Modern pig welfare science has moved beyond measuring absence of suffering to assessing positive welfare states. Understanding positive indicators transforms how we evaluate and improve pig welfare.
The shift from measuring welfare deficits to measuring positive welfare states represents a significant advance in pig welfare science with practical implications for farm management. Farms that measure only absence of disease and injury miss the welfare dimension of enriched positive experience - pigs that are healthy but bored, frustrated, and behaviorally suppressed are not experiencing good welfare. Positive welfare indicators including play frequency, exploration rate, and optimistic cognitive bias provide measurable targets that incentivize management practices that go beyond preventing suffering to actively promoting positive states. This transforms welfare improvement from 'fewer problems' to 'more positive life quality' - a more ambitious and more complete welfare standard.