Environmental design principles that support positive welfare states in pigs go beyond minimizing suffering to actively promoting exploration, play, and positive social interaction.
Positive welfare environmental design for pigs requires designing for flourishing rather than merely designing away suffering. A pen that prevents injury and disease but provides no opportunity for exploration, play, or positive social interaction falls short of good welfare. Design principles for positive pig welfare include: space that allows genuine social choice, materials that support natural behaviors like rooting and manipulation, complexity that provides novel stimulation, and management that creates positive human-animal interactions. These principles translate into practical design features that are increasingly incorporated into high-welfare commercial pig systems.