Animal welfare assessment is shifting beyond absence of suffering to include positive experiences. Positive welfare indicators measure pleasure, play, curiosity, and contentment in farm animals.
A welfare science consensus has emerged that good animal welfare is not simply the absence of suffering but also the presence of positive experiences. Farm animals are capable of pleasure, curiosity, play, and social bonding — states that enrich their lives. Providing enrichment such as rooting materials for pigs, objects for cattle to investigate, and space for running enables these positive states. Research on cognitive bias — where animals in positive welfare states interpret ambiguous stimuli more optimistically — has validated that enrichment genuinely improves emotional state, not just behaviour. Incorporating positive welfare indicators into farm assurance schemes and legislation encourages farmers to actively create conditions for positive experience rather than merely avoiding obvious harms.