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The genetics of perinatal behaviour of Merinos in relation to lamb survival and lambs weaned per ewe mated Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-13 Schalk W.P. Cloete; Marelee Burger; Anna J. Scholtz; Jasper J.E. Cloete; Cornelius L. Nel; Arthur R. Gilmour; Japie B. van Wyk
Data for birth weight (BW), lamb survival (LS) and neonatal behaviour, including records of between 1494 (latency of birth to first suckling or LBS) and 2705 (BW and LS) lambs were used. Additionally to the lamb data, ewe data comprising of between 1003 ewe-year records for the latency of stay on the birth site (SBS) and 2024 ewe-year records for number of lambs weaned per ewe mated (NLW) were analysed
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Keeping littermates together instead of social mixing benefits pig social behaviour and growth post-weaning Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Irene Camerlink; Christina Proßegger; Denise Kubala; Katharina Galunder; Jean-Loup Rault
The importance of social stability and its influence on the expression of the social behaviour repertoire in domestic animals remains poorly understood, especially for affiliative behaviours and other putative socio-positive behaviours such as social play. This study investigated the occurrence and type of social behaviours, with a focus on socio-positive behaviours, and their relation to growth and
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Behavior Traits Associated with Career Outcome in a Prison Puppy-Raising Program Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-12 Elizabeth Hare; EmmaRose Joffe; Clara Wilson; James Serpell; Cynthia M Otto
The Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ©) (http://www.cbarq.org) has been used to measure behaviors associated with release or graduation from several assistance dog programs, however it has never been evaluated within a prison environment. This study investigated whether a modified version of the C-BARQ© can be utilized in a prison puppy-raising program (Puppies Behind
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Effects of a combined enrichment intervention on the behavioural and physiological welfare of captive Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica) Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-12 Sitendu Goswami; Shiv Kumari Patel; Shwetank Pandit; Riyaz Kadivar; Praveen Chandra Tyagi; Pradeep Kumar Malik; Samrat Mondol
The endangered Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) is currently distributed as a single wild population of 670 individuals and ∼400 captive animals globally. Although the captive lions are major hope for the species’ long-term conservation through repatriation, their welfare status and management practises need research attention. To this end, we tested the efficacy of feeding, sensory and manipulable
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Repeatable individual differences in behaviour and physiology in juvenile horses from an early age Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-12 Lucía Pérez Manrique; Oxána Bánszegi; Robyn Hudson; Péter Szenczi
Most people living or working in close association with animals are familiar with individual differences in their behaviour, and awareness is growing that understanding such differences can contribute to improved management, production and welfare. Nevertheless, due to the considerable logistic and financial difficulties of conducting longitudinal studies, particularly in the large, slow-growing mammalian
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The relationship between functional breed selection and attachment pattern in family dogs (canis familiaris) Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Rita Lenkei; Cecília Carreiro; Márta Gácsi; Péter Pongrácz
Adult dogs show similar behaviour pattern towards their owners as human infants towards their caregivers among experimental conditions, where the attachment behaviour is activated because of the moderately stressful situation. Meanwhile the capacity to form attachment towards the owner is considered as part of the domestication history of dogs, in more recent times dogs were selected for often very
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Caretaker attitudes and animal training are associated with alpaca behaviour towards humans – an online survey Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-10 Ines Windschnurer; Lisa Fischer; Takuya Yanagida; Cassandra Eibl; Sonja Franz; Susanne Waiblinger
Although alpacas are becoming increasingly popular animals, their behaviour towards humans has received little research interest until now. The purpose of our study was to investigate, for the first time, associations between caretaker attitudes and handling practices (i.e., frequency of different types of contact, and the use of training) and alpaca behaviour in the presence of humans in a large sample
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Effects of the provision of a hiding box or shelf on the behaviour and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites of bold and shy cats housed in single cages Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Jacklyn J. Ellis; Henrik Stryhn; Michael S. Cockram
It is often stressful for cats to be placed in cages in a shelter and environmental enrichment (EE) of the caging is one mechanism for mitigating this stress. The behavioural style of 72 cats was assessed as bold or shy. They were then randomly allocated (approximately balanced by behavioural style) to one of the following EE treatments in single standard cages: a hiding box (BOX), a perching shelf
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Changes in the suckling behaviour of beef calves at 1 month and 4 months of age and effect on cow production variables Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Harpreet Kour; Nicholas J. Corbet; Kym P. Patison; Dave L. Swain
The experiment used tri-axial accelerometers to record changes in suckling behaviour in beef calves with advancing age and also investigated the correlations between suckling behaviour, production variables and postpartum anestrous period (PPAP) of cows. Data were collected from 20 Bos taurus calves reared under pastoral conditions of northern Australia over two periods: when calves were on average1
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Exploring stable-based behaviour and behaviour switching for the detection of bilateral pain in equines Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Sonja Egan; Clodagh M. Kearney; Pieter A.J. Brama; Andrew C. Parnell; Denise McGrath
Efficient and sensitive animal pain detection approaches are increasingly studied with the goal of improving animal welfare and monitoring the efficacy of treatment and rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to determine the potential of various behaviours as sensitive indicators of subtle inflammation states in the equine animal. The long-term goal of this research is to understand how to objectively
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Self- and conspecific-directed pecking behavior of commercial Pekin ducks Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Yiru Dong; Darrin M. Karcher; Marisa A. Erasmus
Injurious pecking behavior affects commercial Pekin duck welfare, but little information is available regarding the characteristics thereof. This study investigated self- and conspecific-directed pecking behavior of ducks, including 1) the prevalence, frequency and duration, 2) age-related changes in pecking and preening behavior, and body locations affected; 3) influence of time of day and location
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Patterns of Wounding in Mixed-Sex Social Groups of Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Austin Leeds; Dawn Boyer; Stephen R. Ross; Kristen E. Lukas
Long-term, multi-institution evaluations have become a reliable assessment tool for evaluating patterns of wounding in zoo-living primates, informing on each species’ respective care and population management. For western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) there has been no detailed reports focused on mixed-sex groups, the most common social group type for this species in zoos. In this study
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Pheromonal enrichment in the zoo: An empirical approach with Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Chase A. LaDue; Bruce A. Schulte
The use of odors is a popular form of sensory enrichment, yet few studies have investigated the longer lasting effects of biologically relevant chemical signals like pheromones. Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are unique because they are commonly held in zoos and utilize two single-compounds to synchronize reproduction: frontalin (a pheromone produced by male elephants in musth) and (Z)-7-dodecenyl
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A novel accelerometry approach combining information on classified behaviors and quantified physical activity for assessing health status of cattle: a preliminary study Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Shogo Uenishi; Kazato Oishi; Tomoki Kojima; Kaho Kitajima; Yudai Yasunaka; Koki Sakai; Yuta Sonoda; Hajime Kumagai; Hiroyuki Hirooka
Evaluation of animal behavior provides information on health and well-being in animals. In this preliminary study, we investigated the effectiveness of an accelerometry approach to evaluate changes in health status of cattle by combining physical activity quantified by dynamic body acceleration (DBA) and qualitative behavioral classification data. Although feeding low vitamin A (VA) diets to fattening
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Effects of qualitative feed restriction in broiler breeder pullets on behaviour in the home environment Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Anja B. Riber; Fernanda M. Tahamtani; Sanna Steenfeldt
Conventional broiler breeders are severely feed restricted during the rearing period, resulting in an unfulfilled behavioural need for performing feeding behaviour and likely in a sensation of hunger. As a response to the feed restriction, behavioural changes have been observed, including increased foraging and drinking and reduced resting behaviour. This study aimed to investigate effects of four
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Boldness–exploration behavioral syndrome in wild sub-adult green sea turtles caught at Oita, Japan Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Hiromi Kudo; Hideaki Nishizawa; Kei Uchida; Katsufumi Sato
Boldness and exploration behaviors form a behavioral syndrome in dispersive species. Although green sea turtles are highly migratory and are often captured in coastal set nets of commercial fisheries in Japan, their personality and behavioral syndromes are not well understood. In this study of wild sub-adult green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), we first confirmed personality consistency over time using
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Addressing Stress in Dogs in Shelters through a Novel Visual and Auditory Enrichment Device Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Jody Epstein; Seana Dowling-Guyer; Emily McCobb; Courtney Glotzer; Nicholas H. Dodman
Dogs experience both acute and chronic stress when living in animal shelters. Current best practices recommend a variety of techniques for reducing stress such as enhanced human interactions including play or training, novel feeding strategies, increased exercise/group play, and, when possible, group housing. Auditory stimulation in the form of bio-acoustically designed music has shown a stress-relieving
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The Effect of Altering Routine Husbandry Factors on Sleep Duration and Memory Consolidation in the Horse Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2021-01-09 Greening Linda; Downing Josh; Amiouny Daniela; Lekang Line; McBride Sebastian
Sleep is a critically important behaviour for all mammals due to its fundamental role within homeostatic/circadian systems and memory consolidation. As a large and vigilant prey species that is highly sensitive to stimuli at night, the horse sleeps less than other mammalian species. For this reason, the domestic environment has the potential to greatly affect the duration and quality of equine sleep
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Duration of phase II of labour negatively affects maternal behaviour and lamb viability in wool-type primiparous ewes under extensive rearing Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Mariel Regueiro; Carlos López-Mazz; Ezequiel Jorge-Smeding; Fernando Baldi; Georgget Banchero
This study determined to what extent the duration of labour phase II under extensive rearing would affect lamb viability and maternal behaviour in primiparous (P) single-bearing Corriedale ewes (n = 63). Multiparous (M) ewes (n = 116) were used as control category, reared under the same conditions. Duration of labour was divided in 4 time-groups, G1: ≤ 30 min; G2: 31 –60 min; G3: 61–90 min and G4:
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Behaviour of Beetal does and bucks at linear vs. hexagonal feeder with special reference to homologous regrouping Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-20 Gurpreet Kaur; Sandeep Kaswan; Mandeep Singla; Amit Sharma; Jaspal Singh Lamba
We investigated the response of Beetal goats (does and bucks separately) at two different feeder types i.e. linear and hexagonal with special reference to homologous regrouping. Twenty eight does and twelve bucks were uniformly distributed at linear or hexagonal feeder (14 does and 6 bucks per pen). All the goats had prior experience of group feeding at hexagonal feeder during early growing stage and
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Dogs can detect the individual odors in a mixture of explosives Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-28 Irit Gazit; Allen Goldblatt; Dan Grinstein; Joseph Terkel
There is a consensus that humans, rodents, and primates process odor mixtures configurally: that is, the mixture is perceived as a unique whole and not as a collection of its different components. However, it is commonly believed by dog trainers that dogs can analyze mixtures and break them down into their individual components: that is, that they process odor mixtures analytically. There is, however
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Effect of milk allowance on the suitability of automated behavioural and physiological measures as early disease indicators in calves Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Gemma L. Lowe; Mhairi A. Sutherland; Joseph R. Waas; Neil R. Cox; Allan L. Schaefer; Mairi Stewart
This study investigated the effect of milk allowance on the suitability of behavioural and physiological responses, individually and in combination, as early disease indicators. A total of 120 heifer calves were assigned into a 5 L/d or 10 L/d milk allowance treatment group. Daily health checks were conducted to determine when calves presented clinical signs of neonatal calf diarrhoea (NCD). Automated
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Risk factors for aggressive behaviour in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), as reported by owners in mainland China Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Jingjing Yang; Fritha Langford; Jenna Kiddie
This study aimed to identify the risk factors for aggressive behaviour in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in Mainland China. This information has never been estimated before for owned dogs in China, therefore, there has been a lack of information to help guide veterinarians and dog behaviourists when giving advice to owners of dogs considered to have such behaviour problems. In order to establish
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Indication that the presence of older conspecifics reduces agonistic behaviour in piglets at weaning Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Beatrice Morrone; Thiago Bernardino; Patricia Tatemoto; Frederico Augusto Mazzocca Lopes Rodrigues; José Evandro de Moraes; Thiago Dorsa Almeida da Cruz; Adroaldo José Zanella
Piglets weaned under commercial systems are greatly stressed by maternal separation, abrupt changes in the diet and mixing of litters. Intensive agonistic interactions exacerbate this challenge for piglets. We investigated effects of older conspecific presence in the nursery pen after weaning. Ninety-six 21 days old piglets were weaned and housed in eight pens, distributed equally by gender and by
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The long-term impact of infant rearing background on the behavioural and physiological stress response of adult common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-04 Hayley Ash; Tessa E. Smith; Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith
Although triplet litters are increasing in captive colonies of common marmosets, parents can rarely rear more than two infants without human intervention. There is however much evidence that early life experience, including separation from the family, can influence both vulnerability and resilience to stress. The current study investigated the behavioural and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis
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Development of existing scoring systems to assess behavioural coping in shelter cats Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Elin Netti Hirsch; Maria Andersson; Jenny Loberg; Lena Maria Lidfors
Assessing how cats cope with the housing and husbandry at shelters is an important part of maintaining good animal welfare. There are non-invasive methods to assess how cats cope with their environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of the behaviours used in an extended Stress Assessment protocol for cats to detect stress. Looking at which behaviours are salient and possible
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Developing and validating attention bias tools for assessing trait and state affect in animals: A worked example with Macaca mulatta Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Emmeline R.I. Howarth; Caralyn Kemp; Harriet R. Thatcher; Isabelle D. Szott; David Farningham; Claire L. Witham; Amanda Holmes; Stuart Semple; Emily J. Bethell
Attention bias is a new approach to assessing animal affect that has shown promising results in several animal species. It describes a tendency to preferentially attend to emotional compared to neutral cues and is influenced by underlying affect. It is important in the early days of this new field that we develop widely utilisable methods and incorporate lessons from the human literature from which
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Negative correlation of suckling behaviour and foal weight gain during the first week after birth Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-14 Shigeru Ninomiya; Tomoe Mita; Sae Nagamune; Chieko Shimizu; Yuya Fukano; Fumio Sato
After their birth, foals are usually housed with and nursed by their mares. Because a foal’s growth and survival depend greatly on the mare’s milk for a certain time after birth, it is said that observations of suckling behaviour can indicate a foal’s growth. Nevertheless, the results of earlier studies suggest that foal suckling behaviour is not a useful predictor of milk intake. This study investigated
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Consistent behavioural responses to heatwaves provide body condition benefits in rangeland sheep Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Stephan T. Leu; Katrin Quiring; Keith E.A. Leggett; Simon C. Griffith
Species are increasingly confronted with extreme climatic conditions such as heatwaves. Behavioural changes are an important response to changed environmental conditions. We investigated how free-ranging sheep (Ovis aries) in large rangeland paddocks respond to heatwave conditions in the arid zone of Australia. We defined heatwaves as a three-day period with each day’s maximum temperature exceeding
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Does environmental enrichment consisting of brushing prepartum zebu heifers improve first-lactation behavior? Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Pércia Monteiro Rocha Soares da Silva; Isabel Cristina Ferreira; Álvaro Moraes da Fonseca Neto; Juaci Vitória Malaquias; Gabriel Alberto Santos de Pinho; Sara Adna Santos de Oliveira; Carlos Frederico Martins
To date, Qualitative Behavior Assessment (QBA) has not been used to measure the welfare of pre-partum Zebu heifers treated with practices of positive handling. The study objective was to investigate the effect of brushing as positive handling on animal behavior in the prepartum period, aside from establishing a qualitative behavior index to assess the animals’ well-being pre- and postpartum periods
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Behavioural reactivity of two lines of South African Merino sheep divergently selected for reproductive potential Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Maud Bonato; J.J.E. Cloete; A.C.M. Kruger; Schalk W.P. Cloete
The behavioural reactivity of two divergently selected lines of South African Merino sheep for an increased (HL: N = 1187) and reduced (LL: N = 285) number of lambs weaned per ewe mated was investigated using a docility test and a ‘scale’ test. The objective of this study was to determine whether these two lines, which differed significantly in terms of reproduction performance, would also react differently
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Access to chewable materials during lactation affects sow behaviour and interaction with piglets Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Kirsi-Marja Swan; Helena Telkänranta; Camilla Munsterhjelm; Olli Peltoniemi; Anna Valros
We investigated how providing chewable materials to piglets during the early weeks of life affect sow behaviour, sow and piglet interaction and sow health in pens with farrowing crates. We divided 59 pregnant sows into two treatment groups: the Control group (C, n = 29) and the Rope-Paper group (RP, n = 30). Piglets in the C group had the minimum enrichment required by Finnish legislation. For the
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Characterization of swine behavior and production using measurements collected via indoor positioning system Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-09 Shaun Perisho; Alen Hajnal
Legislative and market initiatives are requiring that gestating sows move from individual housing to group settings. Little information is known about coping of individual sows in these more socially complex environments and thus the impact of different behaviors on sow reproductive success was investigated. The movements of 70 sows during periods of reintroduction into large pen gestational housing
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Characteristics associated with behavior problems in Brazilian dogs Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-23 Carine Savalli; Natalia Albuquerque; Angélica S. Vasconcellos; Daniela Ramos; Fernanda T. de Mello; James A. Serpell
The current study investigated associations between behavioral problems in Brazilian dogs and the demographic characteristics of both the dogs and their owners, as well as the quality of owner-dog relationship. Although Brazil has a large population of dogs, little is known about their behavioral profiles and to what extent they are comparable to those of other cultures. For this investigation, we
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Subjective methods of quantifying temperament in heifers are indicative of physiological stress Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Jamie T. Parham; Sarah R. Blevins; Amy E. Tanner; Mark L. Wahlberg; William S. Swecker; Ronald M. Lewis
To effectively select for temperament, selection criteria must reflect an animal's response to stress. Subjective measures such as chute (CS) and exit (ES) score provide fast and easy assessments of temperament but may be subject to observer bias and inconsistency. Objective measures such as cortisol and other metabolites have been associated with increased stress in cattle, especially regarding transportation
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Effect of positive tactile stimulation and prepartum milking routine training on behavior, cortisol and oxytocin in milking, milk composition, and milk yield in Gyr cows in early lactation Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Aska Ujita; Lenira El Faro; Rogério Ribeiro Vicentini; Maria Lucia Pereira Lima; Leonardo de Oliveira Fernandes; André Penido Oliveira; Renata Veroneze; João Alberto Negrão
Positive interactions with humans can improve cow behavior and facilitate farm management, especially in dairy production systems in which milking occurs daily. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of positive tactile stimulation on behavior, and its effect on the milking routine, milk ejection, and milk yield of Gyr cows. Experiment 1 was performed with 40 cows: 20 cows (5 primiparous
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Strategic use of straw as environmental enrichment for prepartum sows in farrowing crates Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-04 Renata Aparecida Martins; Fabiana Ribeiro Caldara; Carla Crone; Agnês Markiy Odakura; Augusto Bevilacqua; Viviane Maria Oliveira dos Santos Nieto; Gisele Aparecida Felix; Alessandra Pereira dos Santos; Luan Sousa dos Santos; Rodrigo Garófallo Garcia; Isabella Cristina de Castro Lippi
Sows are highly motivated to build a nest prior to farrowing, but, given the barren environment of farrowing crates, this behaviour is limited and improperly expressed. We aimed to assess the effects of a straw provision in the farrowing crate as environmental enrichment in the prepartum period on: 1) sows' reproductive and behavioural responses before, during and after farrowing, and 2) piglets' performance
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Effect of animal’s experience and rodeo procedures on behaviour of bucking horses at a large commercial rodeo in Canada Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Christy Goldhawk; Temple Grandin; Ed Pajor
The use of animals in rodeo performances exemplifies the debate of trained performance vs. coerced abuse in human-animal interactions, particularly for roughstock or bucking events. The debate suffers from a lack of scientific evaluation to represent the animals’ experience and to inform discourse. The current study evaluated 116 horses over 3 yrs at the same rodeo in the Bareback, Novice Bareback
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Effects of in ovo injection of serotonin on behavior and hypothalamic genes expression in post hatch-chicks Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Huang Chenxuan; Yue Qiaoxian; Chen Yifan; Wang Dehe; Zhou Rongyan; Zhao Guoxian; Chen Hui
Serotonin (5-HT) is essential for neuronal development and behavioral regulation. Serotonin, upon in ovo administration, has been previously reported to modulate aggressive behavior in avian species, however it still remains unknown if maternal serotonin affects chick behavior through hypothalamic gene expression. We injected an equal volume of saline (control) and either a 5 μg (low) or a 15 μg (high)
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Identification of specific call types produced by pre-weaning gilts in response to isolation Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Mariah J. Olson; Maggie Creamer; Kristina M. Horback
Monitoring the vocalizations produced by livestock in commercial facilities can be used to remotely assess the arousal, and perhaps welfare, of the animals. Domestic swine is an ideal candidate for this type of assessment as it is a highly social and vocal mammal, however, a standardized description of the vocal repertoire of domestic swine has yet to be established. The objectives of this study were
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Rider effects on horses’ conflict behaviour, rein tension, physiological measures and rideability scores Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-08 Janne Winther Christensen; Rikke Munk; Lesley Hawson; Rupert Palme; Torben Larsen; Agneta Egenvall; Uta U. König von Borstel; Maria Vilain Rørvang
Many breeding organisations include a subjective scoring of rideability by a professional rider into their evaluation of sports horses, but the consistency and reliability of the scoring system is debateable. The aim of this study was to investigate (i) whether professional riders agree in their scoring of rideability, and (ii) whether rideability scores are affected by rein tension, horse conflict
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Long-term behavioral resilience in search-and-rescue dogs responding to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Elizabeth Hare; Kathleen M. Kelsey; Greta M. Niedermeyer; Cynthia M. Otto
Working dogs are valued for their olfactory abilities, trainability, and teamwork with their handlers. They often work in environments that could be associated with stress, and it is critical to understand the impact these experiences have on behavioral and medical welfare. A cohort of search-and-rescue (SAR) dogs that responded to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and a cohort of SAR dogs
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Degree of affinity among dairy heifers affects access to feed supplementation Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Karolini Tenffen de Sousa; Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho; Gabriela Schenato Bica; Matheus Deniz; Maria José Hötzel
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of social position and degree of affinity among heifers attempting to access limited feed supplement. This study was divided into two stages: (1) observation of behaviour at the paddock and (2) arena tests. In stage 1, we measured socio-positive interactions (licking and frequency of proximity among animals) and agonistic interactions in a herd of
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Pup rearing: The role of mothers and allomothers in free-ranging domestic dogs Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-09 S.K. Pal; S. Roy; B. Ghosh
Allomaternal care (AMC) is provided to the offspring by individuals other than the genetic mother, including several seemingly altruistic behaviors such as babysitting, carrying, nursing, crèching, or huddling for thermoregulation. To determine whether there is any allomaternal care among free-ranging domestic dogs, from March 2015 to May 2019 a total of eight dog groups consisting of 19 adult females
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Threshold values to discriminate grazing activity of dairy cows by an uni-axial accelerometer as affected by grazing season and herbage mass Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-12-07 Luis F. Piña; Oscar A. Balocchi; Juan P. Keim; Rubén G. Pulido; Felipe Rosas
Recording grazing time is important because the time allocated for each grazing event is one of the limitations to achieving high intake levels. Grazing time can be measured via visual observation or, more recently, by devices calibrated for this purpose. The Kenz Lifecorder Plus (Suzuken Co. Ltda., Nagoya, Japan) has been used to record daily grazing time with high accuracy, but none of the previous
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Phenotypic and genomic analyses of agonistic interactions in laying hen lines divergently selected for feather pecking Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-28 Hanna Iffland; Markus Schmid; Siegfried Preuß; Werner Bessei; Jens Tetens; Jörn Bennewitz
In poultry, aggressive pecking and threatening are normal agonistic behavior patterns which serve to establish a social hierarchy. As agonistic behavior is a stressor for animals, its excessive occurrence is undesired in layer flocks. Feather pecking is a longstanding serious problem in layer flocks and its relationship to agonistic behavior is still not clear. Therefore, phenotypic and genomic analyses
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Social proximities of developing gorilla males (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in European zoos: the consequences of castration and social composition Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-28 Benoit Létang; Baptiste Mulot; Vanessa Alerte; Thomas Bionda; Lisa Britton; Tjerk ter Meulen; János Szánthó; Jean-Pascal Guéry; Cédric Sueur
In the European captive population of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), the harem social structure and an even sex ratio at birth result in a surplus of males and consequent management difficulties. This study seeks to assess the socialization differences between captive juvenile and adolescent male gorillas according to their fertility status (intact vs castrated) in different social
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How to train your wildlife: a review of predator avoidance training Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Megan C Edwards; Caitlin Ford; Julia M Hoy; Sean FitzGibbon; Peter J Murray
Many studies report that translocation projects using captive or captive-bred animals have low success rates. Captive animals can quickly lose natural behaviours, including recognition of predators, when isolated from natural pressures. To combat this, pre-release behavioural conditioning is often used in conservation translocations to encourage natural behaviours and promote survival after release
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Optical flow, behaviour and broiler chicken welfare in the UK and Switzerland Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Marian Stamp Dawkins; Lawrence Wang; Stephen A. Ellwood; Stephen J. Roberts; Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich
Although systems for automated assessment of broiler chicken welfare have now been developed on a small scale, none are currently in widespread commercial use. We addressed this gap between research and uptake by field testing a camera system that uses the optical flow patterns made by the movements of flocks to monitor bird welfare. We tested the hypothesis that the movement patterns made by flocks
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Assessment of mobility and pain in broiler chickens with identifiable gait defects Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Fernanda M. Tahamtani; Mette S. Herskin; Leslie Foldager; Jo Murrell; Dale A. Sandercock; Anja B. Riber
Gait defects, assessed as gait score (GS), is a common welfare problem in broiler chicken production. The aim of this study was to examine whether birds with GS2 experience pain and poor locomotor ability compared to birds of lower GS. From day 0-27 of age, 600 Ross 308 birds were housed in simulated commercial conditions (stocking density 40 kg/m2). On day 27, all birds were gait scored and 192 birds
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Behavioral patterns of yaks (Bos grunniens) grazing on shrub pastures of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Chuntao Yang; Guru Tsedan; Qingshan Fan; Shulin Wang; Zhaofeng Wang; Shenghua Chang; Fujiang Hou
Proliferation of shrubs at the expense of native forage in pastures has been associated with large changes in biomass and spatial distribution of forage for grazing livestock, and such changes influence the grazing behavior of ruminants. However, little information is available concerning the effect of pastoral shrub coverage on grazing pattern. To better understand the grazing behavior of yaks and
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Two assays of working memory in companion dogs: the holeboard and disappearing object tasks Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Melissa Smith; Joanna C. Murrell; Michael Mendl
Variation in executive function and age-related cognitive decline may underlie the emergence of behaviour and welfare problems in dogs. A better understanding of such links, and of dog cognition in general, will be facilitated by the development of cognitive tasks that can be readily implemented, including with publicly-owned dogs that are available for relatively short testing periods. Working memory
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The influence of sex, rearing history, and personality on abnormal behaviour in zoo-housed bonobos (Pan paniscus) Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-27 Daan W. Laméris; Nicky Staes; Marina Salas; Steffi Matthyssen; Jonas Verspeek; Jeroen M.G. Stevens
Abnormal behaviours are often used as a welfare indicator in zoo-housed great apes. While previous studies report on the occurrence of abnormal behaviours in zoo-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), there is currently a lack of knowledge about such behaviours in the closely related bonobo (Pan paniscus). Here we report on the prevalence, diversity and frequency of abnormal behaviours, based on 1531 hours
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Development of an ethogram for hutch-housed dairy calves and determination of factors influencing their behaviour Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-18 Nnenna Ugwu; Emma Love; Jo Murrell; Helen Whay; Toby Knowles; Jo Hockenhull
The objectives of this study were to investigate the behaviour of hutch-housed dairy calves, develop an ethogram of general behaviour, and determine whether housing calves in different hutches, day, gender and time of day influenced the behaviour of dairy calves using the developed ethogram. Thirty-one apparently healthy Holstein Friesian calves (6 ± 1 week old) were recruited for this study. The ethogram
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The effects of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) in aviaries Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-18 April Stevens; Robert Donnell; Aurore Cogny; Clive J.C. Phillips
Most research to enrich the environment of psittacines in captivity has focused on foraging. Little is known about the importance of bathing substrates for enrichment of their environment, despite this being a natural behaviour that is rarely possible in captivity. Twelve captive-bred, adult cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) were housed in groups of four in three aviary replicates. An initial choice
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A critical review of the evidence for the equivalence of canine and human compulsions Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-18 Belinda R. Walsh
In the literature on companion animal behaviour, a diverse range of repetitive behaviours in dogs have been referred to as symptoms of an underlying canine compulsive disorder analogous to obsessive-compulsive disorder in humans. It is claimed that the two disorders are behaviourally equivalent and have the same neurophysiology and response to pharmacological treatment. These claims are largely derived
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Tail-directed behaviour in pigs – relation to tail posture and tail lesion Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-05 Thore Wilder; Joachim Krieter; Nicole Kemper; Anja Honeck; Kathrin Büttner
Tail-biting in pigs affects the health and welfare of the animals. Different indicators, such as the tail posture, can be used to detect tail-biting at an early stage. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tail-directed behaviour, differentiating between tail-biting and tail-in-mouth behaviour, on tail lesions and tail posture of 6 groups of 24 undocked piglets in identical pens using
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Testing ultra-wideband technology as a method of tracking fast-growing broilers under commercial conditions Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-04 Mary Baxter; Niamh E. O’Connell
Ultra-wideband (UWB) is an indoor positioning technology that has several advantages over current methods of tracking indoor reared broiler chickens, including providing long-term data on movement patterns without the effect of observer presence. More information is needed on the accuracy of this technology under commercial conditions and the effects of wearing an UWB transmitter tag on normal broiler
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Identifying personality traits and their potential application to the management in captive forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii) Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. (IF 2.187) Pub Date : 2020-11-16 Shuang Yang; Meishan Zhang; Yimeng Li; Muha Cha; Shanghua Xu; Tianxiang Zhang; Shuqiang Liu; Defu Hu; Torsten Wronski
Since the 1950s musk deer (Moschidae) are kept in captivity for the production of musk, a glandular secretion used in Chinese traditional medicine and as an ingredient in cosmetics. Most recently, forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii) raised in captivity were reintroduced into the wild to augment depleted wild populations. The most prominent behavioral and social characteristics of musk deer are anxiety