Moving beyond absence of suffering, positive welfare indicators identify what good pig welfare looks like and help farms demonstrate genuine welfare achievement.
Welfare assessment that only measures the absence of negative states misses an important dimension of what good welfare means. Positive welfare indicators including play behavior, tail posture, social affiliation, and behavioral diversity indicate not just absence of suffering but presence of positive experiences. Including positive indicators in welfare assessment captures a more complete picture of what it means for a pig to have a good life.