Factors identifying pigs predisposed to tail biting.

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Tail biting results in welfare and production problems. The objective of this study was to identify common behavioural factors among pigs that tail bite. At three and six weeks of age (before and after weaning) pigs were individually tested in a tail chew test. This test consisted of observing each pig’s behaviour in response to two ropes (one soaked in saline, the other not). The time spent in contact with the rope in the second tail chew test (after weaning) was positively correlated with tail biting behaviour. The time spent in contact with the rope in the first tail chew test was positively correlated with ear biting behaviour. Pigs that spent more than 1.5% of their time engaged in tail biting behaviour weighed less at weaning and tended to weigh less at seven weeks of age than pigs that spent less time performing tail biting behaviour. The authors suggest that nutritional deficiencies could be at the core of the tail biting problem. The nutritional deficiencies could cause the pigs to engage in foraging behaviour directed at other pigs in the form of ear/tail biting.

Sensory varieties in concentrate diets for stabled horses: Effects on behaviour and selection

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There is very little data available about how presenting horses with a concentrate affects their feeding behaviour and whether restricting the variety in the diet affects the foraging behaviour. The study examined how various sensory components of the diet affect the diet selection and the behaviour of horses housed in stables. In the first experiment varied the formulation of the diet. Experiment two varied the flavour and formulation of the diets and experiment three, varied only the flavour of the diet. In two identical stables, horses were provided with a single concentrate diet or four concentrate diets for five minutes. During the five minutes, the behaviour of the horses was videotaped and compared. There were significant differences in the foraging and non-foraging behaviours when the horses were offered a single type or multiple concentrates in all three experiments. The diet that was available during the single selection influenced the diet choice when multiple concentrates were available. The flavour of the diet significantly affected the foraging and non-foraging behaviours. Horses provided with multiple concentrates foraged more frequently and for longer. However, the foraging bouts were much shorter in duration when compared to horses only provided one type of concentrate. The results from this study suggest that stabled horses exhibit and natural patch foraging behaviour when they are offered multiple concentrate diets, even if they only vary in terms of flavour.

Reduction in feather pecking and improvement of feather condition with the presentation of a string device to chickens.

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Feather pecking remains a serious problem in commercial egg production. It has been argued that feather pecking occurs as a result of misdirected pecking, so a possible solution would be to increase the likelihood that such pecking was targeted at another object in the environment rather than to the feathers of conspecifics. Chickens of various strains and ages will readily peck at a device consisting of strands of white string but it is not yet known if pecking at that device would substitute for pecking at conspecifics. Therefore, the effects of providing string devices on feather pecking in an experimental situation (Experiment 1) and on feather condition under commercial conditions (Experiment 2) were examined. In experiment 1, 300 chicks of a high-feather pecking strain of white leghorn-type layers were housed in groups of five in litter-floor pens. The 60 pens were randomly allocated to one of five treatments: devices incorporated in the chicks’ pens continuously from 1 day of age till the end of the experiment at 57 days; devices presented for 4 h per day from 1 day of age; first presented from 22 days of age; first presented from 52 days of age; and finally, devices never presented. Feather pecking was virtually eliminated when the devices remained in the pens from 1 day of age or when they were presented for 4 h per day. Feather pecking was most pronounced among birds that had never received the device whereas its introduction at 22 or 52 days of age yielded intermediate results. This orderly pattern of more pecking at feathers when the device was added at later ages was significant (P < 0.005). In experiment 2, 768 Lohmann LSL laying chickens were housed in rearing cages and 720 were transferred in groups of three to conventional laying chickens when 16 weeks old. The birds were allocated to one of four treatments: devices present from 1 day of age; presented for 24 h every 4 weeks; continuously present from 16 weeks of age; and finally, devices never presented. At 35 weeks of age, hens with access to the device had significantly better plumage condition than those that had never received the device (P < 0.05).In conclusion, the addition of a simple string device to the hens of non-beak-trimmed high-feather-pecking birds decreased feather pecking behaviour (Experiment 1), and to the cages of non-beak-trimmed commercial layers significantly improved feather condition (Experiment 2).

A method for assessing the relative sociability of individuals within groups: an example with grazing sheep.

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Sociability is defined as the tendency to be close to companions and can be quantified by calculating nearest neighbours. A method was developed to quantify relative sociability, which works well for animals that are housed in groups and are easily visible and identifiable. The time an animal spends as the nearest neighbour of other animals is scaled to have an expectation of 1.0 under the null hypothesis of random mixing, which is referred to as the sociability index. Nearest neighbours were identified based on being associated pairs (more often than expected by chance). Independent observation periods are tested for consistency. There were 8 groups of 7 sheep observed for 10, one-hour periods

Second Oestrus Synchronization and Precocious Embryo Viability after Puberty Induction in Gilts by the Use of Gonadotrophin Treatment

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Sheep show more aversion to a dog than to a human in an arena test.

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Differences in stimulus aversiveness among sheep have been detected using an arena that creates approach/avoidance motivational conflict. More specifically, the procedure involves placing a stimulus between an individual sheep and a group of companions. In this particular study, the stimuli that were tested included: a box, goat, human and dog. Based on the behavioural reactions during the test, the authors speculated on the relative aversiveness of the human compared to the dog and goat. Each sheep was exposed to the stimulus for 10 min. The results indicated that the sheep stayed further away from their companions when a dog was present in the arena. When the dog was present, the sheep explored very little and were very vigilant. When the human and goat were in the arena, the sheep kept an intermediate distance from their companions, and their vigilance and exploration were also intermediate. The main difference in their response to a human and goat was that the sheep sniffed the goat more than the human. More fear-related behaviour occurred because of the human than the goat. This type of test is very useful for measuring relative aversiveness of different stimuli. The dog was most aversive and the human was slightly more aversive than the goat.

Selection and acceptance of flavours in concentrate diets for stabled horses.

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Flavour preference tests were used in this study to determine the role of flavour in diet selection in domestic horses. Eight stabled horses were provided with hay ad-libitum and a standard unflavoured concentrate ration in the morning. The actual trial involved providing the horses with a variety of flavoured rations. Six flavoured diets were presented each day with an hour between each meal presentation. Of the 15 flavours presented 12 were accepted by all the horses. The fastest mean consumption times were found with the following flavours: banana, carrot, cherry, cumin, fenugreek, oregano, peppermint, and rosemary. The second trial involved presenting the eight favourite flavours in paired preference tests. The tests were scored based on 0 (rejection) to 1 (exclusive consumption). The following preference order was determined: fenugreek, banana, cherry, rosemary, cumin, carrot, peppermint, and oregano. The third trial was conducted to determine relative consumption time of the top two flavours, fenugreek and banana. The horses took significantly longer to consume the flavoured pellets compared to the unflavoured pellets. The results of these trials indicated that diet acceptance, selection and consumption times were all significantly influenced by flavour.

Responses to climatic variables of horses housed outdoors under Nordic winter conditions

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This study assessed the effects of Nordic winter conditions on horses kept permanently outdoors, but provided with a sheltered area. The average incidence of being outdoors was 70 %, although the horses spent most of their time outdoors under all weather conditions. Temperatures went as low as -31 °C. The horses made more use of the shelter under low ambient temperatures. There was a strong tendency for increased shelter use in response to rain and wind, but snow had no effect on shelter usage. Shivering behaviour was observed only once on a single horse during a rainy day at +5 °C. In addition to behaviour, body condition score, coat length and serum thyroid hormone (T4) level were recorded. Neck coat length reached an average maximum of 4.6 ± 0.9 cm. Body condition score remained satisfactory over the winter months. There was no correlation between serum T4 and ambient temperature. Results of this study indicated that cold climates with temperatures as low as -31 °C do not challenge the thermoregulation of cold-acclimated Icelandic horses as long as there is sufficient quality feed and access to shelter.

Human contact and feeding as rewards for the lamb's affinity to their stockperson

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The relationship between a stockperson and animals that they care for is important in terms of caring for the animal and avoiding situations that threaten animal welfare. In the case of lambs, it is known that very close relationships can develop, particularly if the stockperson spends a great deal of time with the young animal. This study was designed to determine if this relationship was due to the presence of the stockperson, their handling of the lamb, or an association between the stockperson and feeding of the lamb. Lambs were reared according to three different protocols from birth to 3.5 wk of age. In the first treatment the stockperson entered the lamb’s pen and remained there, in a crouched position, for 5 min. This treatment was applied 5 times the first week, and 2 times per week thereafter. In the second treatment the stockperson handled the lamb during the five minutes that they spent in the pen. In the third treatment the stockperson handled the lamb and encouraged it to eat from the feed bucket. At 3.5 weeks of age the lambs were tested in a test arena in which they were allowed to approach the stockperson. Handling, whether or not it included feeding, increased the lamb’s willingness to approach the human in the arena test. This is indicative of a stronger human-animal relationship. Feeding of the lamb by the stockperson had no additional effect on approach to the stockperson, but while in the presence of the stockperson these lambs were more likely to approach a feeding bucket. In general, handling affected the response of lambs to their stockperson.

Influence of Partus Induction on the pH Value in the Blood of Newborn Piglets

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Partus induction is an important integrative component of reproduction management in the swine industry. In this context, the question is to what extent the application of uterotonic
substances may influence the vitality of piglets. The blood pH value is used as a laboratory objective diagnostic parameter of neonatal acidosis. This parameter of the acid– base balance was examined in piglets born spontaneously at the 115th to 116th day of gestation (group 1, n ¼ 57) and after two different partus induction protocols starting at the 114th day of gestation (group 2: combination of 175 lg of cloprostenol and 20 IU of oxytocin, n ¼ 55; group 3: 175 lg of
cloprostenol and 35 lg of carbetocin, n ¼ 56). Initial blood samples were taken from each piglet at birth and 2 h later. The results show that the different protocols have no negative influence on the initial pH value and the compensation of neonatal acidosis until the second hour post-natum.