The age at which pigs are slaughtered determines how much of their behavioral and social potential they experience — and welfare assessments should consider this temporal dimension alongside living conditions.
The brevity of farmed pig lives is a welfare consideration that is rarely discussed: animals killed at five months have experienced only a fraction of their potential life span and behavioral repertoire. While welfare science focuses on the quality of the time animals live, the quantity of life — and the experiences that time allows — also matters morally. Pigs at commercial slaughter age are adolescents who have not yet experienced the full social complexity that characterizes adult pig behavior. This temporal dimension deserves acknowledgment in welfare frameworks.