Three inbred strains of male laboratory rat (BN/HsdCpb, BDIX/Or1Ico and LEW/Mol) were provided with nest boxes and nest materials, and were observed for nest-building activity. After 7 days, each cage and nest box was examined. Each nest was weighed and scored for complexity, and returned to the cage. This was repeated after a further 7 days and the nest removed completely. This routine was repeated three times. All three strains of rat built nests inside the nest box and showed the same stages of construction. There was a significant increase in nest complexity between day 7 and day 14 in the strains BN and BDIX. Furthermore, BDIX rats used significantly more material for the nests, compared with the BN and LEW rats. In a second experiment, using the same rats, nest material was offered in four different ways. LEW rats used nesting material irrespective of where it was placed; BN rats only used straw placed on the top of the cage when no alternative was provided in the cage, and would not use the nest box roof when it was covered with bedding; whereas BDIX rats would only use nest material placed within the cage and would not use straw placed on the cage lid. BN rats also used nest material to cover the entrance to the nest box, a practice not carried out by the other strains. This study demonstrates that these rat strains have retained their natural nest-building behaviour. We suggest that the correct stimuli must be provided in order for this behaviour to be exhibited; in addition, the way in which the nest materials are provided must be in accordance with strain-specific characteristics.

The aim of this study was to develop a set of tests to assess the reaction of laying hens towards humans in non-cage systems and to investigate the repeatability within and between days.

Based on a literature survey six tests were developed or modified, which were examined for practicability and adapted in a first phase. Reactions of hens were recorded directly or with a video camera. These included the reaction towards a stationary person: stockperson (SPs); experimenter: (SPe); a moving person: (moving through flock [MP]; approaching individual hens measuring avoidance distance [AD]) and a complex test including stationary and moving elements: (arm moving to touch hens [touch test] in the litter [Tl] and on the slatted area [Ts]). Six flocks of five farms were visited twice, one week apart. At each visit the six tests were performed during morning and afternoon hours. The order of the tests differed between farms.

Repeatability of flock reactions within as well as between days was high for SPs, AD and Tl. SPe and especially MP showed slightly reduced correlations. Touching hens at the droppings pit (Ts) was less repeatable than in the litter area (Tl).

To sum up, first experiences show that most tests can be practically used in groups of hens in non-cage systems and seem to have good repeatability.

An online training package providing a concise synthesis of the scientific data underpinning EU legislation on enrichment and tail-docking of pigs was produced in seven languages, with the aim of improving consistency of professional judgements regarding legislation compliance on farms. In total, 158 participants who were official inspectors, certification scheme assessors and advisors from 16 EU countries completed an initial test and an online training package. Control group participants completed a second identical test before, and Training group participants after, viewing the training. In Section 1 of the test participants rated the importance of modifying environmental enrichment defined in nine scenarios from 1 (not important) to 10 (very important). Training significantly increased participants’ overall perception of the need for change. Participants then rated nine risk factors for tail-biting from 1 (no risk) to 10 (high risk). After training scores were better correlated with risk rankings already described by scientists. Scenarios relating to tail-docking and management were then described. Training significantly increased the proportion of respondents correctly identifying that a farm without tail lesions should stop tail-docking. Finally, participants rated the importance of modifying enrichment in three further scenarios. Training increased ratings in all three. The pattern of results indicated that participants’ roles influenced scores but overall the training improved: i) recognition of enrichments that, by virtue of their type or use by pigs, may be insufficient to achieve legislation compliance; ii) knowledge on risk factors for tail-biting; and iii) recognition of when routine tail-docking was occurring.

Management systems allowing free nest access are widely used in commercial rabbit breeding, but these produce a potential conflict with the doe's behavioural goal of a closed nest entrance. Furthermore, the restricted space in commercial breeding units prevents the doe from achieving a sufficient distance between her and the nest, another highly adaptive behavioural goal. This can lead to behavioural problems and pup mortality higher than 20%, attributable to hypothermia, injuries, weakness caused by the scattering and crushing of pups, or even cannibalism. In this study we tested a type of nest entrance (a metal cat-flap) that visually closed the nest box while still allowing the doe free access during the first 15 days after parturition. The effects of a cat-flap access (group CF) and of a permanently open nest box (group O) on nest-related behaviour, general activity, and plasma corticosterone concentration of the does, and on the mortality and weight of the pups, were compared using 15 ZIKA does in each group. Over 24 h, there was no difference between the groups in the frequency of ‘nest controls’ (approaches or entries to the nest without nursing of pups). However, outside nursing hours, does in group O showed more ‘head contacts’ with the nest, whereas does in group CF performed more nose contacts and nesting activities outside the nest. Does in group O performed twice as many potentially disturbing nest contacts in this time than does in group CF and had a higher increase of corticosterone after the administration of exogenous adrenocorticotrophic hormone. Pup mortality from days 16 to 35 was significantly higher in group O, and pups born to does in group O left the nest earlier. There was no significant difference in the weaning weights of pups between the two groups. As does with a cat-flap at the nest entrance still showed repeated nest approaches, the cat-flap possibly did not block all nest stimuli from the does. Alternatively, it is possible that the repeated approaches to the next box result from its being one of very few attractive or interesting features in an otherwise barren environment. Removal of the nest box from the cage is an effective method to eliminate nest stimuli, but this increases work for the staff without improving the barren environment for the rabbits. A better way of increasing the distance between the doe and the nest, as well as presenting a number of other attractive features, is group-housing of does.

Social role has been defined as a pattern of behaviour characteristic of a class of individuals within a group. The concept was developed by primatologists both to describe individual variation in behaviour in social groups and to be used in addition to hierarchy as a model for primate social organization. Cattle have been shown to express considerable individual variation in behaviour. Furthermore, cattle and primates show some similarities with respect to their social behaviour. This may indicate that the concept of social roles might be useful to those studying cattle behaviour. After a brief literature review it is concluded that the concept may indeed be applicable to cattle. The possible welfare implications of this are first, that it would offer a new approach for the study of individual differences in behaviour - important to the understanding of how animals cope with their environment in captivity. Second, it could help the understanding of social behaviour in domestic species. It is suggested that an interchange of ideas between primatologists and applied ethologists is needed.

This study is an assessment of the use of mealworm dispensers as environmental enrichment devices for Rodrigues fruit bats (Pteropus rodncensis). Captive animals frequently receive easily consumed food at set times and locations, which often minimizes the time they spend searching for and processing food. The mealworm dispensers used in this study provide an unpredictable food source, which allows the link between foraging and feeding to be reinstated. Mealworm dispensers were placed into the Rodrigues fruit bat enclosure at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust and the behaviour of the bats recorded over 14 days. For 7 days the dispensers were empty but, for the remaining 7, 20 mealworms were placed in each dispenser. The number of bats feeding declined with increasing time from initial food presentation in all cases, but the presence of mealworms in the dispensers decreased the rate of decline. In addition, the number of bats active within 20cm of the food in the dishes and on the heater tops increased significantly when mealworms were present. Although the presence of mealworms had no effect on the number of flights made by the group of bats as a whole, both the number of bats on the enclosure floor and the amount of aggression observed in the enclosure decreased when mealworms were present.

Installation of mealworm dispensers meant that the bats found food items as a consequence of their natural exploratory and foraging behaviour, and as such they provided important ingredients for approximating a natural habitat and improving welfare.

Positive stockperson attitudes to his or her animals is associated with a positive behavioural response in the animals and in other indicators assumed to reflect a high level of welfare as well as increased productivity, eg in milk yield. Conversely, negative attitudes have been found to have the opposite effect. However, so far, no attempt has been made to link the attitudes of stockpersons to outcomes of comprehensive protocols assessing animal welfare at farm level. In the study reported here, attitudes of Danish dairy farmers are compared with the on-farm welfare of dairy cows as assessed by the Welfare Quality ® (WQ) protocol. In 35 dairy herds the welfare was assessed, and the farmers filled in a self-report questionnaire on their attitudes to dairy cows and how they should be handled. The farmers on the farms with the lowest total welfare score could, according to the self-report questionnaire, be characterised as those with a negative attitude to the handling of cows (eg less strongly disliked to kick a cow or use a stick, when necessary). As expected, farmer behavioural attitudes regarding different situations correlated: for example, farmers who liked more to work with and have positive interactions with the cows also agreed more on patient handling and the importance of regular positive contact. Furthermore, farms where farmers gave cows a positive characteristic were found to score highly on the WQ principle ‘Appropriate behaviour’.

Free-roaming dogs (Canis familiaris) may be viewed positively or negatively within their communities. Negative aspects of the presence of free-roaming dogs include noise, fouling, disease transmission, dog-bite injuries, road traffic accidents and potential hybridisation with endangered wildlife species. Due to these concerns, control of free-roaming dog populations may be required. Surgical sterilisation of free-roaming dogs through the implementation of ‘trap-neuter-return’ (TNR), initiatives is often recommended as a welfare-friendly method of dog population control. Welfare assessments in TNR are often absent. Where they do exist they may rely upon proxy assessment, or be limited to relatively few measures of health status. As a result, there is a paucity of literature regarding the welfare impacts of surgical control of canine populations despite this practice often being promoted for animal welfare reasons. We outline the primary welfare issues associated with surgical population control of free-roaming dogs, suggest steps that may be taken to mitigate these problems and discuss barriers to improving dog welfare in TNR. Many opportunities for welfare problems exist within the spectrum of surgical TNR initiatives. We recommend that further research is needed to set appropriate standards for surgical approaches to free-roaming dog population management.

Play is often considered an indicator and promotor of animal welfare and may facilitate closer cat-human relationships. However, few studies have empirically investigated these associations. The current study aimed to investigate play-related factors associated with four welfare outcome measures in cats (Felis catus) including: cat quality of life; cat-guardian relationship quality; problem behaviour prevalence; and behavioural changes. An online survey was developed using demographic information, questions related to play and resources, free text sections and the following validated measures: cat quality of life (QOL), the cat owner relationship scale, and the adult playfulness trait scale. Responses were completed by 1,591 cat guardians from 55 countries. Higher cat playfulness scores and a greater number of games played were significantly associated with higher cat QOL scores while longer amounts of daily play, greater number of games, both cat and guardian initiating play and higher guardian playfulness scores were all significantly associated with higher cat-guardian relationship scores. Exclusively indoor housing was significantly associated with both higher cat QOL and higher cat-guardian relationships scores compared to cats with outdoor access. Behavioural changes associated with distress in cats were reported when play was absent. Play may be an important factor in assessing and maintaining cat welfare. Further research into the mechanisms of how play impacts welfare and cat-guardian relationships is needed.

Humane euthanasia of cattle under field conditions presents special challenges for veterinarians and producers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the CASH Dispatch Kit captive-bolt system combined with improved shot placement landmarks as a single-step euthanasia method for cattle. Cattle destined for euthanasia for reasons unrelated to the study were utilised. Adult (> 2 years), young (6-24 months) and neonatal (< 1 month) cattle each received a single shot from the CASH penetrating captive-bolt pistol. An additional group of neonatal animals was shot with a non-penetrating muzzle attachment. The shot was placed on midline halfway between the top of the poll and an imaginary line connecting the lateral canthus of each eye. Following the shot, the animals were immediately assessed for loss of consciousness based upon: i) immediate collapse (if standing); ii) loss of eye reflexes with a centered, dilated pupil; iii) lack of co-ordinated respiration; iv) lack of vocalisation; and v) lack of a righting reflex. Lack of consciousness and heartbeat were assessed at 1-min intervals until cardiac arrest. All animals were adequately stunned by a single shot. Euthanasia via a single shot was successful in 28/31, 17/19, 8/10, and 9/10 adult, young, neonate (penetrating) and neonate (non-penetrating) animals, respectively. Reasons for failure included return of co-ordinated respiration and prolonged time until cardiac arrest. A single shot from the CASH Dispatch captive-bolt system will humanely euthanase most animals. However, the results of this study indicate that application of a follow-up step to ensure death is still needed in certain instances.

Cats are often subjected to minimally painful or forced procedures during routine clinical practice, which can be poorly tolerated, leading veterinary surgeons to need to offer physical restraint, usually aided by an assistant. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness and ultimate welfare implications of using clipthesia as a method of restraint during veterinary examination. This was carried out in a real clinical setting and compared to manual scruffing. Twenty-seven cats were restrained, during a veterinary examination, using two stationery clips placed on the skin along the cervical dorsal midline, whilst a group of 13 cats were restrained through gentle manual scruffing. Susceptibility to clipthesia (ie a positive clip score) was observed in 81.5% of cats, while a complete response was found in 40.7% of subjects. The presence or absence of a disease/condition did not affect the susceptibility. Heart rate and the number of cats showing mydriasis (pupillary dilation) was statistically higher during manual scruffing, whilst plasma cortisol did not differ between the two groups. The more responsive the cats were to clipthesia, the more they displayed kneading and purring. These preliminary findings suggest that clipthesia is not more stressful than manual scruffing in restraining cats during a veterinary examination. However, not all cats were found to be susceptible to this method of restraint. Further research is needed to clarify whether clipthesia should be implementated as a matter of course in veterinary practice from the point of view of welfare and safety.

Environmental conditions during the early life stages of birds can have significant effects on the quality of sexual signals in adulthood, especially song, and these ultimately have consequences for breeding success and fitness. This has wide-ranging implications for the rehabilitation protocols undertaken in wildlife hospitals which aim to return captive-reared animals to their natural habitat. Here we review the current literature on bird song development and learning in order to determine the potential impact that the rearing of juvenile songbirds in captivity can have on rehabilitation success. We quantify the effects of reduced learning on song structure and relate this to the possible effects on an individual's ability to defend a territory or attract a mate. We show the importance of providing a conspecific auditory model for birds to learn from in the early stages post-fledging, either via live- or tape-tutoring and provide suggestions for tutoring regimes. We also highlight the historical focus on learning in a few model species that has left an information gap in our knowledge for most species reared at wildlife hospitals.

This study investigated the effect of olfactory substances on the heart rate and lying behaviour of pigs during transport simulation. Five treatments were tested through the application of each substance to pigs’ snouts with a paintbrush. These consisted of: 1) control treatment (wiping without product); 2) 2 ml of a synthetic, maternal-like pheromone; 3) 5 ml of a synthetic, maternal-like pheromone; 4) a commercial, non-relevant odour and 5) 2 ml of a placebo (solvent of the synthetic pheromone without active ingredients). In total, 90 pigs took part in this study and each treatment was tested on a group of three pigs with six replicates per treatment. Pigs were vibrated in the vertical direction in a transport simulator with a frequency of 8 Hz and an acceleration of 3 m s−2. Cardiac activity and lying behaviour during vibration were quantified. The effect of vibration was found to be statistically significant, ie causing an increase in heart rate and numbers of ventricular ectopic beats (VEB). Both 2 and 5 ml of synthetic pheromone were generally found to decrease the minimum, mean, and peak heart rate values in comparison with the other treatments (in particular the control and the non-relevant odour group) but only minimum heart rate reached statistical significance. However, the number of VEBs was highest for these two synthetic pheromone groups during vibration. No dose-dependent synthetic pheromone effects were found and there were no differences in the amount of time pigs spent lying. The use of olfactory substances may support pigs’ ability to cope with real transport conditions thereby improving their welfare.

The number of group-housed, non-lactating sows is increasing rapidly in Europe. However, systematic information of the between-sow variation in animal welfare related factors under various on-farm conditions is lacking. Indicators of feed intake, fear of humans and social behaviour in non-lactating, group-housed sows were monitored in 14 herds. Regarding indicators of feed intake, the results revealed that back fat gain increased with increased parity number to a larger extent in group feeding than in individual feeding systems. Furthermore, behavioural observations showed that sows older than third parity spent significantly more time eating than younger sows during feeding in group feeding systems. With respect to indicators of social behaviour, first parity sows had significantly more skin lesions than older sows in herds with no escape possibilities (small group sizes and no feeding stalls), whereas second and third parity sows had the highest number of skin injuries in herds with escape possibilities. The results emphasise a need for management initiatives to consider the requirements of especially young sows in group housing. This is of particular importance in systems with small group sizes and group feeding systems.

The Indian rhinoceros or greater one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) is listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and, therefore, captive individuals have been subject to the European Endangered Species Programme since 1990. Enhancement of welfare is key in ensuring the breeding success of this species in captivity. Salivary cortisol has been recently used to assess welfare of captive and free-ranging animals. Nevertheless, rhythms of cortisol secretion may fluctuate throughout the year and therefore, knowledge of the circannual pattern of cortisol secretion is essential to evaluate the physiological significance of seasonal variations of cortisol levels as an indicator of stress in animals. Here, we analyse monthly differences in cortisol secretion in two Indian rhinoceros. Saliva samples of two rhinoceros were collected and analysed by radioimmunoassay for the period of one year to determine cortisol concentrations. We found a seasonal pattern of salivary cortisol secretion. The highest cortisol concentrations were found in August and decreased until reaching a nadir in January. Cortisol concentrations in these two animals showed a correlation with temperature and visitor numbers but it is not possible to draw conclusions from this study as to whether the variation in cortisol was due to these or other factors.

The scientific literature on horses kept on common land in the UK is limited. Welfare codes and legislation are in place to safeguard the welfare of these horses; however, it has little scientific validation. This study investigated the welfare code compliance and physical welfare of both tethered (T) and free-ranging (F) horses kept on a public common in South Wales. A welfare assessment was developed using resource-based and animal-based measures. The assessment was carried out weekly over a six-week period on all horses found on the common, a total of 37 horses, 21 tethered and 16 free-ranging were observed during some or all visits. The mean prevalence of welfare measures assessed during weekly observations of individual horses was calculated. The highest mean prevalences were recorded for rainscald, hoof overgrowth and hoof cracks. Overall, no significant differences were found between welfare indicators for tethered and free-ranging groups of horses on the same common. There were high levels of compliance with the Welsh Government code of practice covering tethering in some areas, eg having a 4-m gap between tethered horses (96% compliance), however, in other areas there was poor compliance, eg exercise off the tether for a period each day (0% compliance). Changes to management, including provision of shelter, increased access to water, exercise and farrier attention, may significantly improve welfare. However, there was no evidence that tethering itself had a significant negative impact on the physical welfare of horses.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the incidence of travel sickness in pigs, specific hormone concentrations at exsanguination and subsequent meat quality. Fifty, 80kg slaughter pigs were transported on a lorry for 4.5h. During the journey, behavioural observations of the individually marked pigs were made by scanning every 8min to establish whether the pigs exhibited certain symptoms of travel sickness (foaming at the mouth and chomping) and incidences of retching and vomiting were noted as they occurred. Upon arrival at the slaughterhouse, pigs were unloaded, slaughtered immediately and a blood sample was taken at exsanguination for analysis of plasma Cortisol, beta-endorphin and lysine vasopressin concentrations. On the day following slaughter, the chilled carcase of each pig was assessed for meat quality (using pH, Fibre Optic Probe, and Tecpro Pork Quality Meter measurements) in the longissimus dorsi, semimembranosus and adductor muscles to determine the incidence of PSE (pale, soft, exudative) or DFD (dark, firm, dry) meat quality. Twenty-six per cent of the pigs (a total of 13 individuals) vomited or retched during the journey. There was no relationship between the incidence of travel sickness and either the concentrations of the hormones analysed at exsanguination or subsequent meat quality. Correlations revealed no significant relationship between concentrations of the hormones and meat quality measurements.

The transportation of animals to slaughterhouses is a major welfare concern. The number of slaughterhouses has decreased over time in Europe due to centralisation. This is expected to increase transport time for animals and as a consequence negatively affect animal welfare. We propose an optimisation model based on a facility location model to perform strategic analysis to improve transportation logistics. The model is tested on the Swedish slaughter transport system. We show that, by strategic planning and redirection of transports while keeping the slaughterhouse capacities as of the original data, the potential exists to reduce transport distance by 25% for pigs and 40% for cattle. Furthermore, we demonstrated that approximately 50% of Swedish slaughterhouses can be shut down with a minimal effect on total transport distances. This implies that in terms of the overall welfare picture, the decision of which animals to send where plays a far more significant role than the number of slaughterhouses. In addition, by changing relative weights on distances in the optimisation function the amount of individual transports with long journey times can be decreased. We also show results from altered slaughterhouse capacity and geographical location of slaughterhouses. This is the first time an entire country has been analysed in great detail with respect to the location, capacity and number of slaughterhouses. The focus is mainly on the analysis of unique and detailed information of actual animal transports in Sweden and a demonstration of the potential impact redirection of the transports and/or altering of slaughterhouses can have on animal welfare.

We investigated the ability of hooded crows to form transitive inferences. Subjects were trained to discriminate a series of overlapping pairs of stimuli: A+ B-, B+ C-, C+ D-, D+ E, where the letters stood for colour stimuli and plus and minus for rewarded or non-rewarded choices. The stimuli were cards of different colours with a circle of the same colour on the reverse side and diameters decreased from A to E. To preclude an influence of the reinforcement history on choices with the test pair BD, an overcompensation phase was instituted after training. It consisted of the presentation of all training pairs with frequencies selected so that the reward to non-reward ratios for stimulus D would be between 1.5 and 2.0 times greater than for B. If, during the BD test, the bird chose the stimuli according to these ratios they should prefer D. If they chose according to diameter relation they should prefer B. During these tests, the crows strongly preferred B over D (83.1%). In a second experiment, subjects were trained with the same procedure except that the diameters of the circles were all the same. During this test, the performance of two crows was not significantly different from chance level (53.1%), and the other two crows preferred D (80.0%). We conclude that crows can solve transitivity tests using cognitive mechanisms if they are offered additional information (in this case circle diameter) which, presumably, allows them to represent the relevant stimuli in an ordered series.