Welfare of food restricted male and female turkeys.

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Factors affecting the Release and Concentration of Dust in Pig Houses

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Effects of straw bedding and high fibre diets on the behaviour of floor fed group-housed sows.

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Gestating sows are restricted fed to limit excessive body fat but this results in a sustained level of hunger. Hungry sows remain active and aggression both during feeding and at other times of the day may increase. Hunger is also a cause of stereotypic or pen-directed oral behaviours. This study examined two management methods that could be used to reduce hunger related aggression and pen-directed oral behaviours. The sows were housed in groups of 7 on solid floored pens with ample room (3.7 m2/sow). Five groups were assigned to each of four treatment combinations, representing a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement. Sows were either bedded with straw or not. They were either fed a high fibre diet (including sugar beet pulp), or equivalent energy in a low fibre diet. Feed was dropped into the pen once a day in such a way that it was widely dispersed throughout the lying area. Sows bedded on straw spent more time standing during the 2 hours after feeding, and had higher levels of aggression compared to those without straw. However, the presence of straw reduced the incidence of pen-directed oral behaviour. Thus, straw was beneficial in terms of pen-directed behaviour, but resulted in greater aggression. High fibre diets did not affect aggression when compared to standard diets, but sows on high-fibre diets were less active several hours after feeding and less involved in pen-directed oral behaviour. Both straw and high-fibre diets appear to reduce pen-directed diets, probably through a decrease in hunger, but straw bedding increased the level of aggression in floor fed sows.

PMU ranching demonstrates benefits of self-regulation.

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Assessment of pain during locomotion and the welfare of adult male turkeys with destructive loss of the hip joint.

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Frustration of goal-directed behaviour in swine.

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Frustration can result when expectations about the environment cannot be fulfilled. This causes the animal to become motivated to engage in problem solving behaviour in order to achieve its goals. If the goals are not attained, general frustration responses are likely to result. The objective of this study was to induce frustration over a six-week period. By removing the feeders, single and pair-housed pigs were fasted for 1, 2 or 3 hours every morning. On training days (Monday and Tuesday), full feeders were returned. On test days (Wednesday and Thursday), non-functional were returned. Two types of non-functional feeders were used: non-lidded (empty feeders) and lidded (full feeders with lids bolted down to prevent access to feed). For two hours following the return of the feeders, the behaviour on the test and training days was compared. Frustration caused an increase in general activity for both single and pair-housed pigs. Single-housed pigs increased oral manipulation of the lidded feeders during the first hour, but this decreased during the second hour of observations. This difference was not observed for non-lidded feeders, which indicates an increase in activities related to problem-solving behaviour. Frustration also caused an increase in general oral activity (including increased oral manipulation of other pigs and objects). Based on serum cortisol concentration, lidded feeders caused more stress than non-lidded feeders during the final week of the study. Although general activity levels decreased over the six-week study and returned to normal, frustration was still evident by the higher levels of oral activity, which were maintained throughout the study.

Effects of individual housing design and size on behavior and stress indicators of special-fed Holstein veal calves.

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The effects of housing design on indicators of stress and behavior in special-fed veal calves were studied. Calves were tethered in open stalls or untethered in individual pens, and housed in varying pen or stall widths. There were few treatments differences in terms of blood serum cortisol and A?1-acid glycoprotein. There were no significant differences in segmented neutrophils (N), banded neutrophils, lymphocytes (L), basophils or the N:L ratio at weeks 4 or 18. Monocytes and eosinophils differed during the 28 day period after arrival. Calves that had been housed in 76 cm wide stalls had the largest percentage of both monocytes and eosinophils, while calves in the 66 cm wide stalls had the lowest monocyte percentage. There were no differences in postures (lying, standing) or behavior (chewing, tongue playing, grooming, investigative activities) throughout the observation periods for calves in the different treatments. Calves spent about 71 % in a lying position and 31 % of the time in a standing position, with no preference for the right or left side while recumbent. Calves in wider stalls or pens tended to exhibit more self-grooming activities at week 9 and 18. Calves that were housed in 56 cm wide pens had difficulty changing from a lying position to a standing position, and they were unable to extend their legs while recumbent. Conclusions stated that, although behavioral, physiological, growth, and anatomical trait differences were few, further increases in age and/or weight of finished calves would require a reassessment of the appropriateness of individual veal calf housing design and dimensions.

Behaviour of stabled horses provided continuous or intermittent access to drinking water.

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Controlled atmosphere stunning of poultry.

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Alternative housing for sows and litters: 2. Effects of a communal piglet area on pre- and post-weaning behaviour and performance.

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The focus of this study was to determine the effects that a communal piglet area had on pre- and post-weaning behaviour and performance of piglets. Three litters were combined to from a cohort, with 10 experimental and 10 control cohorts examined. In the experimental treatment, two central crates were left empty and became the communal area, which consisted of six creep feeders, a covered area, and PVC pipe and cotton rope for enrichment. The controls left the two central crates empty, but the litters remained isolated from one another. The piglets were allowed access to the communal area from11 days of age until they were weaned at 28 days of age. At weaning, the cohorts either remained unmixed or three piglets were mixed with another three piglets from different cohort. Throughout the study, piglets and feeders were weighed, as well as, video recordings were taken to document various behaviours before and after weaning. Experimental pigs, when compared to the controls, spent considerably more time away from the sow, which resulted in a reduced nursing frequency. This reduction did not coincide with a significant increase in creep feed intake, however the experimental piglets ate 86% more creep feed than control piglets. There was not a difference in weight gain between experimental or control piglets prior to weaning. Aggression was minimal when the piglets were allowed access to the communal area, as well; cross-suckling aggression from the sows was also rare. A reduced amount of aggression was also seen weaning. After weaning, the experimental piglets ate more and tended to gain more weight than the control piglets. Piglets that were mixed at weaning ate less feed and had lower weight gains than cohorts that remained intact.