Discipline: Ethology

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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Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare

Andrew Knight, Clive Phillips, Paula Sparks

Published in 2022

Book offering a comprehensive review of animal welfare and the law. It explores the biological basis for the consideration of animals within a moral framework and traces changes in how we conceptualize animal welfare. It takes a detailed look at the welfare issues associated with many different uses of animals. It includes recent issues such as climate change, pandemics and antimicrobial resistance.

Document Types: Scientific work

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, All animals

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Enrichment, Environment, Euthanasia, Brain integration, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system, Transport

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Environmental enrichment improves cognitive flexibility in rainbow trout in a visual discrimination task: first insights

Valentin Brunet, Thomas Lafond, Aude Kleiber, Léa Lansade, Ludovic Calandreau, Violaine Colson

Published in 2023

Scientific article studying the impact of environmental enrichment on the cognitive abilities of rainbow trout as a model aquaculture species. Using an operant conditioning device, after an acquisition phase in which the fish learned to discriminate between two colors, they all successfully completed four inversion learning tasks, demonstrating the cognitive flexibility of rainbow trout. They all passed the generalization task. Fish raised in an enriched environment performed better in the acquisition phase and in inversion learning.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords: Learning, training, Enrichment, Memory, Cognitive processes

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Zoo Animal Welfare Assessment: Where Do We Stand?

Oriol Tallo-Parra, Marina Salas, Xavier Manteca

Published in 2023

Scientific review providing a critical analysis of the main approaches to zoo animal welfare assessment and describing the most relevant animal-based welfare indicators for zoo animals, with a particular focus on behavioral and physiological indicators.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Wildlife

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

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Les animaux, ces inventeurs de génie

Mathilde Tahar

Published in 2023

Article summarizing the scientific evidence to demonstrate the presence of invention and creativity in animals, particularly in play situations. According to the author, play fosters individual adaptability by developing inventive abilities.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Learning, training, Cognitive processes, Human-animal relationships

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Do Insects Feel Joy and Pain?

Lars Chittka

Published in 2023

Article summarizing the current state of knowledge on cognition, emotions and pain perception in insects, and the ethical consequences of such knowledge for our relationship with insects, particularly in their breeding and use for scientific purposes.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Pain, Experimentation, Memory, Human-animal relationships

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Reducing Weaning Stress in Piglets by Pre-Weaning Socialization and Gradual Separation from the Sow: A Review

Céline Van Kerschaver, Diana Turpin, Joris Michiels, John Pluske

Published in 2023

Scientific review of alternative piglet management strategies to reduce weaning stress. These include the pre-weaning grouping of piglets from different litters and intermittent suckling. Their effects on post-weaning pig behavior, performance, mortality, gastrointestinal function and immunocompetence are described.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Aggression, Aggressivity, Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Housing, Weaning, Stress

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