| 1. |
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| 2. |
- Algers, Bo, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of crate height during slaughter transport on the welfare of male turkeys
- 2012
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Ingår i: British Poultry Science. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0007-1668 .- 1466-1799. ; 53, s. 414-420
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Poultry are usually transported in crates which provide the birds with very limited space. Slaughter transport of male turkeys is often carried out using crates that are 40 cm or less in height where it is not possible for them to stand up. There is little information on how this physical restriction over many hours affects the birds. 2. The aim of the study was to compare the welfare of male turkeys transported in crates 40 cm and 55 cm in height. Observations on the birds' behaviour during lairage, carcass damage and meat quality were carried out after four commercial slaughter transport journeys. 3. Birds in 40 cm crates panted more and lay down more than birds in 55 cm crates during lairage. A large percentage of the carcasses had some damage. Significantly more birds from the 55 cm crates had scratches on their backs than birds from the 40 cm crates. There was no significant difference in meat quality between birds transported in the two crate heights. 4. Both positive and negative effects of increased crate height were established and there is no evidence from this study that merely increasing crate height improves turkey welfare. Other solutions should therefore be sought in order to improve the welfare of birds during transport.
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| 3. |
- Alm, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Short term deprivation of the litter area after transfer to the layer facility - effects on welfare and production in pullets
- 2013
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Ingår i: World's Poultry Science Journal. - 0043-9339. ; , s. 38-38
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In order to enable hens to find feed and water and to reduce the number of floor-laid eggs in floor systems, producers sometimes exclude pullets from the litter area for some time when they are moved into the production system. This could have negative consequences since litter is an important resource for layers and the procedure is not allowed in Sweden. The aim of the present study was to investigate how bird welfare and production are affected by deprivation of access to litter and space at introduction of pullets to the laying facility. The study comprised 600 floor reared Bovans Robust layers obtained at 16 weeks of age (wks) and housed in 6 groups of 100 in a single-tier floor laying system. Three groups had full access to the litter area during the whole study (OPEN) and three groups were excluded from the litter during the first two weeks (CLOSED) and then received full access throughout the rest of the study. The experiment will run a full production cycle (75 wks) and figures presented below show the results obtained until 51 wks as it is still in progress. Feather cover (6-24 points), pecking wounds, cleanliness, foot condition and keel bone deviations (all 1-4 points) were assessed by integument scoring at 40 wks. Fearfulness was assessed by testing novel object (NO) and tonic immobility (TI). Based on group means, the data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the MIXED procedure of the statistical system (SAS 9.2). The feather cover score was higher in treatment CLOSED (17.9 points) compared to OPEN (12.3 points) (P=0.019). No difference was found between treatments in any of the other integument score parameters. Fearfulness was higher in groups in the OPEN treatment as compared to CLOSED, indicated by less approaches in the NO test (21.5 vs 48.0) (P<0.001) and longer duration of TI (11.3 min vs 6.4 min) (P=0.018). Rate of lay, number of mislaid eggs, proportion of cracked or dirty eggs and mortality were recorded regularly but no significant differences between treatments were shown. Thus, excluding hens from the litter area during the first two weeks in this type of production system did not decrease the number of floor laid eggs, but had a positive impact on feather cover and resulted in less fearful birds. Additional welfare parameters will be analyzed later on which may explain these results further.
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| 4. |
- Alm, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Welfare and performance in layers following temporary exclusion from the litter area on introduction to the layer facility
- 2015
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Ingår i: Poultry Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0032-5791 .- 1525-3171. ; 94, s. 565-573
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- When introduced to the laying facility, pullets are sometimes temporarily excluded from the litter area in order to help them locate food and water, and to prevent floor-laid eggs. This procedure is not permitted in Sweden, because it involves denying access to both litter and space, which may have a negative effect on bird welfare. The present study investigated how the welfare and performance of layers were affected by this temporary exclusion on introduction of hens to the laying facility. The study included 600 floor-reared Dekalb White layers obtained at 16wk age and housed in 6 groups of 100 in a conventional single-tier floor-laying system. Birds were either given full access to the litter area during the whole study or were excluded from the litter area during the first 2 wk after transfer to the laying facility. From 18 to 72 wk age, birds in both treatments had full access to the litter area. Excluding birds from the litter area for 2wk resulted in better feather cover and reduced fearfulness, according to novel object and tonic immobility tests. Furthermore, birds initially excluded from the litter area produced eggs with a lower proportion of shell irregularities than birds with full access to the litter area throughout. No difference was found in corticosterone metabolites in droppings rate of lay, mortality, or proportion of floor-laid eggs. In conclusion, none of the parameters studied indicated that the welfare of laying hens was compromised by temporary exclusion from the litter area on introduction to the laying facility. In fact, some of the data suggested that bird welfare had improved.
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| 5. |
- Alm, Malin, et al.
(författare)
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Welfare indicators in laying hens in relation to nest exclusion
- 2016
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Ingår i: Poultry Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0032-5791 .- 1525-3171. ; 95, s. 1238-1247
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Consumer concerns about the welfare of laying hens are increasing, leading to increased interest in identifying reliable ways to assess welfare. The present study evaluated invasive and non-invasive welfare indicators in relation to a stressful challenge. The study included 126 Lohmann Selected Leghorn hens housed in furnished cages. Welfare indicators were measured between 61 and 70 wk of age in birds excluded from their nests for 5 consecutive d and control birds that had continuous access to nests. Baseline recordings were carried out in both groups prior to and post exclusion period. The assessed indicators were: corticosterone metabolites in droppings (FCM), corticosterone concentration in yolk, corticosterone concentration in plasma, irregularities of eggshells, heterophil to lymphocyte (H:L) ratio, tonic immobility duration, and feather cover. Behavioral observations showed that the birds had a clear preference for using the secluded nest sites, confirming that they were likely to perceive nest exclusion as an undesirable experience. Further, elevated levels of FCM in droppings, yolk corticosterone concentrations, H:L ratios and irregular eggshells were detected in both nest deprived and control birds during the exclusion. This suggests that these indicators were able to detect an increased stress response arising from nest deprivation, and it is hypothesized that the stress spread to birds in adjacent cages with access to nests. There was a positive and consistent correlation between FCM in droppings and eggshell irregularities, also supporting the use of eggshell irregularities as a potential non-invasive welfare indicator. However, the pattern of the stress response varied between indicators and correlations were generally few and inconsistent, highlighting the complexity of the relationship among welfare indicators.
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| 6. |
- Campderrich Lecumberri, Irene, et al.
(författare)
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Environmental complexity: A buffer against stress in the domestic chick
- 2019
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Birds kept in commercial production systems can be exposed to multiple stressors from early life and this alters the development of different morphological, immunological and behavioural indicators. We explore the hypothesis that provision of a complex environment during early life, better prepares birds to cope with stressful events as well as buffers them against future unpredictable stressful episodes. In this study, 96 one day old pullets were randomly distributed in eight pens (12 birds/pen). Half of the chicks (N = 48) were assigned to a Complex Environment (CENV: with perches, a dark brooder etc.) the others to a Simple Environment (SENV: without enrichment features). Half of the birds from each of these treatments were assigned to a No Stress (NSTR, 33°C) or to an acute Cold Stress (CSTR, 18–20°C) treatment during six hours on their second day of life. At four weeks of age, chicks with these four different backgrounds were exposed to an Intermittent Stressful Challenges Protocol (ISCP). In an immunological test indicative of pro-inflammatory status Phytohemagglutinin-P (PHA-P), the response of CSTR birds was ameliorated by rearing chicks in a CENV as they had a similar response to NSTR chicks and a significantly better pro-inflammatory response than those CSTR birds reared in a SENV (five days after the CSTR treatment was applied). A similar better response when coping with new challenges (the ISCP) was observed in birds reared in a CENV compared to those from a SENV. Birds reared in the CENV had a lower heterophil/lymphocyte ratio after the ISCP than birds reared in SENV, independently of whether or not they had been exposed to CSTR early in life. No effects of stress on general behaviour were detected, however, the provision of a CENV increased resting behaviour, which may have favoured stress recover. Additionally, we found that exposure to cold stress at an early age might have rendered birds more vulnerable to future stressful events. CSTR birds had lower humoral immune responses (sheep red blood cells induced antibodies) after the ISCP and started using elevated structures in the CENV later compared to their NSTR conspecifics. Our study reflects the importance of the early provision of a CENV in commercial conditions to reduce negative stress-related effects. Within the context of the theory of adaptive plasticity, our results suggest that the early experience of the birds had long lasting effects on the modulation of their phenotypes.
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| 7. |
- Keeling, Linda, et al.
(författare)
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The influence of losing or gaining access to peat on the dustbathing behaviour of laying hens
- 2009
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Ingår i: Animal Welfare. - 0962-7286 .- 2054-1538. ; 18, s. 149-157
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigated the influence of being reared with or without access to peat as well as the effects of losing or gaining substrate access on the dustbathing behaviour of young, domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus). There were four treatments, based on the period of time chicks had access to peat during rearing. (i) always (LL), (ii) never (NN), (iii) from 0 to 6 weeks of age (LN) and (iv) from 6 weeks of age onwards (NL). Observations on the number and length of dustbaths performed were made for six days with birds aged six weeks and 50% of the birds either lost or gained access to litter. The birds then remained in the some treatment conditions until 16 weeks of age, at which point the same behavioural observations were repeated. NL birds (which had just gained access to peat) were found to be quicker than LN birds (which had just lost access to peat) to perform a dustbath during the first observation period. A significant difference was seen in the variation of the duration of the dustbathing bouts; both LL and NL birds varied less in the lengths of their bouts than NN and LN birds over both observation periods. Hence, early rearing environment had less effect on birds' dustbathing behaviour than current access or lack of access to litter. The irregular dustbathing pattern exhibited by birds that dustbathe without litter could be a sign of frustration; an indication that dustbathing without litter - unlike dustbathing in litter - does not provide the required feedback.
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| 8. |
- Lidfors, Lena, et al.
(författare)
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Enriched cages for groups of laboratory male rats and their effects on behaviour, weight gain and adrenal glands
- 2014
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Ingår i: Laboratory Animals. - : SAGE Publications. - 0023-6772 .- 1758-1117. ; 48, s. 36-49
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated if there were any negative effects on the behaviour and physiology of rats housed in groups of five in two types of enriched cages and compared them with paired-housed rats housed in traditional cages. Eighty-four male Wistar and Sprague-Dawley rats were housed in an enriched rat cage (ERC), a rebuilt rabbit cage (RRC) or a Makrolon III cage (MC) system from 5-16 weeks of age with access to different enrichments. Recordings of behaviour and cage use (3 × 24 h video recording), weekly weighing, measuring food consumption four days/week and water consumption two days/week, were carried out. The rats' muscle strength was assessed using the 'inclined plane' at the end of the study, and after euthanasia the adrenal glands were removed and weighed. Being in the shelter was the most common behaviour in the ERC and RRC groups. In the MC group, which lacked a shelter, rats performed the highest percentage of lying, grooming, rearing, play fighting and manipulating paper shreds. Rats in the RRC had the highest percentage of standing and manipulating gnawing sticks. Water consumption was higher in MC than in ERC and RRC rats. Rats from the RRC managed to remain at a steeper angle on the 'inclined plane' than rats from the MC. There were no significant effects of cage type on weight gain, food consumption or relative weights of adrenal glands. In conclusion, male rats kept in groups of five in larger enriched cages benefited from the enrichments, and no negative effects were found in the larger groups.
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| 9. |
- Lindqvist, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Transmission of Stress-Induced Learning Impairment and Associated Brain Gene Expression from Parents to Offspring in Chickens
- 2007
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 2:4, s. e364-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Stress influences many aspects of animal behaviour and is a major factor driving populations to adapt to changing living conditions, such as during domestication. Stress can affect offspring through non-genetic mechanisms, but recent research indicates that inherited epigenetic modifications of the genome could possibly also be involved. Methodology/Principal Findings: Red junglefowl (RJF, ancestors of modern chickens) and domesticated White Leghorn (WL) chickens were raised in a stressful environment (unpredictable light-dark rhythm) and control animals in similar pens, but on a 12/12 h light-dark rhythm. WL in both treatments had poorer spatial learning ability than RJF, and in both populations, stress caused a reduced ability to solve a spatial learning task. Offspring of stressed WL, but not RJF, raised without parental contact, had a reduced spatial learning ability compared to offspring of non-stressed animals in a similar test as that used for their parents. Offspring of stressed WL were also more competitive and grew faster than offspring of non-stressed parents. Using a whole-genome cDNA microarray, we found that in WL, the same changes in hypothalamic gene expression profile caused by stress in the parents were also found in the offspring. In offspring of stressed WL, at least 31 genes were up- or down-regulated in the hypothalamus and pituitary compared to offspring of non-stressed parents. Conclusions/ Significance: Our results suggest that, in WL the gene expression response to stress, as well as some behavioural stress responses, were transmitted across generations. The ability to transmit epigenetic information and behaviour modifications between generations may therefore have been favoured by domestication. The mechanisms involved remain to be investigated; epigenetic modifications could either have been inherited or acquired de novo in the specific egg environment. In both cases, this would offer a novel explanation to rapid evolutionary adaptation of a population.
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| 10. |
- Nilsson, Anne, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of Interactive Behaviors Induced by a Therapy Dog and Her Handler on the Physiology of Residents in Nursing Homes : An Exploratory Study
- 2024
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Ingår i: Anthrozoos. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0892-7936 .- 1753-0377. ; 37:2, s. 323-342
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate interactive behaviors performed between residents at nursing homes and a therapy dog and her handler and explore if they influenced residents’ physiological variables such as fingertip temperature, heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The therapy dog–handler team visited 12 older people at three nursing homes for 60 min twice a week during a four-week period. The visits were videotaped, and the duration of interactive behaviors was recorded. The physiological variables were measured before (0 min) and after (60 min) the interaction between the residents and the dog–handler team, and the delta value was calculated. The interactive behaviors during the first two and the last two weeks were as follows: the resident looking at the dog (799 and 697 s/h), the resident in physical contact with the dog (183 and 109 s/h, p < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed-rank test), the resident playing with the dog (123 and 126 s/h), the resident talking with others (559 and 511 s/h), and the dog handler having physical contact with the resident (822 and 764 s/h). The mean values for fingertip temperature, heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure did not differ significantly between the first and two last weeks (paired t-test). However, the delta values varied largely between the different residents. The more physical contact the residents had with the dog handler, the more the fingertip temperature increased (p < 0.05, mixed linear model). The duration of physical contact between the residents and the dog tended to be associated with an increased fingertip temperature (p < 0.1). Furthermore, the more the residents were in verbal contact with the dog handler, the more their heart rate decreased (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate some associations between specific interactive behaviors and physiological changes in residents in connection with visits by a dog–handler team.
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