Pigs are among the most intelligent farm animals with complex behavioural needs. Providing enrichment materials reduces aggression, stereotypies, and boredom in commercial pig production.
Pig intelligence and complexity of behavioural needs makes barren commercial housing particularly damaging to their welfare. Pigs deprived of rooting substrate redirect this highly motivated behaviour to pen-mates, causing tail biting that spreads through groups and causes painful wounds and sometimes death. Tail docking — painful mutilation without anaesthesia — is used as a management response to a problem caused by inadequate housing. Straw or other rooting substrate provision at modest cost prevents tail biting almost entirely, demonstrating that the welfare problem is system-created and system-solvable. Pigs given enrichment show higher rates of play, exploration, and social bonding — all positive welfare indicators — compared to pigs in barren systems. Consumer demand for enrichment standards is a powerful lever for change in this area.