Play behavior in pigs is a positive welfare indicator that enriched environments can reliably promote. Measuring pig play is valuable for assessing and improving welfare conditions.
Observing pigs engaged in genuine play behavior - social wrestling, object manipulation, sudden running bouts - is one of the clearest signals that welfare is adequate. Play requires the animal to feel safe, comfortable, fed, and free from fear or pain. It cannot be faked. Conversely, its absence in young pigs in impoverished environments signals welfare compromise even when clinical health indicators appear normal. Incorporating play observation into farm welfare assessment would provide a direct measure of positive emotional states that standard health metrics miss.