Play behavior in young pigs is a reliable indicator of positive welfare states and can be used to assess whether farm environments are enabling genuinely good welfare.
The presence of play behavior in farm animals represents one of the most accessible positive welfare indicators for farmers and auditors. Unlike measuring absence of disease or injury, observing play directly indicates that animals are experiencing positive states. Farms where piglets play spontaneously are providing meaningfully better welfare than those where animals are merely alive and growing.