Document type : Scientific review

Brushing as Environmental Enrichment in Dairy Cattle: Effects of Different Brushing Modalities on Behavior, Health, and Production

Maciel-Torres, S.P.; Ruiz-González, A.; Orzuna-Orzuna, J.F.; Arenas-Báez, P.; Garay-Martínez, J.R.; Granados-Rivera, L.D.

Published in 2026

Study showing that the use of brushes for dairy cows improves their welfare and can assist in health monitoring. The effects on milk production vary.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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| Fish welfare in a changing world: New developments and current challenges

Rey Planellas, S., Saraiva, J. L., Gonçalves-de-Freitas, E., Arechavala-Lopez, P., Bovenkerk, B., Breen, M., Cooke, S. J., Føre, M., Northwood, L., Stien, L. H., Kadri, S., Noble, C., Nilsson, J., Rodriguez, F., Salas, C., Sandøe, P., & van deVis, H.

Published in 2026

Review highlighting advances in fish welfare, particularly regarding the cognitive and emotional abilities of fish and the growing recognition of their sentience in research, fishing, and aquaculture.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Exploring the relationship between whole carcass condemnations and farm animal welfare: A rapid scoping review

Christine Kuo, Emma G. Gardner, Murray Gillies, Marianne I. Parent

Published in 2026

Literature review showing that data on carcass rejection at abattoirs can serve as an indirect indicator of animal welfare, but studies remain largely European and focus primarily on poultry. Their main focus is on links between animal health status on farms and carcass rejection, whereas research on other welfare factors (diet, housing, behavior, transport) is limited.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

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Existing Soundscapes and the Impact of Noise on the Welfare of Farmed Salmonids: A Review

Kathy Overton, Tim Dempster, Marco A. Vindas, Frode Oppedal, Luke T. Barrett

Published in 2026

Review of the limited number of studies on hearing in wild and farmed salmonids, with recommendations on steps towards ascertaining and mitigating the impact of the acoustic environment on the welfare of farmed salmonids.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Do windows matter in poultry housing? What welfare and behavior tell us

Tarek Youssef

Published in 2026

Scientific review highlighting that natural light improves behavior and reduces fear in poultry, but that its effects on their health remain unclear.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

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Environmental Enrichment in Aquaculture: Linking Welfare Goals to Practical Application

O. Spiliopoulos, S. Kadri, M. Sinclair, M. Vanderzwalmen, C. Brown

Published in 2026

A review summarizing current knowledge on environmental enrichment, a key strategy for improving the welfare of farmed fish. Its effectiveness depends on the specific context and requires a tailored approach.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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Review: Understanding cattle social behavior in modern penned production systems with AI technology: Are we tracking welfare indicators?

A. Fuentes, S. Han, J. Liu, J. Park, S. Yoon, D.S. Park

Published in 2026

Review stressing the limitations of AI in automatically monitoring cattle behaviors, currently limited to describing actions independent of context. The authors propose an AI framework based on the principles of multimodal data integration, context-aware behavioral modeling, shared behavioral ontologies, human-in-the-loop system design, and explainable AI to improve assessment of animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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Rethinking Poultry Welfare—Integrating Behavioral Science and Digital Innovations to Improve Animal Well-Being

Suresh Neethirajan

Published in 2026

Review article describing the welfare challenges associated with the intensification of poultry farming and the innovative solutions (behavioral, sensor-based, AI) that have been developed to address them, while emphasizing the need to validate and standardize such novel tools and to develop a sustainable interdisciplinary production pathway. 

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

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Assessing good physical health and resilience as a foundation for positive welfare in chickens

Lisa Jung, Ruth C. Newberry, Yukari Togami, Manja Zupan Šemrov

Published in 2026

Study proposing anatomical and physiological indicators to assess the health and resilience of chickens, with a view to developing proactive and potentially automated assessment tools to support positive animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

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Animal Board Invited Review: Intrinsic hedonic value, complexity, and possibility for action as essential characteristics of a welfare-friendly environment for animals

I. Veissier, C. Terlouw, R. Botreau, V. Deiss, S. Cowie

Published in 2026

Study examining how the hedonic value of the environment determines animal welfare. Welfare depends on a balance between positive emotions, environmental complexity and opportunities for behavioral expression: these factors must be optimized (rather than maximized), since an excess or a deficiency of any one of them can be harmful to welfare, with the optimal level varying by individual.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

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