Farm animals frequently experience unrecognised and undertreated pain, partly because pain signs in prey species are subtle and partly because of economic barriers to treatment.
Pain underrecognition in farm animals reflects a convergence of evolutionary adaptation and economic pressure. Prey animals that visibly signal pain attract predators, so subtle pain expression evolved over millennia — making recognition difficult for untrained observers. Economic pressure creates incentives to minimise veterinary intervention including analgesics. The result is that significant numbers of farm animals experience unmanaged pain from disease, injury and routine procedures. Training stockpeople in validated pain assessment tools like grimace scales, combined with regulatory requirements for analgesic provision and reduction in economic barriers through subsidy or pricing, would substantially reduce this welfare burden. Pain management in farm animals is not optional but a fundamental welfare obligation.