Discipline: Ethology

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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Review: castration - animal welfare considerations

Gabriela A. Marquette,Stephanie Ronan, Bernadette Earley

Published in 2023

Scientific review of scientific assessments of the impact of castration on cattle welfare, including pain and injury, stress, inflammation, effects on the immune system and on production levels. It describes the different methods of castration, the pain responses associated with each, and how age and pain mitigation strategies affect these responses.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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

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The use of animal-based measures at slaughter for assessing the welfare of beef cattle on farm: EFSA AHAW Network exercise

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Marika Vitali, Gizella Aboagye, Sean Ashe, Chiara Fabris, Yves Van de Stede, Denise Candiani

Published in 2023

Report listing those animal-based measures that the AHAW network considers useful to record and monitor in abattoirs as a means to assess the on-farm welfare of cattle. The information contained in this report will be used to draw up EFSA's scientific opinion on the welfare of cattle on farm, due in 2025.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Welfare indicators, Carcass quality, Stress, Livestock farming system

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