Indoor Pig Enrichment 2025: Latest Science and Implementation

Key Welfare Facts

UK legislation requires pigs to have permanent access to a sufficient quantity of material to investigate and manipulate.
Rooting and foraging behaviours are core to pig welfare; material that engages these specifically is most effective.
Straw remains the gold standard enrichment material meeting multiple welfare needs simultaneously when adequate volume is provided.
Commercial enrichment objects including chains, balls, and hanging devices have limited efficacy without renewal.
Foraging substrates including compost, peat, and soil delivered as supplements significantly reduce abnormal behaviour.
Stockperson attention and positive human-animal interaction acts as a form of enrichment improving welfare outcomes.

Welfare Assessment

Indoor pig enrichment must move beyond token object provision to genuinely engage natural foraging behaviour. Supporting certification schemes requiring enrichment that meets biological needs rather than minimum legislative requirements drives meaningful welfare improvement.

What You Can Do

Support farm certification requiring meaningful foraging enrichment rather than minimum legislative compliance
Advocate for legislative strengthening requiring rooting substrate provision in all indoor pig systems
Choose pork from farms with demonstrated enrichment provision that reduces abnormal behaviours
Support research into accessible foraging substrates for use in fully slatted indoor systems