Growing scientific evidence shows that farm animals experience positive emotions including joy and playfulness, challenging purely productivity-focused approaches to their care.
Welfare science has moved beyond a purely negative framework focused on the absence of suffering to include the presence of positive experiences. Farm animals that play are expressing not just good health but genuine positive affect — states analogous to joy or contentment. Providing space, enrichment and social opportunities for these behaviours is not a luxury but a welfare requirement. Farmers who understand and recognise play behaviour in their animals tend to make better husbandry decisions and report higher job satisfaction. Incorporating positive welfare indicators into farm assurance schemes would drive meaningful improvement across the industry.