Husbandry & Management

Aggressive behaviour at regrouping is a poor predictor of chronic aggression in stable social groups

Commercial pigs globally are routinely mixed into new social groups. This results in regrouping aggression predominantly during the first 24h which compromises welfare and productivity. Chronic aggression persists thereafter and is also undesirable. Management strategies are needed that reduce the...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Turner, S. P., Nevison, I. M., Desire, S. et al. 2017. Aggressive behaviour at regrouping is a poor predictor of chronic aggression in stable social groups. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 191, 98-106.

A novel method for the analysis of social structure allows in-depth analysis of sow rank in newly grouped sows

Chronic stress response in fearful animals can result in depression of growth and reproductive performance. It is therefore important to be aware of at risk animals in the herd. Thus far ‘hierarchy' calculations have involved the use of fights won...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Greenwood, E. C., Plush, K. J., van Wettere, W.H.E.J. et al. 2017. A novel method for the analysis of social structure allows in-depth analysis of sow rank in newly grouped sows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 189, 29-35.

The impact of bedding volumes on laboratory mice

Environmental refinement is considered to be an improvement in housing conditions for laboratory animals. Previous preference tests showed that female BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice prefer deeper bedding in comparison to shallow bedding (Freymann et al., 2015). In order to give...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Freymann, J., Tsai, P.-P., Stelzer, H. et al. 2017. The impact of bedding volumes on laboratory mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 186, 72-79.

Less water renewal reduces effects on social aggression of the cichlid Pterophyllum scalare

Changes in aquatic environments can affect fish behavior. Water renewal, for example, can dilute chemical signals, which are a social communication tool used by some fish species, and this dilution increases aggressive interactions in the group. Fierce and prolonged fights...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: dos Santos Gauy, A. C., Pereira Boscolo, C. N., Gonçalves-de-Freitas, E. 2018. Less water renewal reduces effects on social aggression of the cichlid Pterophyllum scalare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 198, 121-126.

The effects of mining machinery noise of different frequencies on the behaviour, faecal corticosterone and tissue morphology of wild mice (Mus musculus)

Mining noise has a wide variety of frequency spectra and is a potential source of stress for wildlife. We evaluated the effects of mining machinery noise on behaviour and associated physiological parameters at two isoenergetic frequency ranges: high (>2kHz) and...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Mancera, K. F., Lisle, A. Allavena, R. et al. 2017. The effects of mining machinery noise of different frequencies on the behaviour, faecal corticosterone and tissue morphology of wild mice (Mus musculus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 197, 81-89.

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.

The ins and outs of the litter box: A detailed ethogram of cat elimination behavior in two contrasting environments

Few studies have sought to describe cat elimination behavior in detail and much of the information presently available focuses on factors that potentially cause cats to reject a litter box. Thus, the ethograms published in the current veterinary and scientific...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Housing, Husbandry & Management, Natural BehaviorAnimal Type: Cat

Citation: McGowan, R. T. S., Ellis, J. J., Bensky, M. K. et al. 2017. The ins and outs of the litter box: A detailed ethogram of cat elimination behavior in two contrasting environments. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 194, 67-78.

Behaviour, stress and welfare of Sprague Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus) on diet board feeding for 24 months

Diet board (DB) feeding aims to reduce the health hazards associated with ad libitum (AL) feeding. Rats have to gnaw wood to detach food from the DB, reducing their food consumption. We studied the welfare effects of DB by measuring...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Rat, Rodent

Citation: Laaksonen, S., Nevalainen, T., Ketola, J. et al. 2017. Behaviour, stress and welfare of Sprague Dawley rats (Rattus norvegicus) on diet board feeding for 24 months. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 194, 86-94.

Making sense of it all: The importance of taking into account the sensory abilities of animals in their housing and management

In this selective review, examples are given of how different animal species use different sensory modalities in different ways. These examples serve to illustrate that we should not forget to take sensory abilities of the animals that we manage into...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Nielsen, B. L. 2018. Making sense of it all: The importance of taking into account the sensory abilities of animals in their housing and management. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 205, 175-180.

Effects of group housing system, pen floor type, and lactation management on performance and behaviour in rabbit does

This work aimed at evaluating the effects of housing system, pen floor type, and lactation management on rabbit doe and kit performance throughout a reproductive cycle, including categorization of aggressiveness and injuries. Forty multiparous pregnant does were assigned to six...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Husbandry & Management, Social Housing & CompanionshipAnimal Type: Rabbit

Citation: Zomeño, C., Birolo, M., Gratta, F. et al. 2018. Effects of group housing system, pen floor type, and lactation management on performance and behaviour in rabbit does. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 203, 55-63.