Enrichment ideas

The provision of adequate enrichment is an essential part of farmed animal welfare and is a key requirement of the RSPCA’s welfare standards. Pigs are incredibly intelligent, social and inquisitive. They need enrichment so they can express natural behaviours and be happy and healthy. Although good pig welfare requires other factors, such as good stockspersonship and taking care of their physical needs, i.e. good nutrition and access to fresh water, environmental enrichment is essential to allow them to express their natural behaviours, have positive experiences and live a better quality of life.

Effective enrichment is not only important for pigs' mental and physical health, but there is evidence, enrichment increases productivity, reduces stress and the risk of tail biting, as well as making them easier to handle. It is important that enrichment is maintained on an on-going basis to ensure it sustains the pigs’ interest.

The RSPCA pig standards state that ‘pigs must, at all times, have access to effective environmental enrichment materials in sufficient quantities to allow and encourage proper expression of rooting, pawing and chewing behaviours’.

For enrichment to be effective, it needs to encourage and allow pigs to carry out their natural rooting behaviour. Therefore, they must be provided with materials such as straw, objects such as wood, and toys are not sufficient.

Here are some suggestions from the RSPCA’s senior scientific officer and pig welfare expert, Phoebe Hartnett, on how you can provide your pigs with good enrichment: 

Phoebe says: “I recommend offering extra straw or silage, making sure it's kept clean and free from any contaminants, and can even be offered in the form of bales.  Supplementary to straw, pigs enjoy playing with purpose-made toys, hanging chains, wood or even something like a football.  It's really important to keep these enrichment items clean, as once they get soiled, the pigs tend to lose interest.  To keep things interesting and ensure a good supply, it's a good idea to rotate and replenish the enrichment regularly.

“This AHDB guide is really useful and provides good information on enrichment at each stage of production and in different systems. It includes 'how to present it', 'practical considerations' and pictures which are really useful”.