Providing pigs with genuine opportunities for play, exploration, and positive emotional experiences goes beyond minimum legal requirements and represents best practice in progressive pig production.
Most pig housing systems provide legal minimum enrichment requirements, but these rarely satisfy pigs' complex behavioural needs. Pigs that cannot express natural behaviours including rooting, foraging, and play redirect these drives into damaging behaviours such as tail biting. Positive welfare - not just the absence of suffering - requires active provision of opportunities for rewarding experiences. Producers implementing enrichment report improvements in pig behaviour, reduced aggression, and sometimes improved feed conversion, suggesting welfare and productivity can be aligned.