Farm Animal Positive Welfare Indicators

Moving beyond absence of suffering to actively promote positive welfare states in farm animals is an emerging priority in animal welfare science.

Key Facts

The Five Domains model explicitly includes mental state as a welfare domain alongside physical needs
Positive welfare indicators include play behaviour, exploration, positive vocalisation, and relaxed posture
Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is a validated tool for assessing positive emotional states on farm
Positive welfare may improve productivity and product quality as well as animal wellbeing
Research is developing species-specific positive welfare indicator suites for commercial farming

Welfare Considerations

Farm animal welfare must aspire beyond minimising suffering to actively promoting positive experiences. Positive welfare indicators provide measurable targets for a new generation of welfare standards.

What You Can Do

Support farm assurance schemes incorporating positive welfare indicators
Advocate for positive welfare to be included in animal welfare legislation and standards
Engage with welfare science research on positive animal experiences
Choose products from farms committed to measuring and improving positive welfare
Share the concept of positive welfare to raise the ambition of animal welfare discussions