Farm Animals

Pig Group Penning and Play Behaviour

Play behaviour is an indicator of positive welfare in pigs. Providing conditions that encourage play indicates and promotes good welfare.

Key Facts

Play fighting, running, and jumping are common in pigs with good welfare
Play is most common in well-nourished, enriched, and healthy animals
Straw provision significantly increases play frequency in growing pigs
Pigs play most in the morning and late afternoon
Play behaviour can be used as a positive welfare indicator in routine assessments

Welfare Considerations

Pigs that play are demonstrating positive welfare states - they are physically healthy, not hungry, and psychologically content enough to invest energy in non-essential activities. Promoting play through enrichment, space, and good health management is therefore directly linked to positive welfare. Monitoring play as an indicator can replace reliance purely on negative welfare measures.

What You Can Do

Support welfare assessments that include positive indicators such as play
Advocate for enrichment provision linked to monitoring of play behaviour
Choose pork products from farms using positive welfare indicators in their assessments