Accurate pain assessment in farm animals is fundamental to welfare protection and treatment decisions, requiring validated tools and trained observers across all production systems.
Pain assessment in farm animals is a fundamental welfare challenge because these species actively mask pain as a survival mechanism - expressions of weakness invite predator attack. This means pain that would be obvious in companion animals goes undetected in farm animals living in groups where stoic behaviour is the norm. Farm workers who lack training in species-specific pain indicators cannot make welfare-protecting decisions even with good intentions. Validated pain assessment tools exist for multiple species but their adoption in commercial farming remains limited by training gaps and cost pressures. Improving pain recognition is upstream of all other farm animal welfare interventions.