Research on how outdoor access affects the welfare of pigs, cattle, chickens, and other farm animals, and the trade-offs involved.
Outdoor access is widely recognized as a welfare improvement for most farm animal species, but the reality is more nuanced than simple inside-versus-outside comparisons. Outdoor environments that provide shade, shelter, foraging substrate, and protection from predators and extremes deliver significant welfare benefits. But outdoor access to barren, wet fields with no environmental complexity may provide little welfare benefit over well-managed indoor enriched systems. The key is whether animals actually choose to use outdoor areas and whether those areas meet their behavioral and physiological needs.