The five domains model provides a comprehensive framework for assessing farm animal welfare across nutrition, environment, health, behaviour and mental state.
The five domains model represents the current gold standard framework for farm animal welfare assessment. Its integration of physical and psychological welfare within a single coherent framework enables comprehensive assessment that goes beyond simple checklist compliance. The explicit inclusion of positive mental state as an assessment domain forces evaluators to consider whether animals are genuinely thriving rather than merely avoiding obvious suffering. Implementation of five domains-based assessment at farm level requires training and commitment but produces richer welfare information than traditional audits.