Discipline: Nutrition

Ethologie animale. Une approche biologique du comportement

Anne-Sophie Darmaillacq, Frédéric Lévy

Published in 2015

What is ethology, the ideas behind it and its methods? How does an animal inhabit its space, make use of available food resources and build its social world? What are the cognitive processes at work in this? How can personality explain behaviour? Written by specialists from different fields but in an intentionally accessible and explanatory way with the help of numerous illustrations, this book offers an overview of ethology grounded in analysis of cutting-edge research in ethology.

Document Types: Scientific work

Keywords: Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Learning, Training, Consciousness, Memory, Living environment, Fear, Cognitive processes, Evolutionary processes, Human-animal relationships

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The clinical companion of the donkey

Donkey Sanctuary charity group

Published in 2018

This book provides up-to-date and comprehensive information on donkeys, with the aim of improving their health and welfare. It focuses in particular on the characteristics of the species compared with other members of the equidae family. It includes a chapter on behaviour which is fundamental to the understanding of this unique animal and key to  the clinical signs and requirements for handling, feeding and treatment.

Document Types: Technical work

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords: Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Anxiety, Pain, Welfare indicators, Fear, Human-animal relationships

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Fish Welfare in Aquaculture. Veterinary thesis.

Mathilde Escudero

Published in 2018

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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High-Fibre feeding in gestation

Meunier-Salaün M.C., Bolhuis J.

Published in 2015

Pregnant sows are generally fed in low quantities, a fact that may lead to poor satiety and may not fully satisfy their drive to express their foraging and feeding behaviours. Accordingly, feed restriction may lead to the frequent occurrence of oral activities other than feeding, including stereotypies, restlessness and aggressive behaviour in group-housed sows, which are interpreted as indicators of persistent drives and frustration associated with feeding. The inclusion of fibre in the diet reduces the latter's energy density and therefore allows meals to be larger without increasing the energy provided. In addition, dietary fibre influences the mechanisms that improve satiety and satiety at the sensory, post-digestive and post-absorption levels. This chapter examines the impact of dietary fibre on the behaviour and well-being of pregnant sows and describes its potential consequences for performance. The level of response to dietary fibre is, however, variable and depends on the characteristics of the fibre diet (inclusion rate, source of fibre, physicochemical properties), housing and feeding conditions and the characteristics of the sows, including parity, and is greater in young sows. Dietary fibre provided during gestation generally results in increased feed consumption by sows during lactation, probably due to its effects on the size and capacity of the gastrointestinal tract. Studies on the effects of fibre on reproductive performance are rare and show variable results, which could be partly attributable to an over- or underestimation of the diet's energy content during pregnancy. In conclusion, dietary fibre generally has a beneficial effect on the behaviour and welfare of pregnant sows on a restricted diet. The impact of high-fibre diets during pregnancy on reproductive performance over several successive cycles in group-housed sows merits further investigation.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Enrichment, Cognitive processes, Stress

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