Individual identification of pigs using electronic ear tags, RFID, and emerging computer vision systems enables individual welfare monitoring that transforms herd-level assessment into animal-level intervention.
Individual identification transforms pig welfare from a herd-level statistic into an animal-level welfare intervention. When every pig has an identity, welfare problems can be detected and addressed for specific individuals rather than waiting for herd-level averages to trigger action. The welfare benefit of individual monitoring is proportional to the ability to intervene rapidly when individual animals show welfare deterioration.