Farm Animals

Pig Positive Welfare Indicators Research

Research into positive welfare indicators for pigs is expanding beyond the absence of suffering to identify signs of flourishing.

Key Facts

Traditional welfare assessment focused on disease, injury, and behavioral problems
Positive indicators include play behavior, exploration, and social affiliation
The PIGWISE project developed validated positive welfare indicators for commercial farms
Tail posture, ear posture, and vocalizations can indicate positive versus negative affect
Farms scoring highly on positive welfare indicators show lower disease and injury rates

Welfare Considerations

Assessing positive welfare states in pigs allows farms to move beyond minimizing suffering toward actively promoting flourishing. Pigs showing play and exploratory behavior are demonstrably in better welfare states.

What You Can Do

Support farms assessed on positive welfare indicators not only on health parameters
Advocate for inclusion of positive welfare assessment in farm assurance standards
Choose pork certified by schemes requiring behavioral welfare assessment