Discipline: Ethology

Recognition of aggressive behavior of group-housed pigs based on CNN-GRU hybrid model with spatio-temporal attention mechanism

Yue Gao, Kai Yan, Baisheng Dai, Hongmin Sun, Yanling Yin, Runze Liu, Weizheng Shen

Published in 2023

Scientific article proposing a model for automatic video recognition of aggressive behavior in group-housed pigs, with an accuracy rate of 94.8%.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Pigs, Primates

Keywords:Aggression, Aggressiveness, Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Welfare indicators, Personality, Stress

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Aquaculture Certification Schemes Benchmark: Aquatic Animal Welfare - Edition 2

Aquatic Life Institute

Published in 2023

Second edition of a reference tool for welfare-based certification of aquaculture facilities. It analyzes current welfare requirements as part of the basic farming standards of seven international seafood certification programs.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Enrichment, Housing, Living environment, Pain, Welfare indicators, Stress

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A review of thermal stress in cattle

R W Shephard, S K Maloney

Published in 2023

Scientific review summarizing the behavioral and physiological controls used by cattle to manage heat exchange by radiation, convection, conduction and evaporation between the body and the environment, and thus regulate their temperature in hot conditions.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal  to the environment, Living environment, Resilience, Robustness, Stress

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Review: Towards an integrated concept of animal welfare

I. Reimert, L.E. Webb, M.A. van Marwijk, J.E. Bolhuis

Published in 2023

Scientific review setting out the history of the scientific study of animal welfare, and proposing that scientists in this field should specify the definition of animal welfare on which they base their work, the level at which their  assessment is carried out, the assumptions they rely on to measure welfare, and the period on which they focus, in order to enable comparison between studies.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Human-animal relationships

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A two-stage recognition method based on deep learning for sheep behavior

Zishuo Gu, Haoyu Zhang, Zhiqiang He, Kai Niu

Published in 2023

Scientific article on a method to detect sheep behavior based on deep learning. It recognizes six types of sheep behavior, three corresponding to normal physiological activities (standing, feeding and lying down) and three behaviors considered to be disruptive (attacking, biting and climbing) that require immediate action from the farmer.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Ovines

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

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The Role of Preventative Medicine Programs in Animal Welfare and Wellbeing in Zoological Institutions

Paolo Martelli, Karthiyani Krishnasamy

Published in 2023

Scientific review highlighting the fact that the usual animal welfare paradigms do not apply to animals in zoos, particularly when the animals are undergoing veterinary treatment. In such circumstances, the animals' physiology and behavior are deregulated, and freedom of choice and comfort are limited. The authors propose that a distinction should be made between the state of well-being experienced by the animal (well-being) and the societal management of animal welfare (welfare), and to base the wefare management of zoo and aquarium animals on preventive medicine.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Wildlife, Fish

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Living environment, Human-animal relationships

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Deviation of behavioural and productive parameters in dairy cows due to a lameness event: a synthesis of reviews

Luisa Magrin, Barbara Contiero, Giulio Cozzi, Flaviana Gottardo, Severino Segato

Published in 2023

Systematic literature review identifying the behavioral and yield parameters of cows that are the best indicators of lameness and calculating the changes in them during lameness episodes. They include time taken to feed, number of lying periods, time taken to lie down, time spent lying down,  and milk production. The values of all these parameters are significantly altered in the event of lameness, and could be used to detect lameness automatically.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Animal-based measurements, Pain, Precision farming, Welfare indicators

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Positive Welfare Indicators and Their Association with Sustainable Management Systems in Poultry

Maria Papageorgiou, Michael Goliomytis, Ouranios Tzamaloukas, Despoina Miltiadou, Panagiotis Simitzis

Published in 2023

Scientific review of positive welfare indicators in the main poultry species and their link with sustainable farm management. Indicators include exploration, dust baths, nest building, perching, and swimming (for waterfowl).

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

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

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Choice, control, and animal welfare: definitions and essential inquiries to advance animal welfare science

Maisy D. Englund, Katherine A. Cronin

Published in 2023

Scientific review of animal psychology, including the importance of giving animals choice and control over their environment to improve their welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Consciousness, Societal issues, Enrichment, Living environment, Cognitive processes, Human-animal relationships

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Does Animal Personality Research Actually Help Animals?

Björn Ólafsson

Published in 2023

Article defining animal personality, reviewing scientific knowledge on the subject, and setting out the pros and cons  of taking personality into account in livestock farming, for both farmers and animals.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Societal issues, Personality, Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system

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