Research increasingly documents positive welfare states in cattle including play, curiosity and long-term social bonds that should be considered in welfare assessment.
Cattle welfare science has expanded beyond preventing the Five Freedoms violations to include measurement of positive states. Cattle that play, explore, form social bonds and show curiosity are expressing positive welfare that should be protected and facilitated. This means maintaining stable social groups rather than frequent regrouping, providing novel environmental stimulation, and enabling the expression of natural social behaviour. Incorporating positive welfare indicators into cattle assessment frameworks creates incentives for farmers to achieve genuinely good welfare rather than merely preventing the worst outcomes.