| 1. |
- Agnvall, Beatrix, et al.
(författare)
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Is evolution of domestication driven by tameness? A selective review with focus on chickens
- 2018
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 205, s. 227-233
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Domestication of animals offers unique possibilities to study evolutionary changes caused by similar selection pressures across a range of species. Animals from separate genera tend to develop a suite of phenotypic alterations referred to as "the domesticated phenotype". This involves changes in appearance, including loss of pigmentation, and alterations in body size and proportions. Furthermore, effects on reproduction and behaviour are typical. It is hypothesized that this recurring phenotype may be secondary effects of the increased tameness that is an inevitable first step in the domestication of any species. We first provide a general overview of observations and experiments from different species and then review in more detail a project attempting to recreate the initial domestication of chickens. Starting from an outbred population of Red Junglefowl, ancestors of all modem chickens, divergent lines were selected based on scores in a standardized fear-of-human test applied to all birds at 12 weeks of age. Up to the eighth selected generation, observations have been made on correlated effects of this selection on various phenotypes. The fear score had a significant heritability and was genetically correlated to several other behavioural traits. Furthermore, low-fear birds were larger at hatch, grew faster, laid larger eggs, had a modified metabolism and increased feed efficiency, had modified social behaviour and reduced brain size. Selection affected gene expression and DNA-methylation in the brains, but the genetic and epigenetic effects were not specifically associated with stress pathways. Further research should be focused on unraveling the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the correlated side-effects of reduced fear of humans.
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| 2. |
- Ahlbeck Bergendahl, Ida, et al.
(författare)
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Determining the effects of duration and recency of exposure to environmental enrichment
- 2016
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 176, s. 163-169
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Experience can help animals adapt their behaviour to fit the environment or conditions that they find themselves in. Understanding how and when experience affects behaviour is important for the animals we rear in captivity. This is particularly true when we rear animals with the intent of releasing them into the wild as part of population rehabilitation and conservation efforts. We investigated how exposure to a changing, more complex environment promotes behavioural development in juvenile trout. Four groups of fish were compared; (i) fish that were maintained without enrichment, (ii) fish that were exposed to an early period of enrichment, but were then returned to a plain environment, (iii) fish that were maintained in plain conditions, but were then exposed to enrichment towards the end of the rearing phase, (iv) a group that were kept in enriched conditions throughout the 12 week rearing period. We then assessed fish anxiety levels, their spatial learning ability, and the capacity of the fish to find their way through a barrier where different routes were presented across 4 different trials. Fish that experienced enriched conditions for the longest duration had superior spatial learning abilities, and they were better at finding the correct route to get past the barrier than fish from the remaining three treatments. Positive effects on behaviour were, however, also found in the fish that only experienced enrichment in the last part of the rearing period, compared to the control, or fish exposed to early enrichment. No effect of enrichment was found on levels of anxiety in any of the groups.
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| 3. |
- Algers, Bo
(författare)
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Playing and fighting by piglets around weaning on farms, employing individual or group housing of lactating sows
- 2010
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 124, s. 83-89
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the pig industry, piglets are weaned earlier than in nature. Early weaning has an impact on piglet growth and feeding behaviour, but this may differ, apart from the weaning age, according to the housing environment. Piglets from sow group housing systems (GH), where several litters and sows live together, may be better prepared for weaning than those from individual housing of sows with litters (IH) because increased freedom of movement and social contact as well as co-mingling litters before weaning are known to affect piglet social behaviour positively.However, these issues have rarely been investigated on commercial pig farms. Therefore, we assessed how piglets play, fighting and biting behaviour before and after weaning were affected by the housing system and weaning age as well as how the three behaviours are related to each other and piglet post-weaning weight gain.We recorded playing, fighting and biting behaviour in 5 GH farms (6-11 lactating sows and their litters kept in a large straw-bedded pen), and in 5 IH farms (each sow and litter kept in a pen with less straw) in Sweden. We observed 16 piglets (2 males and 2 females per litter) from 4 litters (in CH farms belonging to the same group) in each farm on the day before weaning (W - 1), the weaning day (W) and 5 days after weaning (W + 5). Weaning was accomplished (without mixing litters) by removing the sows after on average 39 days of lactation (range 33-50 days). All statistics were based on farm averages.There was no difference between CH and IH farms in the frequency of playing, fighting or biting behaviour, and weaning age did not affect any of the three behaviours (GLMM, p > 0.10). However, the frequency of playing and fighting differed significantly across the three observation days (GLMM, p <0.05). Play was higher on day W - 1 and on day W than on W + 5 (GLMM, p <0.05 and p = 0.01), fighting was lower on W - 1 than on W or W + 5 (GLMM, p <0.05 and p <0.05). On W - 1 and W + 5, playing correlated with fighting (r = 0.785, p <0.01; and r = 0.71, p <0.05, n = 10 farms) but biting correlated with neither playing nor fighting. In farms with higher weight gain between W and W + 5 days, piglets played and fought more on W + 5 day (r = 0.809, p < 0.01: and r = 0.672, p < 0.05, n = 10 farms). We conclude that (i) social piglet behaviour around weaning was not different between GH and IH farms; (ii) play and fighting (but not isolated biting) seemed to form one continuum; (iii) playing and fighting in weaned (nonmixed) piglets seemed to indicate good adaptation. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 4. |
- Andersson, Annelie, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Extensive infanticide in enclosed European wild boars (Sus scrofa)
- 2011
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 134:3, s. 184-192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Infanticidal behaviour is wide-spread among animals of various taxonomic groups, but has not previously been reported in European wild boars, which are commonly kept in enclosures in Sweden and Finland for meat and recreation purposes. We studied the behaviour of wild boars in one enclosure during three reproductive seasons. Non-maternal infanticide was documented in 14 out of 22 litters, causing the deaths of all piglets in all but one affected litters. Infanticide was typically performed during or shortly after parturition by a sow which was older and larger than the victimised sow, and we found no effect of relatedness. A questionnaire sent to 112 owners of enclosures in Sweden and Finland resulted in 62 responses. Although the owners were often not able to provide exact figures on reproduction and mortality, non-maternal infanticide was reported to be the most common cause of piglet mortality, which in total was estimated to 29.1%. The occurrence of infanticide was unrelated to size of enclosure and to variations in husbandry routines, which all together may suggest that the behaviour is part of the normal behavioural repertoire in European wild boars. The observed levels of infanticide constitute a major welfare problem in captive wild boars.
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| 5. |
- Axelsson, Helene, et al.
(författare)
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Behaviour in female mink housed in enriched standard cages during winter
- 2009
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 121, s. 222-229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study evaluated whether adding environmental enrichments to a standard housing system during winter could decrease stereotypic behaviours in female mink. The study was conducted on two private farms (F1 and F2) in southern Sweden. In total, 75 farmed mink oil each farm were housed in standard cages, with either a wire net shelf, a plastic ball, a plastic cylinder or all three enrichments together. Standard cages without enrichments were used as a control. All animals in the study were born and raised in a standard cage system without enrichments. The animals were housed in the enriched cages from early December, at approximately 7 months of age, until the beginning of March. Behavioural observations were made in January-March during three observation periods (10 consecutive days each) on each farm. The behaviours were recorded using one-zero sampling during 2 h prior to feeding and 2 h afterwards. There were no significant differences in stereotypic behaviours between treatments at F1, but stereotypic behaviours decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in mink with access to wire net shelves at F2. Stereotypic behaviours were most often performed before feeding and differed in occurrence between periods (P < 0.001). The total number of interactions with the enrichments differed between treatments (P < 0.001), and was highest for the wire net shelf enrichment on both farms. In conclusion, our results indicate that a wire net shelf, plastic cylinder, ball or all these three enrichments together were not sufficient to decrease or interrupt stereotypic behaviours that had already developed in standard housing during winter. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 6. |
- Axelsson, Helene, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of group size on behaviour, growth and occurrence of bite marks in farmed mink
- 2017
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 194, s. 112-119
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aims of this study were to investigate the occurrence of stereotypic behaviours and the activity level in farmed mink when group housed in climbing cages and if group housing increase aggression by assessing the prevalence of bite marks. This was studied in juvenile mink of the colour types "demibuff" (n = 165) and "half sapphire" (n = 165). The animals were housed in standard cages (S2: one male, one female), or in climbing cages (C2: one male, one female; C3: one male, two females; C4: two males, two females). Behaviours were recorded for two hours beginning at sunrise and two hours before sunset during six periods of five days each from August-October. After pelting, the leather side of the undried skins were visually inspected for bite marks. Stereotypic behaviours were infrequent (0.1% of observations). Pair housed mink in climbing cages were more "inactive out in cage" than pair housed mink in standard cages (p < 0.0001), but cage type had no effect on the behaviours "being in nest box", "active out in cage", "interactions with enrichments" or "social interactions" (n.s.). Group sizes of three or four mink increased the behaviours "active out in cage" (P < 0.0001) and decreased "being in nest box" (P < 0.001) but had no effect on "interactions with enrichments", "inactive out in cage" or "social interactions" (n.s.). Males had lower growth when kept in groups of four compared to groups of three or pairs (P < 0.001), and shorter skin lengths when kept in groups of four compared to pairs (P < 0.001), but females did not differ in growth or skin lengths between group sizes (n.s.). Number of bite marks on the leather side of the skins did not differ between cage types (n.s.) or group sizes (n.s.). In conclusion, neither the cage design nor the group size affected the occurrence of stereotypies or the occurrence of bite marks, but activity levels increased and the use of a nest box and male growth decreased in larger groups.
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| 7. |
- Blanco Penedo, Isabel
(författare)
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Development of a welfare assessment protocol for practical application in Argentine feedlots
- 2022
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 253
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The intensification of livestock farming has led to the expansion of feedlots in many countries and Argentina is not an exception. As in any other husbandry context, there is a need to objectively adopt an evidence-based approach to monitoring animal welfare in feedlots. This research aimed to describe the stages that took part in the development process of Bienest.AR, a beef cattle evaluation protocol adapted to the different conditions of the national feedlots, respecting validity, reliability, and feasibility criteria. The process to achieve this goal included the following seven stages: 1- Identification of welfare indicators considering animal- (ABM), resource(RBM) and management-based measurements (MBM), by organising them according to the FAWC Five Freedoms, the Five Domains Model, and the welfare principles and criteria applied by Welfare Quality (R) and AWIN methods; 2- Validation of Gold Standards; 3- Evaluator's training and first reliability testing by Spearman's Rank correlation coefficient; 4- Selection of indicators through focus groups; 5- Field application on 25 farms; 6Feasibility and second reliability testing by Kendall Correlation Coefficient; and 7- Weighing of indicators and defining the classification method. Of the 150 candidate measurements initially obtained from the literature review, 57 were pre-selected and 28 were finally selected based on their validity, reliability and practicality to integrate the final protocol (18 ABM, 8 RBM and 2 MBM). In addition, the final protocol included information about: preliminary interview; sampling order; estimated evaluation time; sample size; equipment required; and steps to follow from arrival at the farm until completion of the evaluation. The protocol was applied in 25 feedlots and 54,238 animals, and required a minimum time of 290 min to a maximum of 495 min to be completed. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) concordance among the observers was found for all the selected ABM analysed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. Given the simplicity for its evaluation, the reliability of RBM and MBM included in this protocol has not been evaluated. This research allowed the development of the first standard welfare assessment protocol for beef cattle feedlots in Argentina. Further applications of the described welfare assessment tool in many feedlots will reinforce the validation of the proposed measurements and allow the diagnosis of the global situation of animal welfare in feedlots in Argentina and other countries applying comparable fattening systems.
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| 8. |
- Blokhuis, Harry
(författare)
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Behavioural and physiological responses of heifer calves to acute stressors: Long-term consistency and relationship with adult reactivity to milking
- 2013
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 147, s. 55-68
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study investigated the long-term consistency of individual differences in dairy cattles' responses in tests of behavioural and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis reactivity, as well as the relationship between responsiveness in behavioural tests and the reaction to first milking. Two cohorts of heifer calves, Cohorts 1 (N = 25) and 2 (N = 16), respectively, were examined longitudinally from the rearing period until adulthood. Cohort 1 heifers were subjected to open field (OF), novel object (NO), restraint, and response to a human tests at 7 months of age, and were again observed in an OF test during first pregnancy between 22 and 24 months of age. Subsequently, inhibition of milk ejection and stepping and kicking behaviours were recorded in Cohort 1 heifers during their first machine milking. Cohort 2 heifers were individually subjected to OF and NO tests as well as two HPA axis reactivity tests (determining ACTH and/or cortisol response profiles after administration of exogenous CRH and ACTH, respectively) at 6 months of age and during first lactation at approximately 29 months of age. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to condense correlated response measures (to behavioural tests and to milking) within ages into independent dimensions underlying heifers' reactivity. Heifers demonstrated consistent individual differences in locomotion and vocalisation during an OF test from rearing to first pregnancy (Cohort 1) or first lactation (Cohort 2). Individual differences in struggling in a restraint test at 7 months of age reliably predicted those in OF locomotion during first pregnancy in Cohort 1 heifers. Cohort 2 animals with high cortisol responses to OF and NO tests and high avoidance of the novel object at 6 months of age also exhibited enhanced cortisol responses to OF and NO tests at 29 months of age. Measures of HPA axis reactivity, locomotion, vocalisation and adrenocortical and behavioural responses to novelty were largely uncorrelated, supporting the idea that stress responsiveness in dairy cows is mediated by multiple independent underlying traits. Inhibition of milk ejection and stepping and kicking behaviours during first machine milking were not related to earlier struggling during restraint, locomotor responses to OF and NO tests, or the behavioural interaction with a novel object. Heifers with high rates of OF and NO vocalisation and short latencies to first contact with the human at 7 months of age exhibited better milk ejection during first machine milking. This suggests that low underlying sociality might be implicated in the inhibition of milk ejection at the beginning of lactation in heifers. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Bonnefous, Claire, et al.
(författare)
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Behavioural indicators of range use in four broiler strains
- 2023
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : ELSEVIER. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 260
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Free-range systems provide an outdoor range for broilers to give them the possibility to express a higher frequency and a wider range of behaviours, such as exploration, compared with those raised indoors. Greater variability in outdoor range use between individuals of the same flock is often reported. Individual variation in range use may result from differences in early-life behaviour or genetic background. Understanding how earlylife behaviour influences range use may provide opportunities to enhance and predict range use. Previous studies have shown that range use could be influenced by the animals personality traits such as social motivation, boldness and foraging motivation. Therefore, this study investigated personality traits in several broiler strains, namely Hubbard JA757, Hubbard S757N, White Bresse and a dual-purpose strain; we examined the latter as it represents a potential solution to the ban of 1-day-old chick culling. The present study also investigated early-life behaviours, before range access, of range use to identify and assess the stability of these early-life indicators among the four broiler strains. For that purpose, we recorded the behaviour and range use of 100 male chickens per strain, both in the barn and during individual tests, before and after range access. We examined which behaviours were time consistent, whether early-life behaviours were influenced by genetic variation and whether early-life behavioural indicators predicted range use regardless of genetic variation. There was a significant (p < 0.001) difference between strains in several early-life behaviours, including the time spent resting or standing. Range use was time consistent regardless of the strain as our range use indicator followed a high-quality linear regression model (R-2 > 0.7) for 82-99% of the individuals depending on their strain. Besides, time consistency of social motivation and boldness seemed to depend on the strain. Even though foraging showed low (rho = 0.2-0.4) positive correlations with range use in three of the four studied strains, there were no significant and strong correlations in the four studied strains between early-life behavioural indicators and range use. In conclusion, our results show that the link between chick behaviour (before range access) and range use can be modulated by the birds strain. It is crucial to consider all these different factors to better understand how range use varies within and between flocks.
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| 10. |
- Brunberg, Emma, et al.
(författare)
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Icelandic horses with the Silver coat colour show altered behaviour in a fear reaction test
- 2013
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Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 146, s. 72-78
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The colour of a horse's coat has long been discussed to reflect its temperament. One opinion is that Silver coloured horses are nervous, difficult to handle and react more strongly to different fear stimuli. The objective with the present study was to investigate if mutations associated with the Silver coat colour affect fear reactions in Icelandic horses. The hypothesis was that horses with the Silver mutation Arg618Cys in PMEL show stronger fear reactions than horses without the mutation (e.g. Black/Brown or Chestnut horses). Twenty-seven Icelandic horses (nine Silver, nine Chestnuts and nine Black/Brown) matched for sire, were exposed to the fear stimulus (a suddenly moving plastic bag) while feeding from a container. The test was repeated five times and behavioural responses and latency to return to the feed container were recorded. All horses were genotyped for the Silver mutation. The proportion of Silver horses that were hesitant to approach the test set-up before each trial was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the proportion of non-Silver horses and this difference was most pronounced before the first two trials. No differences in reaction vigour or latency to resume feeding were found between the differently coloured horses. The results suggest that Silver horses are more cautious in novel situations rather than more reactive in fearful situations. One likely explanation for this difference is that the Silver mutation is associated with multiple congenital ocular anomalies (MCOA) syndrome and visual impairment. Furthermore, offspring (regardless of coat colour) from sires with a Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP, an index indicating which traits a horse will pass on to its offspring) value above 100 for the temperament trait 'Spirit', showed a greater fear reaction (P < 0.01) and reacted for a longer time (P < 0.01) than horses from sires with a lower (<100) index. These results indicate that horses with a high BLUP value for 'Spirit' seem to express stronger fear reactions. Breeding for Silver coat colour and the 'Spirit' trait, as it is currently defined, may need to be reconsidered if these results are confirmed in a larger cohort. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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