Pigs are capable of experiencing positive emotional states including joy, playfulness, and anticipation. Creating conditions for these states is integral to positive welfare.
The welfare science of positive emotions in pigs is advancing rapidly, providing practical tools for assessing whether farm environments enable positive experience beyond merely preventing negative states. Play behavior in piglets — which diminishes significantly in barren, overcrowded environments — is a readily observable indicator that positive welfare conditions are being met. Farmers who observe play in their piglets are seeing tangible evidence that their management is supporting positive emotional states. The Five Opportunities framework explicitly incorporates positive experiences as welfare requirements equal in importance to the prevention of suffering. Creating environments that allow pigs to express curiosity, play, and anticipation of positive events is the positive welfare agenda for pig farming.