/gathering the data): Ophélie Menant
Data creator email: ophelie.menant@$gmail.com

## Principal Investigator (PI)/Supervisor Information 
Name: Keelin O'Driscoll
ORCID:
Email: Keelin.ODriscoll@teagasc.ie


# RELATED PUBLICATIONS 
* Links/names of publications that use the data: https://docs.eaap.org/boa/2023_Lyon_EAAP_Book_Abstracts.pdf / https://teagasc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/OneWelPig-October-2024-Newsletter.pdf
* Links/names of other data that are related to the data: 
* Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data:


# DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION 
*repeat this section for each dataset as appropriate*

* Number of variables: 41
* Number of cases/rows: 90
* Variable List: 
Respondees, Farm ID given to anonymise the participants;
In which county is your farm located?, single choice question about the name of the county where the participants is keeping pigs outdoor, qualitative data;
Why do you keep pigs? Tick all that apply, 10 multiple choice question about the purpose.s of the participants for keeping pigs, qualitative data;
What percentage of meat do you sell at each location below? (Numbers need to add up to 100%), open question where the participants rated the percentage of meat sell at 6 predefined locations, if they answered "selling pig meat" at the previous question "Why do you keep pigs? Tick all that apply", quantitative data in percentage;
Where do you slaughter your pigs? Tick all that apply, 4 multiple choice question where participants reported the location of the slaughter, if they answered "selling pig meat" at the previous question "Why do you keep pigs? Tick all that apply", qualitative data;
Why so you slaughter your pigs there? Tick all that apply, 5 multiple choice question where participants reported the reason of the slaughter location, if they answered "selling pig meat" at the previous question "Why do you keep pigs? Tick all that apply", qualitative data;
Do you produce your pigs to meet a specific standard?, single choice question about the organic or GM free feed standard, qualitative data;
Where do you normally source your pigs? Tick all that apply, 5 multiple choice question of the pig sourcing, qualitative data;
What breed(s) are your pigs? Tick all that apply, 20 multiple choice question listing the pigs' breeds, quantitative data;
Which breed(s) are your sows, boars and grower pigs?, 60 multiple choice question categorising the stage and sex of the pigs depending on the breed the participants previously selected at the question "What breed(s) are your pigs? Tick all that apply", qualitative data;
When did you start keeping pigs outdoors?, single choice question about the years when the participants started keeping pigs outdoor, quantitative data, year;
How many people are daily involved in raising the pigs?, open question about the number of people taking care of the pigs, quantitative data;
Are you a member of a pig society?, single choice question, qualitative data;
What society/ies are you a member of?, open question where participants where ask to name the society.ies they were part of, original answers were homogenised and defined in 9 societies, qualitative data;
At any one time, what is the maximum number of pigs you keep? (please enter '0' if you don't have this type of animal), open question where participants had to report the number of 4 categories of pigs stage and sex, empty cell were not filled with a 0, quantitative data;
What is the total size of the outdoor area used for pigs?, open question where participants had to enter a value, quantitative data in square meter;
Do your animals have access to a shade/shelter/an indoor area? Tick all that apply, 7 multiple choice question about the shelter provided to the pigs, qualitative data;
What is the land-type of the areas where you keep your pigs? Tick all that apply, 4 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
What is the nature of the underfoot surface in the outdoor area where you keep your pigs? Tick all that apply, 9 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
How do you manage the feeding of your pigs? Tick all that apply, 6 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
Do you adapt your feeding strategy based on the season (i.e. according to the animals' stage of production and/or food availability)?, single choice question where participants could give more details if "Yes, feel free to describe" was selected, qualitative data;
Where do you source your pig feed? Tick all that apply, 3 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
Which feed is home-grown? ("1" being the most important component, cell can be left empty if your pigs are not fed with one of these options) If "Home-grown" selected in the previous question "Where do you source your pig feed? Tick all that apply", ranking question of 14 options;
Which kind of food do you buy from the feed merchant? ("1" being the most important component, cell can be left empty if your pigs are not fed with one of these options) If "Buy it from a feed merchant" selected in the previous question "Where do you source your pig feed? Tick all that apply", ranking question of 4 options;
What other kinds of feed do you provide to your pigs? ("1" being the most important component, cell can be left empty if your pigs are not fed with one of these options) If "other feed" selected in the previous question "Where do you source your pig feed? Tick all that apply", ranking question of 5 options;
How do you manage your water supply to the pigs? Tick all that apply, 5 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
What is the main drinking system? Tick all that apply, 7 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
Which of the following conditions have you observed on your farm over the last 12 months? Tick all that apply, 16 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
In which class of pigs the following diseases and/or parasitism occur in the last 12 months? Tick all that apply, 37 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
How do you prevent and treat your animals against diseases, parasitism and/or lesions? (Tick all that apply), 13 multiple choice question, qualitative data;
If you need advice about your pigs' health and/or welfare, do you consult: Tick all that apply, single choice question where participants could give more details if "Other (please specify)" was selected, qualitative data;
What kind of veterinarian do you consult?, 6 multiple choice question that appear if "a single vet" was selected in the previous question "If you need advice about your pigs' health and/or welfare, do you consult: Tick all that apply", qualitative data;
Please tell us briefly what got you into outdoors pigs raising in the first place?, open question, qualitative data;
Please rate how important the following factors are to you (from not at all important to extremely important). I produce pigs this way because…, 6 levels rating question of 10 subquestions, qualitative data;
What are the three main daily challenges of keeping pigs outdoors on your farm?, open question divided in 3 subquestions, qualitative question;
What are three main changes that are needed at infrastructural level (policy, education, advisory etc.) to encourage the production of pigs outdoors?, open question divided in 3 subquestions, qualitative question;
How would you describe your farm?, open question divided in 3 subquestions, qualitative question;
What do your pigs really enjoy in life?, open question divided in 3 subquestions, qualitative question;
What do your pigs least enjoy in life?, open question divided in 3 subquestions, qualitative question;
Would you like to add any other information about your farm, your animals, your management, your daily life? (e.g., fences, surrounding landscape, other species kept, animals medications...), open question, qualitative data;
Do you have a herd number?, single choice question, qualitative data;

* Specialised formats or other abbreviations used:



# METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION

## Description of methods used for collection/generation of data: 
Ophelie Menant, Laura Boyle, Siobhan Mullan, Fidelma Butler, Keelin O’Driscoll, 2025, Pigs and pasture: Drivers and characteristics of outdoor systems on the island of Ireland, PLOS One.

## Methods for processing the data: 
The present data are the raw data except for the following questions: 
"What society/ies are you a member of?" which was an open question where where participants where ask to name the society.ies they were part of, original answers were homogenised and defined in 9 societies showed in the data as 9 diffrente options;
"What is the total size of the outdoor area used for pigs?" whic was an open question where participants had to enter a value in square meter, square feet, hectare or acre, quantitative data all transformed in square meter;
"Would you like to add any other information about your farm, your animals, your management, your daily life? (e.g., fences, surrounding landscape, other species kept, animals medications...)" in which information that could identify the participants were replaced by [category of information].

## Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: 
* Standards and calibration information, if appropriate: N/A
* Environmental/experimental conditions: N/A
* Describe any quality-assurance procedures performed on the data: N/A
* People involved with sample collection, processing, analysis and/or submission: Ophelie Menant, Laura Boyle, Siobhan Mullan, Fidelma Butler, Keelin O’Driscoll1

* Date of data collection: from 26/12/2022 to 9/04/2023
* Geographic location of data collection: Online, island of Ireland

