Research on pig environmental enrichment has identified specific materials and approaches that most effectively satisfy behavioral needs and reduce aggression and tail biting in commercial herds.
Pig enrichment science has moved beyond simply providing any object and now identifies specific characteristics that make enrichment effective. Materials must be manipulable, changeable, destructible, and ideally edible to satisfy rooting and chewing drives. Straw satisfies all these criteria and dramatically reduces tail biting rates compared to barren systems. Regulatory requirements for enrichment in the EU have driven producer adoption, but consistent provision of high-quality enrichment remains a monitoring and enforcement challenge across the industry.