Designing enrichment that satisfies pigs' natural foraging motivation and improves welfare.
The rooting and foraging drive in pigs is among the strongest behavioral motivations of any domestic species. In intensive systems, this drive has nowhere to go, creating chronic frustration. Research clearly demonstrates that pigs provided with substrate that can be rooted, manipulated, and investigated show dramatically lower rates of damaging behavior toward pen mates. Effective enrichment must be changeable or destructible — pigs rapidly habituate to static objects. The best welfare improvements provide novelty, challenge, and genuine foraging engagement rather than merely occupying physical space.