Lying down and rolling behaviour is sows in relation to piglet crushing (review).

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The crushing of piglets by the sow has always been a problem, but it has become increasingly prevalent in farrowing systems that loose house the sows. This article, reviewed papers pertaining to piglets crushing related to sows’ lying down and rolling behaviours. Very little research has been conducted on the rolling behaviours in sows. It is known that sows will roll more frequently when they are housed on concrete versus plasticized floors. Also the more quickly a sow rolls over, the higher the risk of piglets being crushed. Considerably more work has been done on the lying behaviour of sows; for example, the sequence of movements made during the process of lying down has been clearly broken down into five stages. Once again the speed of the movements, especially when the sow lowers her hindquarters, could possibly be related to piglet crushing. However, if a sow leans against a surface or if performs pre-lying behaviours (moves around, paws, roots, and gathers the piglets to in an area opposite of where she will lie) the risk of piglet crushing is reduced. As well, how responsive the sow is to a piglet that has become trapped underneath her affect the incidence of crushing, which may be influenced by the piglets’ responses to crushing (vocalizations), how long after parturition the incident occurs, the amount of space provided to the sow and bedding. Various factors such as domestication, breed, muscle control, previous and current housing may impact the methodology and how quickly a sow lies down. Piglets’ responses to crushing and space allocated to the sow may impact the exhibition of pre-lying behaviours. The authors believe all these factors should be taken into consideration when designing and managing the farrowing environment of the sow to help reduce the incidence of piglet crushing. However, the authors also call for more research in this area, as they believe a better understanding of these behaviours is needed.

Effects of specific noise and music stimuli on stress and fear levels of laying hens of several breeds.

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The tonic immobility duration and heterophil to lymphocyte ratio were measured in laying hens that were exposed to specific sound stimuli. In the first experiment, 36-week-old hens of four different breeds were studied. The treatments consisted of a control: 65 dB (background chicken vocalizations and fans) and 90 dB (background noises plus truck, train, and aircraft noises), which they were exposed to once for one hour. There was a significant difference between the noise treatments for the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio. Hens that were exposed to the excessive noise had significant heterophilia and had longer durations of tonic immobility. The results did not differ among the breeds. These results suggest that hens exposed to excessive noise were more stressed and fearful than the control hens. In the second experiment, 36-week-old birds from two different breeds were either maintained as the control (exposed to 65 dB of background noise) or were exposed to classical music and background noises at 75 dB for five hours per day for three days. There were no differences in heterophil to lymphocyte ratio between the control and treated hens. However, there was a difference in tonic immobility. The hens treated with music had longer durations of tonic immobility than the control hens. This suggests that treated hens were more fearful than control hens. The authors concluded that excessive noise is stressful and causes fearfulness in laying hens, and that the addition of classical music to the background noise also induces fear.

The effect of reward duration on demand functions for rest in dairy heifers and lying requirements as measure by demand functions

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The strength underlying a heifer’s motivation to lie down during a 24h period was examined in two experiments. In the first, eight heifers housed in tether-stalls were provided the freedom to lie down for 9 hours a day, and had to work to lie down for 6 per day. To earn the ability to lie down, a heifer had to press a panel 10 to 50 times and were rewarded with the ability to lie down for 20, 30, 50 or 80 minutes. The heifer were prevented from lying down by a strap around her midsection that was hooked up to a release mechanism. The amount of time offered as the reward affected how hard the cow was willing to work for the ability to lie down. When the reward duration was 20 minutes, the harder the cow had to work, the less likely she was to press the panel. During reward period that were longer in duration, the heifer would not lying down the entire time. When the reward was 50 minutes access to lying time, the cows tended to work for 4 extra hours of lying time. In total this provided the cow with 13 hours of lying time per day. In the second experiment the cow was only given 6 hours of free lying time and had to work to be able to lie down for 12 hours a day. The reward duration was kept constant at 50 minutes. Cows were observed to lie down for 5.5 hours of the 6 hours of free lying time. During the test period, cows would work for another 7 hours of lying time. In total cows spent 12.5 hour lying per day. The consistency of working towards the ability to lie down for approximately 13 hours/day illustrates that cows have an inelastic demand (willing to achieve that level regardless of cost) to rest lying down for that amount of time.

Behavior, physiology, and performance of bulls mixed at the onset of finishing to form uniform body weight groups.

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Young bulls were finished over a period of 8 months. They were either mixed or unmixed and were grouped with similar or non-similar BW at the beginning of the finishing period. Social behavior following mixing and throughout the finishing period, stress measurements (cortisol concentration, adrenal weight, catecholamines-synthesizing enzyme activity, and pain sensitivity), and production traits such as growth rate, homogeneity, feed efficiency, and carcass measurements were analyzed. Frequency of social interactions among the bulls increased after mixing. These included agonistic and nonagonistic interactions as well as sexual interactions. Agonistic and sexual interactions were more frequent among bulls in the similar BW groups. During the finishing period, synchronization of activity tended to be lower among mixed bulls. At slaughter, the activity of the catecholamines-synthesizing enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase, was increased in mixed bulls, possibly indicating chronic stress. There were no differences noted in ADG or carcass traits among treatments. Body weight variability within groups increased in groups that initially had similar BW, but decreased in groups that initially had nonsimilar BW. Conclusions stated that mixing young beef bulls at the beginning of the finishing period did not have detrimental effects on health and production but mixing did increase stress levels, possibly due to decreased cohesion within the groups. The authors did not confirm that there was any benefit to mixing bulls at the onset of finishing in order to create groups of similar BW. This was because BW similarities within groups were not maintained throughout the finishing period.

Socio-spatial criteria are important for the establishement of maternal preference in lambs

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To enhance the relationship development between the ewe and the dam at lambing, it is believed that the ewe will isolate herself from the herd. After lambing, the ewe and her lamb return to the flock and the lamb begins to interact with other lambs. This study examined the importance of the social isolation at birth and other social and spatial factors that affect the maternal recognition of lambs. The ewes lambed in individual 2 m2 pens, which allowed the lambs to freely interact with the dam. The role of isolation was examined in the first experiment. The control treatment left the ewe and her lamb were left isolated in the birthing pen for the first 24 hours following birth. The experimental treatment progressively provided the pair with more space and increased contact with other pairs during the first 24 hours after birth (0-6h 1 ewe, 1 litter, 2 m2; 6-12h 2 ewes, 2 litters, 4 m2; 12-24h: 4 ewes, 4 litters, 8 m2). The lambs also underwent a choice test, in which they had to choose between their mother and an unfamiliar lamb. Twelve hours after birth, the lambs allowed social interaction displayed a preference for their mother, while the isolated lambs did not display this same preference. Even after 24 hour, the isolated lambs did not display any maternal preference. A second experiment investigated the importance of social interactions within each of the two groups previously studied. The isolated treatment received an increasing amount of space during the first 24 hours after lambing, similar to what the social treatment underwent. Twelve hours after lambing, lambs from both treatments displayed a preference for the dam, but was seen much sooner in the isolated mother-lamb pair. Data from both experiments suggests that lambs that were remained only with the dam during the first 24 hours after birth, also displayed a preference for their dam from a distance. The results from this study demonstrated that increasing the exposure to other flock members following birth, encourages the lamb to develop an attachment to the dam, and this bond is even stronger when they are provided increased space. Therefore, the development of the mother-lamb bond is socially and environmentally complex.

Extensive bedded indoor and outdoor pig production systems in USA: current trends and effects on animal care and product quality

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Valuing animal welfare with choice experiments: An application to Swedish pig production

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Influence of gentling on lamb immune response and human-lamb interactions

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The quality of the human-animal relationship may affect the animal’s response to stressful conditions. In this study two components of human interaction with lambs were examined to determine if they have an impact on behaviour and stress response. Lambs were reared either by their mother or artificially. Half of each rearing treatment was handled by stockpersons in a ‘gentling’ treatment. The animals were then tested in a novel, isolated environment. Artificially reared lambs engaged in more investigatory behaviour when in the novel arena than did those reared by their mothers. Among the artificially reared lambs, those that were also handled repeatedly by stockpersons also recovered more quickly (return to normal cortisol levels) than did the other three treatment combinations. They also had stronger immune responses than did the other treatments. Both artificial rearing, and gentling within the artificial rearing condition, improved the lambs ability to cope with novel environments.

Avoidance of atmospheric ammonia by domestic fowl and the effect of early experience.

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Intensification of poultry housing systems and the need to maintain a high ambient temperature have resulted in an atmosphere that is polluted with ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide, dust particles and endotoxins. This experiment was carried out to determine if broiler fowl, when given a free choice, would avoid ammoniated environments. The effect of rearing aerial environment on these preferences was tested subsequently during a similar free choice experiment. Firstly, the birds were given a free choice of 4, 11, 20 and 37 ppm atmospheric ammonia over a period of 16 days. Data were collected in two different light levels (bright or dim light). The birds avoided the two higher ammonia concentrations, choosing to spend equal amounts of their time in 4 and 11 ppm during the bright phase. During the dim period, broiler fowl spent more time in 4 ppm. Secondly, broiler fowl were exposed to either 2 or 19 ppm ammonia from 1 to 26 days of age. Following this, the birds were given a choice of compartments containing 4, 12, 20 and 37 ppm of ammonia. Birds again avoid the two higher concentrations of ammonia. In summary, broiler fowl avoid ammonia at concentrations commonly found on poultry units regardless of previous experience, suggesting that it to be aversive at concentrations above approximately 10 ppm.

Suckling behaviour in domestic foals and the development of abnormal oral behaviour

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Foals at pasture with their dams were studied during the preweaning and postweaning periods to determine whether their behaviour was associated with their gender, mare rank, and the development of abnormal oral behaviour. The behaviour of males and females hardly differed, but mare rank affected social interaction patterns and suckling behaviour of foals, with foals of subordinate mares involved in more subordinate behavioural interactions. Foals of subordinate mares spent more time in perisuckling activities such as teat nuzzling than foals of higher ranking mares. Eighteen foals (out of 186) developed abnormal oral behaviour before weaning, and 42 developed such behaviour after weaning. The development of abnormal oral behaviour in the preweaning phase was associated with suckling behaviour. Foals exhibiting abnormal behaviour during the preweaning phase were involved in more suckling terminations within suckling bouts and pushed the udder with their nose most often compared with normal foals or foals that developed abnormal oral behaviour in the postweaning phase. Foals that did not exhibit abnormal oral behaviour in the preweaning period, but exhibited the behaviour in the postweaning period, spent more time suckling and twice as much time teat nuzzling as other foals. The results of this study provide further evidence that there is an association between digestive function and abnormal oral behaviour in horses.