Publications

The effect of feeding enrichment in the milk-feeding stage on the cognition of dairy calves in a T-maze

In many species, environmental complexity is known to affect cognitive development, yet it is common to house dairy calves individually in restrictive environments. The hypothesis of this study was that providing calves with simple nutritional enrichments would improve their success...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Horvath, K., Fernandez, M., Miller-Cushon, E. K. 2017. The effect of feeding enrichment in the milk-feeding stage on the cognition of dairy calves in a T-maze. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 187, 8-14.

Positive perception of human stroking by lambs: Qualitative behaviour assessment confirms previous interpretation of quantitative data

Qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA) was used to validate previous published interpretation whether human stroking has beneficial effects on lambs prematurely separated from their mothers. For a period of 8 weeks a familiar human (FH) subjected 22 Romane lambs to a...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Human-Animal Interaction, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Sheep

Citation: Serrapica, M., Boivin, X., Coulon, M. et al. 2017. Positive perception of human stroking by lambs: Qualitative behaviour assessment confirms previous interpretation of quantitative data. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 187, 31-37.

Food motivation in horses appears stable across different test situations

Food motivation may influence an animal's performance in food-rewarded learning tasks. Nevertheless, food is often used as a positive reinforcer in learning tasks to investigate cognitive abilities of farm animals, and to test effects of various treatments, such as environmental...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Olczak, K., Christensen, J. W., Klocek, C. 2018. Food motivation in horses appears stable across different test situations. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 204, 60-65.

“Hay-bags” and “Slow feeders”: Testing their impact on horse behaviour and welfare

The temporal distribution of feeding behaviour is of primary importance in grazing herbivores. Many domestic horses are managed under conditions far removed from the natural environment. For example, restricted access to roughage may induce health problems such as gastric ulceration,...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Rochais, C., Henry, S., Hausberger, M. 2018. “Hay-bags” and “Slow feeders”: Testing their impact on horse behaviour and welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 198, 52-59.

Effects of three non-confrontational handling techniques on the behavior of horses during a simulated mildly aversive veterinary procedure

In a randomized between-subjects design, we evaluated the effectiveness of each of three non-confrontational handling interventions compared to no intervention control on the behavior of horses during a single-trial simulated mildly aversive health care scenario. These handling interventions included withers...

Year Published: 2018Topics: HandlingAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Watson, J. C., McDonnell, S. M. 2018. Effects of three non-confrontational handling techniques on the behavior of horses during a simulated mildly aversive veterinary procedure. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 203, 19-23.

Applied neurophysiology of the horse; implications for training, husbandry and welfare

Understanding the neural circuits underlying equine behaviour has the potential to help optimise strategies of husbandry and training. This review discusses two areas of neurophysiological research in a range of species and relates this information to the horse. The first...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Animal Training, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: McBride, S. D., Parker, M. O., Roberts, K. et al. 2017. Applied neurophysiology of the horse; implications for training, husbandry and welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 190, 90-101.

Poker Face: Discrepancies in behaviour and affective states in horses during stressful handling procedures

Correct assessment of stress in horses is important for both horse welfare and handler safety during necessary aversive procedures. Handlers depend on behaviour when judging how well an individual is tolerating stressful procedures such as loading or veterinary intervention. However,...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Squibb, K., Griffin, K., Favier, R. et al. 2018. Poker Face: Discrepancies in behaviour and affective states in horses during stressful handling procedures. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 202, 34-38.

Qualitative Behaviour Assessment of horses exposed to short-term emotional treatments

Assessing emotion in animals is fundamental to the study of animal welfare with methodologies for reliable and valid assessments being highly desirable. Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is based on the assumption that human observers are capable of integrating details of...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Hintze, S., Murphy, E., Bachmann, I. et al. 2017. Qualitative Behaviour Assessment of horses exposed to short-term emotional treatments. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 196, 44-51.

Does cribbing behavior in horses vary with dietary taste or direct gastric stimuli?

Concentrated feed diets have been shown to drastically increase the rate of the cribbing, an oral stereotypy in horses, but the specific component causing the rise has not been identified. Furthermore, the mechanism through which feed affects cribbing has not...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Abnormal/Problematic BehaviorAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Albright, J., Sun, X., Houpt, K. 2017. Does cribbing behavior in horses vary with dietary taste or direct gastric stimuli? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 189, 36-40.

Acceptance of novel food by horses: The influence of food cues and nutrient composition

Compared to ruminants little is known about how horses modulate food intake and learn about flavour-to-post-ingestive consequences. While it has been suggested that due to hindgut fermentation horses' foraging preferences may be largely influenced by sensory input (e.g. volatiles), it...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: van den Berg, M., Giagos, V., Lee, C. et al. 2016. Acceptance of novel food by horses: The influence of food cues and nutrient composition. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 183, 59-67.