Document type : Scientific article

Models of Conditioned Reinforcement and Abnormal Behaviour in Captive Animals

Vera Vinken, Lena Lidfors, Jenny Loberg, Anna Lundberg, Johan Lind, Markus Jonsson, Stefano Ghirlanda, Magnus Enquist

Published in 2023

Scientific article proposing three models, including conditioned reinforcement, to study the complex relationships between environments, innate predispositions and learning in captive animals, which can lead to the development of stereotypies.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Wildlife

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Behavioural disorders, Societal issues

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Analysis of Various Facial Expressions of Horses as a Welfare Indicator Using Deep Learning

Su Min Kim, Gil Jae Cho

Published in 2023

Article using deep learning to identify various facial expressions that can be used as indicators of welfare in horses. It proposes a model for the automatic recognition of facial expressions including the eyes, nose and ears, to identify horses in various situations: at rest, in pain, immediately after exercise and during shoeing.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

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

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Relevant Indicators of Consciousness after Waterbath Stunning in Turkeys and Stunning Efficiency in Commercial Conditions

Alexandra Contreras-Jodar, Aranzazu Varvaró-Porter, Antonio Velarde, Virginie Michel

Published in 2023

Scientific article evaluating the prevalence and repeatability among observers of the four most valid and usable indicators of consciousness after waterbath stunning in turkeys before bleeding (tonic convulsion, respiration, spontaneous blinking and vocalization) and during bleeding (wing beating, respiration, spontaneous swallowing and head shaking).

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Carcass quality, Stress

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Validation of Methods for Assessment of Dust Levels in Layer Barns

Solène Mousqué, Frédérique Mocz, Anja B. Riber

Published in 2023

Scientific paper on the development of a valid and routinely practicable method of measuring dust levels in layer barns that can be incorporated in veterinary inspections to meet European regulations.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Living environment

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Run access, hutch size and time-of-day affect welfare-relevant behaviour and faecal corticosterone in pair-housed pet rabbits

Nicola J. Rooney, Paula E. Baker, Emily-Jayne Blackwell, Matthew G. Walker, Siobhan Mullan, Ricahrd A. Saunders, Suzanne D.E. Held

Published in 2023

Scientific article studying the effects of average hutch size and access to an exercise area on the welfare of pet rabbits kept in pairs. It concludes that pet rabbits should be given the freedom to exercise throughout the day, and that hutches of 0.75 m2 are insufficient in size to ensure the welfare of a pair of pet rabbits.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Exotic pets

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Enrichment, Housing, Living environment, Human-animal relationships

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Improved cattle behaviour monitoring by combining Ultra-Wideband location and accelerometer data

S. Benaissa, F.A.M. Tuyttens, D. Plets, L. Martens, L. Vandaele, W. Joseph, B. Sonck

Published in 2023

Scientific paper presenting an effective method to integrate in-building ultra-wideband (UWB) location and accelerometer data, thereby improving cattle behavior monitoring systems.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

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

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Birds of a Feather Video-Flock Together: Design and Evaluation of an Agency-Based Parrot-to-Parrot Video-Calling System for Interspecies Ethical Enrichment.

Rebecca Kleinberger, Jennifer Cunha, Megha M Vemuri, Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas

Published in 2023

Scientific article summarizing current knowledge of birds' powers of perception and action cabilities and presenting the results of an experiment that uses video conferencing as an enrichment tool in parrots.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal Categories:Birds (excluding poultry)

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

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Influences of human contact following milk-feeding on nonnutritive oral behavior and rest of individual and pair-housed dairy calves during weaning

S.B. Doyle, E.K. Miller-Cushon

Published in 2023

Scientific article investigating the interactive effects of shared housing and human contact after the feeding of milk to weaning calves. It shows that human contact reduced pen-directed sucking in individually housed calves, highlighting the role of restrictive environments in the expression of these behaviors in conventionally housed dairy calves.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Enrichment, Housing, Human-animal relationships,Societal issues

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Impact of water stress on adaptation and performance of sheep and goats in dryland regions under climate change scenarios: a systematic review

Diriba Tulu, Sileshi Gadissa, Feyisa Hundessa

Published in 2023

Scientific article demonstrating that, despite changes affecting their physiology, blood, biochemistry and  water and food consumption behaviors, sheep and goats can adapt to higher salinity levels in their drinking water in arid environments. Better adaptation is to be observed in local breeds, which prove to be more resilient.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Goats, Sheep

Keywords:Animal adaptation to its environment, Environment, Risk management, Resilience, Robustness, Stress, Societal issues

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Effects of improved early-life conditions on health, welfare, and performance of pigs raised on a conventional farm

S. Gavaud, K. Haurogné, A. Buchet, I. Garcia Vinado, M. Allard, A. Lehébel, M. Leblanc-Maridor, J.M. Bach, C. Belloc, B. Lieubeau, J. Hervé

Published in 2023

Scientific paper to examine the effects of the complete elimination of painful procedures and of reducing weaning stressors in the living conditions of piglets on a commercial farm. This form of management resulted in improved innate immunity at weaning, fewer and less severe body lesions but more tail lesions than in the control pigs.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Aggression, Aggressiveness, Castration, Mutilation, Weaning, Socialization, Sterilization, Stress

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