Discipline: Ethology

Animal Signals, Music and Emotional Well-Being

Charles T. Snowdon

Published in 2021

Scientific review of the effect of music on the emotional state of animals. It recommends that available information on the sensory systems and behaviours of each species should be taken into account so that music can be selected in light of the desired emotional response from the animal, thereby improving its well-being.

Document Types: Scientific review

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Enrichment, Living environment, Livestock farming system

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Tail-Biting in Pigs: A Scoping Review

Maggie Henry, Hannah Jansen, Maria del Rocio Amezcua, Terri L. O'Sullivan, Lee Niel, Anna Kate Shoveller, Robert M. Friendship

Published in 2021

Scientific review setting out to identify articles on risk factors and interventions associated with tail biting in pigs, along with data gaps in the literature.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Housing, Risk management, Societal issues, Mutilation, Pain

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The effect of pair housing on dairy calf health, performance, and behavior

Katarína Bučková, Radka Šárová, Ágnes Moravcsíková, Marek Špinka

Published in 2021

Scientific paper comparing animal-based indicators for health, productivity and behaviour in individually and pair-housed dairy calves. Housing type did not affect health, feed intake or weight gain, but individually-housed calves placed in a new pen scored higher on movement behaviour than pair-housed calves placed in a new pen. This rebound effect indicates that the individual housing of calves results in activity deprivation.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Housing, Living environment, Stress, Livestock farming system, Welfare indicators

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Precision Technologies to Address Dairy Cattle Welfare: Focus on Lameness, Mastitis and Body Condition

Severiano R. Silva, José P. Araujo, Cristina Guedes, Flávio Silva, Mariana Almeida, Joaquim L. Cerqueira

Published in 2021

A scientific review of recent advances in precision farming to measure animal-based welfare indicators for dairy cows which discusses the possibility of integrating such data into a broader welfare assessment framework.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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

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The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Assessing Affective States in Livestock

Suresh Neethirajan

Published in 2021

A scientific review of the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify and then assess emotions in livestock.  These developments call for a multidisciplinary approach that combines affective computing, bioengineering and applied ethology to overcome both theoretical and practical obstacles.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

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

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The effects of farming systems (organic vs. conventional) on dairy cow welfare, based on the Welfare Quality® protocol

K. Wagner, J. Brinkmann, A. Bergschmidt, C. Renziehausen, S. Marcha

Published in 2021

Scientific article comparing the welfare levels of German conventional and organic dairy farms, using the Welfare Quality protocol. It shows that organic farms score better on the 4 main Welfare Quality principles, although there is wide variation between farms operating under the same farming system. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement on organic farms in the area of health.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Livestock farming system

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The effects of heat stress on the behaviour of dairy cows - a review

Piotr Herbut,Gundula Hoffmann, Sabina Angrecka, Dorota Godyń, Frederico Márcio Corrêa Vieira, Krzysztof Adamczyk, Robert Kupczyński

Published in 2021

A scientific review reporting on behavioural changes in dairy cows exposed to heat stress conditions and discussing herd management strategies to mitigate the consequences of excessive temperatures on animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Living environment, Livestock farming system

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Dogs distinguish human intentional and unintentional action

Britta Schünemann, Judith Keller, Hannes Rakoczy, Tanya Behne, Juliane Bräuer

Published in 2021

Scientific article on whether dogs are able to distinguish between situations where a human intentionally withholds a reward and those where the lack of reward is unintentional, resulting either from a mistake or a physical obstacle that prevents the reward being given. The results show that dogs clearly distinguish between intentional and unintentional behaviour.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Canine

Keywords:Learning, training, Consciousness, Human-animal relationships

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Determination of static space requirements for finishing bulls based on image analysis

N. Volkmann, J. Stracke, S.L. Rauterberg, B. Spindler, N. Kemper

Published in 2021

Scientific paper providing information on the space requirements of finishing bulls to ensure their welfare. It focuses on the space occupied when motionless in the standing and lying positions and concludes that further studies are needed to take into account the space requirements of bulls to allow movement and social interactions.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Housing, Livestock buildings, Livestock farming system

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Network analysis of tail-biting in pigs - indirect effect on tail posture

Thore Wilder, Joachim Krieter Nicole Kemper, Kathrin Büttner

Published in 2021

Scientific paper examining whether the tail position of pigs in a pen can be a predictive indicator for the occurrence of tail biting, taking into account the social structure of the group of penned pigs.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Pain, Modelling, Mutilation, Welfare indicators

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