Environmental Enrichment

Environmental complexity: Additional human visual contact reduced meat chickens’ fear of humans and physical items altered pecking behavior

Increased environmental complexity can improve animal welfare, depending on the resources provided and use by the animal. We provided chickens either with physical items that posed no biosecurity risk and were inexpensive (balls, chains, perches and rope) (P; n =...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Taylor, P. S., Hemsworth, P. H., Rault, J.-L. 2022. Environmental complexity: Additional human visual contact reduced meat chickens' fear of humans and physical items altered pecking behavior. Animals 12(3), 310.

Rehabilitation of marine turtles and welfare improvement by application of environmental enrichment strategies

Sea turtles perform various ecological services in several marine environments and are considered architects of the marine landscape. At present, they are endangered species due to anthropogenic threats, pollution and degradation of marine habitats. These impacts make it urgent to...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Reptile, Turtle & Tortoise

Citation: Escobedo-Bonilla, C. M., Quiros-Rojas, N. M., Rudín-Salazar, E. 2022. Rehabilitation of marine turtles and welfare improvement by application of environmental enrichment strategies. Animals 12(3), 282.

Impacts of rearing enrichments on pullets’ and free-range hens’ positive behaviors across the flock cycle

Enrichment during the indoor rearing of pullets destined for free-range systems may optimize pullet development including increasing motivated natural behaviors (termed ‘positive behaviors') including foraging, dust bathing and chick play. Hy-Line Brown® chicks (n = 1700) were floor-reared indoors across...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Campbell, D. L. M., Belson, S., Dyall, T. R. et al. 2022. Impacts of rearing enrichments on pullets' and free-range hens' positive behaviors across the flock cycle. Animals 12(3), 280.

The effect of environmental enrichment on laboratory rare minnows (Gobiocypris rarus): Growth, physiology, and behavior

Environmental enrichment is a method to increase environmental heterogeneity, which may reduce stress and improve animal welfare. Previous studies have shown that environmental enrichment can increase the growth rate, decrease aggressive and anxiety-like behaviors, improve learning ability and agility, and...

Year Published: 2022Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Xu, C., Hou, M., Su, L. et al. 2022. The effect of environmental enrichment on laboratory rare minnows (Gobiocypris rarus): Growth, physiology, and behavior. Animals 12(4), 514.

Training as enrichment: A critical review

Husbandry training and environmental enrichment are both important advancements associated with current behavioural welfare practices. Additionally, the use of training procedures has been proposed as a form of enrichment, with the implication that training can produce beneficial behavioural welfare results....

Year Published: 2022Topics: Animal Training, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Fernandez, E. J. 2022. Training as enrichment: A critical review. Animal Welfare 31(1), 1-12.

Enriched sleep environments lengthen lemur sleep duration

Characteristics of the sleep-site are thought to influence the quality and duration of primate sleep, yet only a handful of studies have investigated these links experimentally. Using actigraphy and infrared videography, we quantified sleep in four lemur species (Eulemur coronatus,...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Lemur, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Vining, A. Q., Nunn, C. L., Samson, D. R. 2021. Enriched sleep environments lengthen lemur sleep duration. PLOS ONE 16(11), e0253251.

Knowledge-based enrichment: Development of a novel enrichment device for captive chimpanzees

The field of environmental enrichment has grown considerably, but most enrichment is still focused on tasks where highly valued food rewards are directly visible. We designed a device which would instead make use of knowledge states, motivational structure, and physical...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Chimpanzee, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Brooks, J., Yoshimura, H., Taki, Y. 2021. Knowledge-based enrichment: Development of a novel enrichment device for captive chimpanzees. Zoo Biology 40(5), 398-406.

Enrichment devices for green turtles (Chelonia mydas) reared in captivity programs

Environmental enrichment supports the well-being and welfare of captive animals. In the current study, the most suitable form of enrichment device for captive green turtles (Chelonia mydas) was investigated, to support head-start programs rearing turtles for release into their natural...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Reptile, Turtle & Tortoise

Citation: Kanghae, H., Thongprajukaew, K., Inphrom, S. et al. 2021. Enrichment devices for green turtles (Chelonia mydas) reared in captivity programs. Zoo Biology 40(5), 407-416.

Using approach latency and anticipatory behaviour to assess whether voluntary playpen access is rewarding to laboratory mice

Laboratory mice are typically housed in "shoebox" cages that limit the expression of natural behaviours. Temporary access to more complex environments (playpens) may improve their welfare. We aimed to assess if access to playpens is rewarding for conventionally-housed mice and...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Ratuski, A. S., Makowska, I. J., Dvorack, K. R. et al. 2021. Using approach latency and anticipatory behaviour to assess whether voluntary playpen access is rewarding to laboratory mice. Scientific Reports 11(1), 18683.

Environmental complexity positively impacts affective states of broiler chickens

Affective state can bias an animal's judgement. Animals in positive affective states can interpret ambiguous cues more positively (“optimistically”) than animals in negative affective states. Thus, judgement bias tests can determine an animal's affective state through their responses to ambiguous...

Year Published: 2021Topics: Emotion, Pain, & Sentience, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Anderson, M. G., Campbell, A. M., Crump, A. et al. 2021. Environmental complexity positively impacts affective states of broiler chickens. Scientific Reports 11(1), 16966.