Environmental enrichment for farmed pigs reduces stereotypic behavior, aggression, and boredom while enabling expression of natural behaviors in intensive production systems.
Enrichment for farmed pigs addresses the fundamental welfare problem of animals highly motivated to perform complex foraging and exploration behaviors being housed in barren environments that prevent natural expression. The frustration of being unable to perform these behaviors creates chronic negative affective states that manifest as stereotypies, aggression, and tail biting. Effective enrichment - particularly substrate materials that allow genuine rooting and foraging - substantially reduces these welfare problems. The distinction between nominal compliance with enrichment requirements (hanging chains) and genuinely effective enrichment (straw, composts, or rooting substrates) matters enormously for actual welfare outcomes. EU regulations have set a floor, but achieving good pig welfare requires genuinely effective enrichment materials.