Farmed Pig Pain Recognition and Assessment

Recognising and managing pain in pigs is essential for welfare, yet pigs are stoic animals and traditional stockmanship often fails to identify pain early. Validated assessment tools and improved training are needed to close the pain recognition gap.

Key Facts

Pigs are prey animals that suppress pain behaviour to avoid appearing vulnerable - a survival mechanism that works against their welfare in farm settings
The Piglet Grimace Scale, adapted from rodent models, assesses facial expression changes in acute pain
Postural changes including hunched posture, reluctance to rise, and abnormal weight bearing indicate pain
Reduced social interaction and withdrawal from the group are early behavioural signs of pain or illness
NSAIDs including meloxicam are highly effective for pig pain when administered promptly
Pain recognition training for farm stockpeople significantly improves detection rates
Routine painful procedures including castration, tail docking, and teeth clipping should include anaesthesia or analgesia
Welfare assessment protocols increasingly include behavioural pain indicators alongside production metrics

Welfare Considerations

Pain goes unrecognised in pigs far more commonly than it should, given the availability of effective analgesics and validated assessment tools. The gap between pain occurring and treatment being administered represents unnecessary suffering for millions of individual pigs. Improving stockperson training in pain recognition, providing access to appropriate analgesia, and using validated assessment tools in welfare audits would substantially reduce the burden of pain in commercial pig production.

What You Can Do

Support pig welfare standards requiring stockperson training in pain recognition and assessment
Advocate for mandatory pain relief for routine painful procedures in pig production
Choose pork from certified systems with demonstrated pain management protocols
Learn about pig pain indicators to understand the importance of good stockmanship in pig welfare