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Prairie Swine Centre is an affiliate of the University of Saskatchewan
Prairie Swine Centre is grateful for the assistance of the George Morris Centre in developing the economics portion of Pork Insight.
Financial support for the Enterprise Model Project and Pork Insight has been provided by:
Vigilance as a measure of fear in dairy cattle.
Posted in: Welfare by admin on January 1, 2004 | No Comments
In the wild, animals will respond to predation risk or threats from conspecifics by increasing vigilance, while decreasing time spent feeding. The amount of fear animals experience may be related to the amount of time spent vigilant. The time spent vigilant was tested in dairy cows in response to a variety of situations: a new location, the presence of a dog, or the presence of an aversive, gentle or unfamiliar handler. The cows were tested individually in a large outdoor enclosure with an appealing food source. The animal’s vision was restricted by the feeder, so the animal could not feed and scan at the same time. Any time the animal’s head was raised was defined as vigilance time. Each cow was tested 12 times. There was greater vigilance time during the initial trials, but this decreased over time. The presence of a dog resulted in greater time spent vigilant than did the presence of human. The vigilance time, of cows that had been trained to recognize an aversive and gentle person, was recorded in a pen that contained an appealing food source and the aversive, gentle or unfamiliar person close by. Vigilance time increased when the aversive person was in the vicinity, but not when the gentle or unfamiliar person was nearby. These results suggest that increased vigilance is correlated with increased fearfulness in animals.
Use of pen space and activity of broiler chickens reared at two different densities.
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The current study was carried out to establish whether broiler chickens reared in large pens congregate in specific areas, and where this occurs if it does occur. Lying areas were also researched and two areas were distinguished: one containing drinkers and feeders (DF area) and one that was free of equipment (Free area). Chicken distribution within pens of equal space allowance was examined in the first experiment. In the second experiment, distribution of chickens in pens differing in density was examined. Behaviour of 16 chickens via scan sampling was carried out as was recording of the presence of cutaneous dermatitis and valgus and varus deformities in the second experiment. Results of the study indicated that chickens at the higher density stayed and lay in the Free area. When housed under the low density, they preferred to stay and lie near drinkers and feeders and had limited use of the Free area. Space allowance in the Free area had no influence on behaviours performed in that area. The chickens behaved similarly at both the high and low densities. Rearing density affected the occurrence of foot pad and hock dermatitis but not the occurrence of varus and valgus deformities. The results of the study show that chickens spontaneously limit their physical effort and only rarely went to some parts of the pen when reared at low densities. The results of this study therefore emphasize the need to find situations that could stimulate activities to avoid local densities that may have deleterious effects on health and comfort.
Behavioural and physiological features of chickens diversely selected for resistance to avian disease. 1. Selected inbred lines differ in behavioural and physical responses to social stress
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This study examined how social stress affects the disease resistance of chickens from various genetic lines. Aggression amongst the roosters was considered the cause of the social stress. The roosters were housed in individual cages. At 15 weeks of age, the aggression levels of pairs of roosters, from five genetic lines, were compared in an arena test. Based upon the results of aggressive encounters, the roosters were assigned to one of two categories, those being winners or losers. At 16 and 17 weeks of age, using the similar arena test, the aggression amongst pairs of roosters classified as winners was examined, similarly for roosters classified as losers. The duration of the aggression tests was 15 minutes and during said time the behaviour of the roosters was videotaped. The aggression amongst the roosters varied based upon their genetic line. Roosters that were selected for disease resistance showed fewer aggressive behaviours (pecks and fights) than the two lines that were bred to be susceptible to disease. The two recombinant lines (genes that have been altered at one region of the chromosome), exhibited similar aggression levels as the disease resistant roosters. Therefore, there may be a common gene or genes carried by the three genetic lines that result in the roosters expressing lower levels of aggression when they are provoked.
Short-duration exercise and confinement alters bone mineral content and shape in weanling horses
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In the present study, hypothesis that short-term exercise may ameliorate the decrease in bone mass observed with confinement was investigated with horses weaned at 4 months of age and placed into box stalls. After 5 weeks adjustment period horses were then divided randomly into three treatment groups: 1) group housed; 2) confined with no exercise; and 3) confined with exercise. The confined and exercised groups were housed in box stalls for the 56-day duration of the trial. The exercised group was sprinted 82 m/day, 5 days/week, in a fenced grass alleyway. The group horses were housed together in a 992-m2 drylot with free access to exercise. On days 0, 28, and 56, dorsopalmar and lateromedial radio-graphs of the left third metacarpal bone were taken to estimate changes in bone mineral content and cortical widths. The overall results of this study indicate that a short-duration exercise protocol might be effective in improving bone mass and therefore skeletal strength in horses.
Accuracy of hens in Jumping upwards and downwards between perches in different light environments.
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Unlike standard battery cages, aviary and perchery systems offer laying hens a more complex environment and allow them to move in a three-dimensional space. Eighty Lohmann layer hens were reared in floor pens fitted with perches from 1 day of age to observe the accuracy of jumping of hens from and to the perches. After the peak of lay (25 weeks of age), their ability to jump to and from perches in different light environments was assessed in two experiments. Results of this study show that birds show behaviours indicating accurate control of landing where it was more frequent on downward than upward jumps. However, these behaviours were not affected by light intensity, light type or contrast. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that there is a difference between the two types jumps in the risk of injury to hens housed in aviaries where perches must be used to gain access to resources.
Stepping and kicking behaviour during milking in relation to response in human-animal interaction test and clinical health in loose housed dairy cows.
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The purpose of this study was to clarify relations of cows’ kicking and stepping behaviours during milking. It is hypothesized that the cows’ possible kicking and stepping response during milking may be related to the quality of human-animal relationship in general. Further, it is suggested that lameness and ticks causing pain, which is aggravated by the milking procedure, will cause cows to step or kick during milking. Using data from 10 commercial dairy herds, we have investigated the possible relations between the cows’ behaviour expressions during one milking and their response to an approaching human in the loose housing system as well as their behavioural response during clinical examination, their clinical health status and their getting up-behaviour. Results showed a general herd effect on occurrence of stepping and kicking behaviour during milking. In general, stepping during milking was associated positively to daily milk yield. However, low yielding cows showing avoidance behaviour at the clinical examination were also more likely to step during milking. Furthermore, stepping during milking was positively associated to avoidance in a human approach test as well as occurrence of ticks, and cows with tick lesions that further avoided human approach were most likely to step during milking. Cows with teat lesions were more likely to kick during milking, especially if they did not avoid human approach. The analysis showed no relation between lameness and kicking or stepping behaviour during milking.
The effects of hen vocalizations on chick feeding behaviour
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The productivity and welfare of broilers chicks was examined when hens calls were played at the feeder. Fifty-two chicks were housed in 16 pens. For three minutes every hour, 8 of the broiler pens heard hen feeding calls, while the control pens were not played any vocalizations. The experiment ended on the 9th day of age. However, the feed intake and growth was measured on 17, 24, 31 and 38 days of age and the carcass yield was measured when the broilers were 40 days old. During the experiment, the chicks that received the hen’s vocalizations had improved feed conversion ratios and weighed more. When the chicks were observed on 1, 4 and 7 days of age, the chicks that heard the hen vocalizations situated themselves significantly closer to the speaker than the chicks not hearing hen vocalizations. The behaviour of the chicks suggests that they are attracted to the sound of the hens vocalizations, as they remain relatively close to the speaker. There was not a difference between the two treatments, once the hen vocalizations ceased, in terms of body weight, feed efficiency and carcass yield. Therefore, the advantages obtained from the playback of hen vocalizations up to the ninth day of age where not evident once the playbacks ended. This study has proven that playing hen vocalizations to chicks is benefits the productivity (increased body weight and improved feed efficiency) of chicks during the first nine days of production.
The Importance of Animal Welfare in the Barn
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Animal welfare is important for public concern, animal performance, facility design, standard operating procedures, and job satisfaction. Animal welfare audits are being designed and tested, especially in Europe, to get a hold on animal welfare. In the US, the Food Marketing Institute and the National Council of Chain Restaurants put together a set of guidelines for animal agriculture. It provides guides for breeding, rearing, handling, slaughter, and more. Specifically, the National Pork Board in the US has created the SWAP (Swine Welfare Assurance Program). In Canada, the Canadian Pork Council created an on-farm animal welfare assessment program. This works to identify positive as well as negative areas on the farm, and how they can be improved. Animal welfare is assessed by animal based, environmental based, and management based parameters.