Chronic pain in pigs from lameness, injuries, and untreated conditions is widespread in commercial farming systems but often unrecognised and undertreated, representing a significant ongoing welfare burden.
Chronic pain in pigs represents one of the most significant ongoing welfare deficits in commercial livestock production. Unlike acute pain from procedures, chronic pain is persistent, insidious, and largely invisible — stoic animals in group housing reduce pain display, making the scale of the problem easy to underestimate. Lame sows experience pain with every step yet rarely receive analgesia. Tail-bitten pigs may suffer from open wounds for days before detection in large groups. The economic disincentives are real: treatment costs time and money, and withdrawal periods for analgesics disrupt production. Welfare science strongly supports that pigs experience pain similarly to mammals with larger brains, and the moral case for systematic pain management in commercial pig farming is compelling.