Collaboratrices et collaborateurs

How to promote positive animal welfare (PAW) on farm remains an open question. We examined factors that could modulate PAW, namely: social life, individuality, choice and agency. Affiliative social interactions and associated social processes are crucial for experiencing a good (social) life. In a social group, each individual differs in how they perceive and appraise their environment and how they respond to opportunities for PAW, which in turn may shape group dynamics. The joint study of social life and individuality in modulating PAW remains largely unexplored, especially in farmed animals, despite a potential synergy. Our aim was to discuss the interplay between social life and individuality in the context of PAW, and to identify new research directions. We first examine how individual differences in sensory and cognitive capabilities shape animals’ appraisal of their environment and influence PAW. We then discuss key features of social life, such as affiliative interactions, social cohesion and socialisation, and their relevance for PAW outcomes. Finally, we propose an integrative conceptual framework that illustrates how the interplay between individuality and social life may create conditions conducive to a good life. As individuals navigate their social environment, the ability to make choices plays a key role in expressing agency and shaping PAW outcomes. Choice can be defined as the opportunity and ability to select an option among alternatives or to choose when and how to bring about a specific outcome in the environment. Making choices provides animals with experiences and consequences of their choices, gives them control over their environment and is seen as a way to increase or enable the expression of agency. Over the long-term, the continued capacity to make choices, in theory, builds greater competence through skill and knowledge enhancement - an integral part of PAW. However, simply providing opportunities for choice will not guarantee PAW. We aimed to provide a “list of ingredients” for researchers wanting to study choice and its effects on PAW in farm animals. We reviewed studies that manipulate choice and studied welfare outcomes, extracting information about animal characteristics and environmental conditions that could potentially influence whether choice leads to PAW outcomes. This narrative review will illustrate existing knowledge gaps and bring more clarity to the link between choice, agency and PAW.