The move towards group housing of gestating sows has highlighted a number of welfare issues associated with social interactions that are directly related to management and pen design. For example feeding method and total space can impact on both behaviour and performance. Individual feeding stalls combined with a straw based lying area and dunging passage have production and behavioural advantages at feeding time by providing safety from aggressive pen mates. Anecdotal observations would suggest that they also provide an alternative lying space. However, in practice many feeders are either kept closed when not being used or are located in areas that do not provide a good thermal environment. This experiment was designed to evaluate environmental and social factors affecting the choice of lying behaviour of sows with and without access to feeding stalls throughout the day.