Pigs are playful animals whose capacity for play is both an indicator of positive welfare states and a fundamental behavioural need requiring appropriate space and enrichment.
Play is not a luxury for pigs — it is a valid welfare indicator reflecting positive affective states and meeting fundamental needs for novelty, social engagement, and physical expression. Commercial systems that deny pigs the space, social stability, and enrichment needed for play are suppressing natural behaviour with measurable welfare costs. Farms that invest in enriched environments see not only higher play rates but also reduced aggression, better growth rates, and lower disease incidence. Pig play is an underutilised welfare metric that should be incorporated into on-farm assessment tools.