Environmental Enrichment

Is behavioural enrichment always a success? Comparing food presentation strategies in an insectivorous lizard (Plica plica)

Staggering food availability through a delivery device is a common way of providing behavioural enrichment as it is usually thought to increase the amount of natural behaviour due to the unpredictability of the food source. Tree-runner lizards (Plica plica) are...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Lizard, Reptile

Citation: Januszczak, I. S., Bryant, Z., Tapley, B. et al. 2016. Is behavioural enrichment always a success? Comparing food presentation strategies in an insectivorous lizard (Plica plica). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 183, 95-103.

Personality predicts the responses to environmental enrichment at the group but not within-groups in stereotypic African striped mice, Rhabdomys dilectus

Environmental enrichment is used to enhance the well-being of captive animals and to prevent or reduce stereotypic and other abnormal behaviours. However, environmental enrichment does not always succeed in its intended purpose. We investigated whether personality (i.e. consistent individual variation...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Joshi, S., Pillay, N. 2016. Personality predicts the responses to environmental enrichment at the group but not within-groups in stereotypic African striped mice, Rhabdomys dilectus. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 182, 44-52.

Effect of environmental enrichment and composition of the social group on the behavior, welfare, and relative brain weight of growing rabbits

The objective of the study was to investigate if environmental enrichment and the composition of the social group would affect the behavior and relative brain weight of growing rabbits. Rabbits (72 males and 72 females) were assigned to cages with...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Bozicovich, T. F. M., Moura, A. S. A. M. T., Fernandes, S. et al. 2016. Effect of environmental enrichment and composition of the social group on the behavior, welfare, and relative brain weight of growing rabbits. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 182, 72-79.

Captive domesticated zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) have increased plasma corticosterone concentrations in the absence of bathing water

Keeping animals in captivity should always favour conditions that aim to improve their welfare with respect to species-specific requirements. For laboratory animals, the majority of welfare issues have been explored in rodents thus far, whereas the effect of housing conditions...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Bird, Finch

Citation: Krause, E. T., Ruploh, T. 2016. Captive domesticated zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) have increased plasma corticosterone concentrations in the absence of bathing water. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 182, 80-85.

Curtained nests facilitate settled nesting behaviour of laying hens in furnished cages

Egg location can be used to determine the nests that hens prefer, but it does not indicate whether the design of that nest satisfies a hen's nesting motivation. Hens that are satisfied with the nest resources exhibit characteristic settled nesting...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Hunniford, M. E., Widowski, T. M. 2018. Curtained nests facilitate settled nesting behaviour of laying hens in furnished cages. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 202, 39-45.

Laying hens’ preferences for nest surface type are affected by enclosure

The nest surfaces preferred by hens are inconsistent with those typically provided in commercial settings. However, little research has explored hens' preferences for commercially available nest surfaces. Our objective was to compare hens' preferences for two such surfaces – red...

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

Citation: Hunniford, M. E., Mason, G. J., Widowski, T. M. 2018. Laying hens' preferences for nest surface type are affected by enclosure. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 201, 7-14.

The effect of auditory enrichment, rearing method and social environment on the behavior of zoo-housed psittacines (Aves: Psittaciformes); implications for welfare

The psychological and physiological effects of different genres of music are well documented in humans. These concepts have also been studied in kenneled dogs and some exotic animals, implying that animals may experience benefits similar to those of humans. This...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Bird, Parrot

Citation: Williams, I., Hoppitt, W., Grant, R. 2017. The effect of auditory enrichment, rearing method and social environment on the behavior of zoo-housed psittacines (Aves: Psittaciformes); implications for welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 186, 85-92.

Housing conditions do not alter cognitive bias but affect serum cortisol, qualitative behaviour assessment and wounds on the carcass in pigs

Measures of animal emotions are essential to assess animal welfare. Recently, the cognitive bias technique has been proposed as a measure of animal affective state. This technique is based on the premise that subjects in negative affective states make more...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Housing, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Carreras, R., Mainau, E., Arroyo, L. et al. 2016. Housing conditions do not alter cognitive bias but affect serum cortisol, qualitative behaviour assessment and wounds on the carcass in pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 185, 39-44.

Using automated image analysis in pig behavioural research: Assessment of the influence of enrichment substrate provision on lying behaviour

Visual monitoring of pig behaviours over long periods is very time consuming and has possibility for observer bias. Automated image processing techniques now give the potential to carry out behavioural research in a more effective way. To illustrate this, an...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Nasirahmadi, A., Edwards, S. A., Matheson, S. M. et al. 2017. Using automated image analysis in pig behavioural research: Assessment of the influence of enrichment substrate provision on lying behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 196, 30-35.

Influence of enrichment material and herbal compounds in the behaviour and performance of growing pigs

Pigs reared in barren conditions are exposed to many different stressors, compromising their welfare and producing physiological and behavioural changes. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of environmental enrichment (EE) consisting of natural hemp ropes, sawdust,...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Casal-Plana, N., Manteca, X., Dalmau, A. et al. 2017. Influence of enrichment material and herbal compounds in the behaviour and performance of growing pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 195, 38-43.