Reducing veal calves' reactivity to people by providing additional human contact.

Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2000 | No Comments

In veal calf production, animals receive little contact with people, and this contact is largely restricted to the period around feeding. The development of more automated farming systems and increased number of animals per stockperson will thus further decrease the opportunities to develop positive associations between the stockperson and animals. The objective of this experiment was to study the importance of the stock person’s behaviour on veal calf behaviour using 22 veal calves housed in individual crates. Half of the calves received minimal contact from the stockperson, and the other half were stroked and allowed to suck the stockperson’s fingers after each meal during the entire fattening period of 21 weeks. The effects of this additional contact with stockperson on the calves’ responses to people were studied, when the calves were in their home environment (crate) or singly in a novel arena. When the calves were tested in their home environment, those received additional contact withdrew less from the approach of humans (familiar or unfamiliar) compared with control (no contact) calves. When tested outside the home environment with a human (familiar or unfamiliar) standing motionless, calves that had received additional contact interacted more frequently and for a longer time with humans and defecated less often compared with control calves. In conclusion, short but regular positive contacts around feeding seemed to be experienced as positive by the calf, because they reduced withdrawal from the increased approaches to familiar and unfamiliar humans in familiar and unfamiliar environments. Such a lower reactivity to people could improve ease of handling, animal performance, and animal welfare.

A note on the effects of perches and litter substrate on leg weakness in broiler chickens.

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In this experiment two trials were conducted to investigate the effect of availability of perches on indices of leg weakness in broiler chickens. A third trial investigated the effect of litter substrate on similar indices of leg weakness in broiler chickens. Leg weakness traits examined were walking ability and tibial dyschondroplasia, tibial curvature, foot burn, and hock burn. Body weight was also measured in all trials. The presence of perches in the rearing pens had no effect on any of the indices of leg weakness examined in either trial. There were no consistent effects of perches on body weight. Litter substrate affected some indices of leg weakness; birds reared on wheat straw had poorer walking ability and more foot burn than birds reared on wood shavings, and birds reared on hemp waste were intermediate between them. There was no effect of litter substrate on tibial dyschondroplasia or tibial curvature. Turning the straw litter regularly and adding fresh supplies when necessary did not significantly improve indices of leg weakness. It was concluded that wood shavings provide a better litter substrate than straw, but that perches have no beneficial effect on reducing leg weakness in broilers.

The Effects of Pen Partitions and Thermal Pig Simulators on Airflow in a Livestock Test Room

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Effects of injection position and transponder size on the performance of passive injectable transponders used for the electronic identification of cattle.

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This study examined the efficacy of electronic transponders of different size and location for losses, readability, and recovery. Transponders may be used in a variety of situations to facilitate animal management or maintain identification throughout the animal’s life. In cattle these transponders may be a means of eliminating or reducing branding. Larger transponders (32 mm) were more efficient than small ones (23 mm), although they broke more, they were more readily read and removed. Placing the transponders in the armpit reduced losses, achieved high levels of readability, but took longer to remove at slaughter. These were often removed with the hide, making carcass identification less feasible. Recovery was easiest in the lip, then the ear, and took longest in the armpit. Breakages were less than 1%; losses varied from less than 2% (armpit) to 14% (lip), readability was 95% in the armpit but fell to 60% in the lip. Recovery exceeded 96% in all cases. The armpit location was best with the exception that they were more difficult to recover.

The impact of gentle contacts on ease of handling, welfare, and growth of calves and on quality of veal meat.

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In commercial conditions, fear of people can lead to decreased welfare and productivity of animals. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of positive contacts on the welfare and productivity of calves and the quality of veal meat. 22 calves housed in individual crates were used in the experiment. Half of the calves received minimal contact from the stockperson, and the other half were stroked and allowed to suck the stockperson’s fingers after each meal during the entire fattening period of 21 weeks. Welfare of the animals was assessed thorough behavioural reactivity (reactions to handling, to surprise stimuli, and to novelty), neuroendocrine responses to stress (cortisol in response to an ACTH challenge, catecholamine-synthesizing enzymes), and health (number of medical treatments, abomasal lesions). The productivity of the calves was assessed through growth rates and meat quality. Calves that received gentle contacts were less agitated and tended to defecate less when handled in a cart on wheels than the control calves. There was no treatment effect on responses to ACTH, and catecholamine synthetic potential. Calves given gentle contacts had fewer abomasal lesions than controls. No treatment effect was found on meat pH, meat colour, or growth rates. But the calves that received gentle contacts had higher glycolytic potential (an estimation of resting glycogen level in muscle) of the semimembranosus muscle. In conclusion this study suggests that, although the neuroendocrine responses to stress and number of medical treatments were not improved, gentling veal calves around meals can improve some of their welfare by decreasing reactions to handling and by reducing the occurrence of abomasal lesions.

Behavior of White Leghorn hens after withdrawal of feed

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The feed withdraw (FW) periods imposed on hens during induced molt programs usually are at least 5 d in length, which is about the minimum required to ensure that the flock ceases production entirely, and frequently are considerably longer. This practice has led to criticism of the egg industry by animal advocacy groups, who claim that induced molt FW is tantamount to starvation. Starvation implies harm, so egg producers stand accused of deliberately causing harm to the laying hens in their care. There has been very little scientific investigation, however, of the welfare effects of induced molts on hens. To approximate a commercially induced molt, feed was withdrawn from Hy-Line W-36 hens (65 wk-old) until they lost 35% of their initial body weight. Behaviors of 36 FW hens and 36 control hens were videorecorded on Days 1 to 3, 8 to 10, and 19 to 21 of FW, when FW hens reached 15, 25, and 35% body weight loss. The FW hens then were fed a pullet grower ration until Day 28 after the start of FW, whereupon they were provided a layer ration. Second cycle production of FW hens to 40 wk postmolt initiation averaged 15.5 dozen eggs/hen housed. The FW hens manifested increased aggression on the first d of FW, perhaps indicative of frustration, and then exhibited increased standing, head movement, and nonnutritive pecking on Day 2, followed by reduction of these actions on Day 3. Resting behavior was observed 24 and 40% of the time for FW hens on Day 8 to 10 and 19 to 21 of the FW period, respectively. Nonnutritive pecking was higher for FW hens than for control hens throughout the FW period. Preening was more frequent for FW hens on Day 8 to10, probably due to skin sensitivity near the start of feather push out, which began on Day 11. Behavior during the FW period was consistent with conservation of bodily reserves, but FW hens never lost their capacity for alertness and reactivity. The FW hens had significantly lower mortality during the study than control hens (2 vs 12%, respectively).

Behavioural indicators of cow comfort: activity and resting behaviour of dairy cows in two types of housing.

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The effect of the sticking method on the welfare of slaughter pigs.

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A study was undertaken to investigate the causes of inadequate sticking at a number of abattoirs in the UK. Pigs were stunned using head-only electrical stunning. Sticking was with a 20 cm long, double edged knife, and involved either a long or short cut (undefined). Bleed out times were determined and vessels and organs examined to determine which were cut by the knife. Although stunning was effective in rendering the pig unconscious, some pigs were difficult to stick because of uncontrolled movement. The long cut was more effective in obtaining a fast bleed out (approx. 75 vs 85 sec), and cut a larger number of the major vessels and organs. The subclavia and carotid vessels were almost always severed, while the brachiocephalic, aorta and heart were cut approximately 45, 75 and 88% of the time, respectively. Improvements in stunning and the use of a long cut should reduce the possibility of a poor stick resulting in unacceptable welfare.

The effect of increasing visual horizons on stereotypic weaving: implications for the social housing of stabled horses

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Stabled horses often perform stereotypic patterns of movement, such as weaving pacing in the stall. Environmental enrichment is seen as one way of addressing this problem. In particular, this paper examined the concept of providing animals with a greater view of their environment. Horses were housed in standard loose (box) stalls. Treatment varied according to how any sides of the stall were opened to allow the animal to see its environment. Opening of the various doors, windows and side panels also allowed the animals to better hear and interact with the outdoor environment (front and back of stall) and horses in adjacent stalls (sides). Increasing the number of sides that were open to the environment decreased the incidence of weaving in the horses. Three hypotheses are given to explain this improvement in behaviour. It could be the novelty of the expanded environment, in which case the stereotypic behaviours would develop again once the novelty wore off. No evidence was seen of this, but the trial was of a limited length. Secondly, The open treatments could allow animals greater opportunity to interact with the environment, and these behaviours would compete with the stereotypies for time budget. The third hypothesis is that the open windows allowed the expression of specific and beneficial activities that improved the welfare of the animals. These could include monitoring of the environment or social interaction. The conclusion is that opening the stalls to the surrounding environment reduced the incidence of weaving in the horses.

Effect of ultraviolet radiation on the performance of intact male turkeys.

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Ultraviolet (UV) sensitivity in birds has been shown to be intrinsically involved in the selection of mates, UV may, therefore, also play a role in the establishment and maintenance of social hierarchies in intensively housed turkeys. Cereal seeds and straw are known to reflect UV, and turkeys may use these cues for foraging and exploratory behaviors. A series of trails was conducted to see if supplementation of the photoperiod (12 h at various white light intensities) with UV radiation (0.06 to 0.16 W/m2 at floor level) and regular supplies of straw to the litter allow a better recognition of individuals within a flock, enrich the environment by the provision of new pecking material and of radiation across the whole range of avian sensitivity, and, as a consequence, reduce the incidence of injurious pecking in male turkeys that have not been beak-trimmed, detoed, or desnooded. Body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion efficiency, and leg integrity were generally not significantly affected by UV supplementation and environmental enrichment. In contrast, the provision of UV radiation, simultaneous with a 12-h photoperiod of white light at intensities of <70 lx to 5 wk and of 10 lx to 20 wk, and the regular addition of straw to the litter, significantly reduced the incidence of culling because of injurious pecking. However, complex interactions among UV supplementation, white light intensity, and material environmental enrichment 1precluded a simple recommendation to solve the problem of injurious pecking.