Accurate recognition of pain in pigs on farm is essential for prompt treatment and welfare improvement, with validated assessment tools making practical pain scoring achievable.
Pain recognition in pigs is a trainable skill with validated tools now available to support farm-level assessment. Untrained stockpeople frequently miss signs of chronic pain that would be obvious to a trained observer — not from indifference but from lack of specific knowledge about what to look for. Integrating pain scoring into routine daily health checks transforms pain recognition from occasional clinical observation into a systematic welfare monitoring practice that catches problems earlier and enables faster treatment.