Play behavior in pigs is a validated indicator of positive welfare states, and its presence or absence can reveal the quality of production environments.
Pig play behavior provides one of the clearest positive welfare indicators available in farm animal assessment. Pigs that are stressed, ill, or in poor welfare conditions reduce and eventually eliminate play behavior — it is a luxury behavioral expression that requires wellbeing to sustain. When play is observed in a pig population, it signals that welfare needs are being adequately met. Conversely, the near-complete absence of play in intensive production environments is a welfare signal that conventional assessment focused only on negative indicators would miss. Incorporating play observation into routine welfare assessment provides a richer, more complete picture of actual welfare states.