Farm Animal Welfare

Pig Welfare and Welfare Monitoring Technology

Technology-based welfare monitoring including cameras, sensors, and AI systems are being developed to enable continuous, objective welfare assessment on pig farms.

Key Facts

Computer vision systems can detect pigs at risk of tail biting before incidents occur
Acoustic monitoring identifies respiratory disease through cough detection
Activity sensors track lying, standing, and movement patterns as welfare indicators
Real-time alerts from monitoring systems enable faster welfare intervention
Commercial precision welfare monitoring systems are beginning to reach the market

Welfare Considerations

Welfare monitoring technology enables continuous assessment that human observation cannot provide. Bridging the gap between research applications and commercial deployment can significantly improve welfare detection and response times.

What You Can Do

Support farms investing in welfare monitoring technology
Advocate for monitoring technology adoption to be incentivised in welfare schemes
Learn about precision welfare monitoring approaches and their potential
Support research into technology-based welfare assessment systems