The welfare science field is moving beyond preventing suffering toward actively measuring positive experiences — joy, play, curiosity — in farm animals to guide welfare improvements.
Traditional animal welfare assessment focused on the Five Freedoms — preventing hunger, pain, disease, abnormal behavior, and fear. This framework, while valuable, is inherently negative: it measures the absence of suffering rather than the presence of positive experiences. Contemporary welfare science recognizes that a good life requires more than absence of suffering — it requires positive experiences, opportunities for enjoyment, and the expression of natural behaviors that carry intrinsic value. Farm animals play, explore, anticipate rewards, and show preferences — all of which represent positive experiences worth protecting and providing. Welfare assessment systems now increasingly include positive indicators alongside traditional negative ones.