Adopt a welfare standard for your estate
A clear welfare framework turns good intentions into daily checks. The Five Freedoms and the newer Five Domains model are widely used reference points.
How
- Learn the Five Freedoms: freedom from hunger and thirst; from discomfort; from pain, injury or disease; to express normal behaviour (including company of their own kind); and from fear and distress.
- Add the Five Domains view: nutrition, physical environment, health, behavioural interactions and mental state. It asks you to give animals positive experiences, not only to avoid suffering.
- Read your country's welfare code for each species. Example (England): codes issued under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 are not law on their own, but a court can consider whether you followed them.
- Turn the standard into a one-page checklist per species: feed, water, shelter, space, company, health checks, enrichment.
Sources
- Five Freedoms. Penn State Animal Welfare, accessed 2026-11
- The 2020 Five Domains Model: Including Human-Animal Interactions in Assessments of Animal Welfare. Animals (MDPI), Mellor et al. 2020, accessed 2026-11
- Code of practice for the welfare of laying hens and pullets. UK Government (Defra), GOV.UK, accessed 2026-11