Beyond preventing negative states, positive welfare in pigs requires provision of conditions enabling play, exploration, and positive affective states — an area of growing research and practical importance.
Pig welfare assessment has historically focused on preventing negative states — injury, disease, and frustration. The growing recognition that good welfare requires positive experiences as well as the absence of suffering is changing both research priorities and farm practice. Pigs in enriched environments with rooting materials, novel objects, and social play opportunities show measurable evidence of positive affective states through increased play frequency and optimistic cognitive bias. Providing for positive welfare states in pigs requires active management investment beyond minimum legal requirements — an investment that evidence suggests also improves resilience to disease and reduces aggression.