Welfare Assessment

Development and validation of broiler welfare assessment methods for research and on-farm audits

Required auditing of on-farm broiler welfare in the United States has increased; however, a lack of validated tools exists for assessment of enrichment. National Chicken Council (NCC) guidelines were used on a subset of 300 Ross 308 broilers out of...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Meyer, M. M., Johnson, A. K., Bobeck, E. A. 2020. Development and validation of broiler welfare assessment methods for research and on-farm audits. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 23(4), 433-446.

Development of a benchmarking tool for dairy herd management using routinely collected herd records

Continuous assessment of the herd status is important in order to monitor and adjust to changes in the welfare and health status but can be time consuming and expensive. In this study, herd status indicators from routinely collected dairy herd...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Warner, D., Vasseur, E., Villettaz Robichaud, M. et al. 2020. Development of a benchmarking tool for dairy herd management using routinely collected herd records. Animals 10(9), 1689.

Development of a facial expression scale using farrowing as a model of pain in sows

Changes in facial expression have been shown to be a useful tool to assess pain severity in humans and animals, but facial scales have not yet been developed for all species. A facial expression scale in sows was developed using...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Reproduction, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Navarro, E., Mainau, E., Manteca, X. 2020. Development of a facial expression scale using farrowing as a model of pain in sows. Animals 10(11), 2113.

Evaluation of an acute osmotic stress in European sea bass via skin mucus biomarkers

European sea bass is a marine teleost which can inhabit a broad range of environmental salinities. So far, no research has studied the physiological response of this fish to salinity challenges using modifications in skin mucus as a potential biological...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Husbandry & Management, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Fish, Other Fish

Citation: Ordóñez-Grande, B., Guerreiro, P. M., Sanahuja, I. et al. 2020. Evaluation of an acute osmotic stress in European sea bass via skin mucus biomarkers. Animals 10(9), 1546.

Evaluation of infrared thermography as a non-invasive method of measuring the autonomic nervous response in sheep

Eye temperature measured using infrared thermography (IRT) can be used as a non-invasive measure of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in cattle. The objective of this study was to evaluate if changes in eye temperature (measured using IRT) can be...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Sheep

Citation: Sutherland, M. A., Worth, G. M., Dowling, S. K. et al. 2020. Evaluation of infrared thermography as a non-invasive method of measuring the autonomic nervous response in sheep. PLOS ONE 15(5): e0233558.

Effect of repeated exposure to isoflurane on nest building and burrowing in mice

Nest building and burrowing are highly motivated natural behaviors in rodents, and changes in these behaviors can serve as welfare assessment tools. In this study, we investigated: 1) the limits of agreement between 2 observers for a refined scoring method...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Anesthesia & Sedation, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Gjendal, K., Ottesen, J. L., Olsson, I. et al. 2020. Effect of repeated exposure to isoflurane on nest building and burrowing in mice. JAALAS 59(1), 30–36.

Female urine-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in male C57BL/6J mice as a proxy indicator for postoperative pain

Objectively recognizing postoperative pain in mice is challenging, making it difficult to determine an appropriate postoperative analgesic regimen. Adult male mice produce ultrasonic vocalizations after exposure to adult female urine (FiUSV). To determine if FiUSV can be used as a...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Smith, B. J., Bruner, K., Hess, A. M. et al. 2020. Female urine-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in male C57BL/6J mice as a proxy indicator for postoperative pain. JAALAS 59(2), 204–211.

Frothy saliva—A novel indicator to assess stereotypies in sows?

The present study aimed at introducing a reliable and more feasible indicator to evaluate stereotypies in sows in comparison with the Welfare Quality® animal welfare assessment protocol for sows and piglets’. Therefore, the indicators for the assessment of stereotypies of...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Abnormal/Problematic Behavior, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Pig

Citation: Friedrich, L., Krieter, J., Kemper, N. et al. 2020. Frothy saliva—A novel indicator to assess stereotypies in sows? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 222, 104897.

Grimace scores: Tools to support the identification of pain in mammals used in research

The 3Rs, Replacement, Reduction and Refinement, is a framework to ensure the ethical and justified use of animals in research. The implementation of refinements is required to alleviate and minimise the pain and suffering of animals in research. Public acceptability...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Cohen, S., Beths, T. 2020. Grimace scores: Tools to support the identification of pain in mammals used in research. Animals 10(10), 1726.

Improvement of the Mouse Grimace Scale set-up for implementing a semi-automated Mouse Grimace Scale scoring (Part 1)

The Mouse Grimace Scale (MGS) has been widely used for the noninvasive examination of distress/pain in mice. The aim of this study was to further improve its performance to generate repeatable, faster, blinded and reliable results for developing automated and...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Mouse, Rodent

Citation: Ernst, L., Kopaczka, M., Schulz, M. et al. 2020. Improvement of the Mouse Grimace Scale set-up for implementing a semi-automated Mouse Grimace Scale scoring (Part 1). Laboratory Animals 54(1), 83–91.