Enrichment provision for pigs is legally required in the EU and UK but quality of implementation varies enormously. Understanding what enrichment actually works is essential for welfare improvement.
Pig enrichment law is widely acknowledged to be inadequately implemented on commercial farms. The letter of the law is met with hanging chains or hard plastic toys that pigs quickly lose interest in; the spirit of the law - that pigs should be able to express rooting, foraging, and investigative behaviours - is routinely violated. The science is clear that straw or other degradable organic substrates are necessary to meet this need. The barriers are practical - straw management in slurry systems is challenging - but not insurmountable. Regulatory reform specifying enrichment quality standards rather than mere presence would transform compliance.