Husbandry & Management

Access to litter during rearing and environmental enrichment during production reduce fearfulness in adult laying hens

Exaggerated fear-reactions are associated with injurious flying, smothering, feather pecking and other events that compromise animal welfare in laying hens. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that chicks with access to litter during the first five...

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

Citation: Brantsæter, M., Tahamtani, F. M., Nordgreen, J. et al. 2017. Access to litter during rearing and environmental enrichment during production reduce fearfulness in adult laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 189, 49-56.

Use of a pneumatic push gate to measure dairy cattle motivation to lie down in a deep-bedded area

Persistence of willingness to work has been used to measure the importance of resources and performance of species-specific behaviors. Our objectives were to develop and validate a “push-door” model to assess cattle motivation to lie down in a deep-bedded area....

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Tucker, C. B., Munksgaard, L., Mintline, E. M. et al. 2018. Use of a pneumatic push gate to measure dairy cattle motivation to lie down in a deep-bedded area. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 201, 15-24.

Exposing avian embryos to light affects post-hatch anti-predator fear responses

Environmental stimuli present during incubation can impact the behavior of birds post-hatch. To determine the effect of exposing broiler chicken embryos to light on fear-related behavior post-hatch, we conducted two experiments in which we incubated eggs under various light schedules,...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Archer, G. S., Mench, J. A. 2017. Exposing avian embryos to light affects post-hatch anti-predator fear responses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 186, 80-84.

Evaluation of a dustbathing substrate and straw bales as environmental enrichments in commercial broiler housing

The use of straw bales as an environmental enrichment is common for broiler chickens in enriched housing systems, however relatively little information exists about their effectiveness in improving welfare. There has also been no widespread introduction of a dustbathing material...

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

Citation: Baxter, M., Bailie, C. L., O'Connell, N. E. 2018. Evaluation of a dustbathing substrate and straw bales as environmental enrichments in commercial broiler housing. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 200, 78-85.

Effect of light colour temperature and intensity on the behaviour of male C57CL/6J mice

Light is an important environmental factor affecting laboratory animals' well-being but still there is a range of light parameters in animal research facilities that need further study. Behavioural testing was conducted to study the impact of different conditions of light...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Kapogiannatou, A., Paronis, E., Paschidis, K. et al. 2016. Effect of light colour temperature and intensity on the behaviour of male C57CL/6J mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 184, 135-140.

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.

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.

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.

Feeding from perches in an aviary system reduces aggression and mortality in laying hens

Some commercial aviary systems for laying hens allow birds to access feed by standing on perches instead of platforms. Despite reports that providing laying hens with perches relates to reduced aggression and cannibalism, and increased prevalence of keel bone damage,...

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

Citation: Sirovnik, J., Stratmann, A., Gebhardt-Henrich, S. G. et al. 2018. Feeding from perches in an aviary system reduces aggression and mortality in laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 202, 53-62.

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.