Standard Operating Procedures for Better Pig Research (SOPig): Recommendations from the PIGWEB Collaboration

Pig research is facing a growing demand for robust, reproducible, and welfare-conscious data, which promotes increases in collaboration among researchers worldwide to improve research quality. At the heart of this effort lies standardisation—ensuring that experimental procedures are consistent, transparent, and aligned with best practices. This Open Access book presents the outcome of a major initiative within the EU Horizon 2020 PIGWEB project, where multiple experts working at institutions throughout Europe collaborated on a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for commonly used methods in pig research. Each SOP is a step-by-step guide, detailing recommended materials, equipment, and procedures, while emphasising refinements and non-invasive alternatives in line with the 3R principles of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. Covering a wide range of disciplines in animal science, the book includes protocols for: -    Blood, urine and saliva sampling for metabolic and hormonal analysis -    Faeces collection for digestibility studies -    Thermographic and spectroscopic methods for physiological assessments -    Imaging techniques for determining body and carcass composition With its easy-to-follow format, comprehensive illustrations, example data collection and analysis spreadsheets and practical recommendations, this book serves as both a learning resource and a reference tool for researchers, technicians, and students. By promoting harmonised procedures across facilities, it supports data comparability, animal welfare, and the advancement of pig research globally. Whether setting up a new experiment or striving for reproducibility in collaborative projects, this book is an essential guide to standardised, ethical, and innovative pig research.