Environmental Enrichment

Comparing different environmental enrichments for improving the welfare and walking ability of male turkeys

This study investigated age-related changes in turkey welfare measures (wounds, feather quality (FQ), feather cleanliness, and footpad condition (FCON)) and walking ability (gait) as influenced by different types of environmental enrichment (EE). Tom turkeys (n = 420) were randomly assigned...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, HousingAnimal Type: Bird, Fowl

Citation: Dong, Y., Fraley, G. S., Siegford, J. M. et al. 2023. Comparing different environmental enrichments for improving the welfare and walking ability of male turkeys. PLOS ONE 18(5), e0285347.

Environmental complexity and reduced stocking density promote positive behavioral outcomes in broiler chickens

The objective was to evaluate the impacts of a complex environment and stocking density on Ross 708 broiler chicken behaviors. Eight pens contained either high complexity (HC) or low complexity (LC) environments, and high (HD) or low (LD) density. Through...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Stocking DensityAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Evans, L., Brooks, G. C., Anderson, M. G. et al. 2023. Environmental complexity and reduced stocking density promote positive behavioral outcomes in broiler chickens. Animals 13(13), 2074.

The effect of placement and group size on the use of an automated brush by groups of lactating dairy cattle

Mechanical brushes are often provided on dairy farms to facilitate grooming. However, current brush designs do not provide data on their use, and thus little is known about the effects of group size and placement of brushes within the pen....

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Foris, B., Sadrzadeh, N., Krahn, J. et al. 2023. The effect of placement and group size on the use of an automated brush by groups of lactating dairy cattle. Animals 13(4), 760.

Curiosity in zebrafish (Danio rerio)? Behavioral responses to 30 novel objects

Curiosity—the motivation to seek out information—has been studied widely across the animal kingdom. To investigate curiosity in zebrafish we presented 30 novel objects to groups of zebrafish housed in semi-naturalistic tanks (6 tanks; 10 fish/tank; 10-min presentations). During the first...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Zebrafish

Citation: Franks, B., Gaffney, L. P., Graham, C. et al. 2023. Curiosity in zebrafish (Danio rerio)? Behavioral responses to 30 novel objects. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9, 1062420.

Effects of environmental enrichment on the behavior of Octopus vulgaris in a recirculating aquaculture system

Octopus vulgaris is a commercially valuable species. It is overexploited in the natural environment and is considered to be an innovative species for aquaculture. However, large-scale farming is generally designed only based on economic requirements, disregarding any form of enrichment...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cephalopod, Invertebrate

Citation: Casalini, A., Gentile, L., Emmanuele, P. et al. 2023. Effects of environmental enrichment on the behavior of Octopus vulgaris in a recirculating aquaculture system. Animals 13(11), 1862.

Enriching zoo-housed ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta): Assessing the influence of three types of environmental enrichment on behavior

Environmental enrichment is a management tool used to promote positive animal welfare by stimulating species-specific behaviors and providing animals with opportunities to exert choice and control over the environment. Our study aimed to evaluate the combined effect of three enrichment...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Lemur, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Caselli, M., Messeri, P., Dessì-Fulgheri, F. et al. 2022. Enriching zoo-housed ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta): Assessing the influence of three types of environmental enrichment on behavior. Animals 12(20), 2836.

Rat’s response to a novelty and increased complexity of the environment resulting from the introduction of movable vs

Most animals, including rats, show a preference for more complex environments. This is demonstrated particularly well when complexity increases due to the addition of new elements to the environment. The aim of the study was to investigate the reaction to...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Chrzanowska, A., Modlinska, K., Goncikowska, K. et al. 2022. Rat's response to a novelty and increased complexity of the environment resulting from the introduction of movable vs. stationary objects in the free exploration test. PLOS ONE 17(12), e0279006.

Cognitive foraging enrichment (but not non-cognitive enrichment) improved several longer-term welfare indicators in bottlenose dolphins

Bottlenose dolphins are the most common cetacean kept globally in zoos and aquaria (hereafter zoos), and are gregarious animals with a mostly opportunistic, generalist feeding strategy in the wild. In zoos, they have limited to no opportunities to express natural...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Marine Mammal

Citation: Clegg, I. L. K., Domingues, M., Ström, E. et al. 2023. Cognitive foraging enrichment (but not non-cognitive enrichment) improved several longer-term welfare indicators in bottlenose dolphins. Animals 13(2), 238.

Instraspecific interactions decrease stress affecting welfare in shelter dogs: A comparison of four different housing conditions

Shelters are stressful environments for domestic dogs (Canis familiaris). Evaluating dogs' welfare is crucial to improve their life condition and to promote a better management of shelters. We aimed at verifying which variables improved welfare in 10 shelter dogs ((hosted...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Corsetti, S., Natoli, E., Palme, R. et al. 2023. Instraspecific interactions decrease stress affecting welfare in shelter dogs: A comparison of four different housing conditions. Animals 13(11), 1828.

Ruff morning? The use of environmental enrichment during an acute stressor in kenneled shelter dogs

The length of stay for some animals has increased with the recent reduction of animals euthanized in US shelters and animal control facilities. Research examining the effectiveness of different types of enrichment on buffering the effects of acute daily stressors...

Year Published: 2023Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Dare, P., Strasser, R. 2023. Ruff morning? The use of environmental enrichment during an acute stressor in kenneled shelter dogs. Animals 13(9), 1506.