Decades of pig enrichment research have produced a clear evidence base for what interventions improve welfare. Rooting materials, complexity, and novelty are the most consistently effective enrichment types.
Pig enrichment science represents one of the most developed areas of farm animal welfare research, providing clear evidence-based recommendations that are extensively ignored in commercial production. The research clearly shows that pigs in barren environments suffer through frustrated behavioral needs that manifest as tail biting, aggression, and chronic stress. Straw provision is consistently identified as the most effective, cost-accessible enrichment but is avoided in fully slatted systems because it blocks slurry drainage. This represents a design conflict between infrastructure convenience and animal welfare that the industry has historically resolved in favor of convenience. Consumer and regulatory pressure are the primary forces with proven capacity to change this.