Accurate pain assessment in pigs is essential for welfare management, requiring validated behavioral and physiological indicators that can be practically applied in farm settings.
Pig pain assessment welfare depends on recognition that pigs actively conceal pain as a survival strategy, meaning that surface behavior often underestimates the severity of pain states. Validated assessment tools including the Pig Grimace Scale and composite pain scales provide structured approaches to recognizing pain that go beyond subjective impression. The practical challenge in commercial settings is implementing systematic pain assessment as part of routine stockperson practice. Training stockpersons to use validated assessment tools and empowering them to act on findings through appropriate treatment represents one of the highest-leverage welfare interventions in pig farming. Analgesic provision for painful procedures and conditions is increasingly expected under welfare certification schemes.