Discipline: Ethology

Humans can identify reward-related call types of chickens

Nicky McGrath, Clive J. C. Phillips , Oliver H. P. Burman , Cathy M. Dwyer, Joerg Henning

Published in 2024

Scientific article testing whether humans can distinguish between chicken calls produced in different contexts (ie. chickens either expect or don't expect a reward), identify emotional valence (positive or negative) and intensity, and assess how excited chickens are, based on their calls. 

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Human-animal relationships, Vocalisation

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Does the provision of live black soldier fly and yellow mealworm larvae improve Muscovy duck welfare?

Marta Gariglio, Sihem Dabbou, Manuela Renna, Ilaria Biasato, Sara Bellezza Oddon, Marco Meneguz, Raul Daniel Miazzo, Stefania Bergagna, Elena Colombino, Elisabetta Macchi, Achille Schiavone

Published in 2023

Scientific paper evaluating the effect of fly larvae and mealworm-based feed enrichment on physiological and behavioral indicators of stress and aggression in Muscovy ducks, and on their growth performance.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Aggression, Aggressiveness, Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Stress

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Elevated platforms for pigs - A review

Karen Kauselmann, Lars Schrader, E. Tobias Krause

Published in 2023

Scientific review of the value of raised platforms for the improvement of pig welfare. It discusses  different platform and ramp designs, a pig's biological ability to use them, the advantages and disadvantages for pigs and farmers, and methods used to evaluate the effects of platforms on pigs.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Enrichment, Housing

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Lateralised Behavioural Responses in Livestock to Environmental Stressors: Implications for Using Infrared Thermography to Assess Welfare Conditions

Amira A. Goma, Jashim Uddin, Emily Kieson

Published in 2023

Scientific review of the lateralized behavioral responses of farm animals to environmental stressors, and the association between these responses and the infrared temperature of the external body surfaces concerned, with the aim of improving the use of non-invasive measures in the assessment of animal welfare conditions.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Equines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Welfare indicators, Living environment

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Cognitive tasks as measures of pig welfare: a systematic review

Thomas Ede, Thomas D. Parsons

Published in 2023

Systematic review of the literature to assess the frequency of use and variety in cognitive approaches to the assessment of pig welfare. To this end, it quantifies the different cognitive tasks used and welfare interventions studied in the selected articles, and assesses the frequency with which cognitive task results are in line with treatment effects.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Human-animal relationships, Welfare indicators

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IoT and ML approach for ornamental fish behaviour analysis

K. Suresh Kumar Patro, Vinod Kumar Yadav, Vidya S. Bharti, Arun Sharma, Arpita Sharma, T. Senthilkumar

Published in 2023

Article using machine and deep learning techniques to analyze changes in goldfish behavior following changes in environmental parameters (water temperature and dissolved oxygen).

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Enrichment, Living environment, Stress

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Characterization of social behavior in a group of domestic donkeys (Equus asinus)

Miina Lõoke, Paolo Mongillo, Martina Bortoletti, Simona Normando, Lieta Marinelli

Published in 2023

Scientific article on the distribution aross the day of intraspecific social behaviors in a group of donkeys and characterizing affiliative and agonistic social interactions during periods of peak activity.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Socialization

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Recommendation on using ethology, an understanding of fish behaviour, to improve fish welfare and production

Aquaculture Advisory Council

Published in 2023

Guide from the Aquaculture Advisory Council offering  recommendations for all those involved in the sector, but also for the European Commission and Member States.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Human-animal relationships

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What are farm animals thinking?

David Grimm

Published in 2023

Article summarizing recent research on the mental faculties of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs, describing the importance of this work   in better addressing the needs of the above species, and explaining why it had not previously been  arried out.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Category of animals: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines

Keywords:Consciousness, Memory, Metacognition, Personality, Cognitive processes, Human-animal relationships

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Pain scoring systems in hospitalized horses with ocular disease

Dayna Jodzio, Sally DeNotta, Caryn Plummer, Chris Sanchez

Published in 2023

Scientific article evaluating the Horse Grimace Scale and Behavioral Pain Score in hospitalized horses with ocular disease, and concluding that these may represent a useful tool for monitoring progress and response to treatment in these horses.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Pain, Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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