Influence of housing on weanling horse behavior and subsequent welfare (2002)

Heleski, C. R., Shelle, A. C., Nielsen, B. D. et al.

Abstract

Weaning foals marks a stressful event in horses' lives. ... The purpose of this study was to monitor behavior and physiological stress markers in horses weaned individually in solid partition box stalls versus horses weaned in small groups and housed in paddocks. Both treatment groups underwent maternal deprivation stress, but the stalled weanlings had the additive effects of social isolation which prevented them from performing social behaviors. ... Quarter Horse weanlings ... , average age 4.5 months, were weaned in 13.4m2 box stalls (n=6) or in groups of three in a 992m2 paddock. ...Regarding the fecal 11,17-dioxoandrostanes, there was no discernible treatment difference. ... Behavioral observations demonstrated a significantly different time budget in paddock-housed weanlings than in stall-housed weanlings (P<0.0001). Paddock-housed weanlings displayed a time budget more like a feral horse time budget, showing more time spent moving and less time spent lying. Paddock-housed weanlings, who had the option of selectively engaging in a broader range of behaviors, showed strong motivation to graze and be near conspecifics. Stalled weanlings spent significantly more time engaged in aberrant behaviors: licking or chewing the stall/shed wall, kicking at the stall/shed wall, pawing, and bucking/rearing bouts (P<0.03). Based on the variety of behaviors shown,the ability to engage in strongly preferred behaviors, and freedom from aberrant behavior, we conclude that the paddock-reared, group-housed weanlings had better welfare.