Aggression is a serious welfare problem in commercially farmed pigs. Understanding its causes and implementing evidence-based management significantly reduces suffering.
Aggression in pigs is not a fixed behavioral trait but a predictable response to housing conditions that frustrate natural behavioral needs. Barren environments, inadequate space, mixing of unfamiliar animals, and competition for resources create the conditions for chronic aggression. The welfare solution lies upstream in system design: enriched environments, stable social groups, adequate space, and species-appropriate management reduce aggression without needing to suppress it through painful interventions like tail docking.