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# Taking into account sensory abilities of different animals in their housing and management

Birte Nielsen

► To cite this version:

Birte Nielsen. Taking into account sensory abilities of different animals in their housing and management. 51e. Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology, International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE). INT., Aug 2017, Aarhus, Denmark. hal-02734770

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Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Proceedings of the
51st Congress of the
International Society for Applied Ethology

7-10th August 2017, Aarhus, Denmark

UNDERSTANDING
ANIMAL
BEHAVIOUR

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edited by:
Margit Bak Jensen
Mette S. Herskin
Jens Malmkvist

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Wageningen Academic
Publishers
Applied ethology 2017

Understanding animal behaviour
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ISAE2017

Proceedings of the 51st Congress of the
International Society for Applied Ethology

7-10 August 2017, Aarhus, Denmark

Understanding animal behaviour

edited by:

Margit Bak Jensen

Mette S. Herskin

Jens Malmkvist

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Online Academic Submission and Evaluation System
The sculpture of the pigs on the front cover is called 'Grisebrønden' (meaning 'The pig well' in English) which is placed at the town hall square in Aarhus

Buy a print copy of this book at:

www.WageningenAcademic.com/ISAE2017

EAN: 9789086863112
e-EAN: 9789086868582
ISBN: 978-90-8686-311-2
e-ISBN: 978-90-8686-858-2
DOI: 10.3920/978-90-8686-858-2

**Photo cover:**
Maria V. Rørvang, Aarhus University

**First published, 2017**

© Wageningen Academic Publishers
The Netherlands, 2017

Wageningen Academic Publishers

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned. Nothing from this publication may be translated, reproduced, stored in a computerised system or published in any form or in any manner, including electronic, mechanical, reprographic or photographic, without prior written permission from the publisher:

Wageningen Academic Publishers
P.O. Box 220
6700 AE Wageningen
The Netherlands

www.WageningenAcademic.com

copyright@WageningenAcademic.com

The individual contributions in this publication and any liabilities arising from them remain the responsibility of the authors.

The publisher is not responsible for possible damages, which could be a result of content derived from this publication.
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# Welcome to the 51st Congress of ISAE

Understanding animal behaviour is the overall theme of this congress and the red thread through the chosen scientific topics. This reflects our wish for focus on what we consider the core of applied ethology. Understanding animal behaviour is essential in order to improve the interaction between animals and the environments in which they are kept and to improve animal welfare. We need to understand how the animals sense and perceive their world beyond the human perspective, which is based almost only on vision. Animal affective states are central for the concept of animal welfare, but to advance our assessment of these states we have to understand animals' learning and cognitive abilities. The potential, but also pitfalls, of novel methods to study behavioural and physiological stress responses must be addressed continuously. Many of the animals kept by man are social, and we need to understand social behaviour in relation to their welfare, and especially because we rely on social behaviour when animals are group housed. In addition, for many domestic animal species we rely on maternal behaviour for neonatal development and survival. Animal behaviour is a key component in ensuring animal welfare and functionality in extensively and intensively kept animals and 'applying ethology in the keeping of animals', thus putting the science to work is by number the largest topic on this congress. We warmly welcome you to Aarhus and hope that you will enjoy the scientific program and discussions as well as the social events and networking. Please, help us to make this congress a memorable event.

Margit Bak Jensen, Jens Malmkvist and Mette S. Herskin
# Acknowledgements

**Congress Organising Committee**

Margit Bak Jensen (chair), Mette S. Herskin, Lene Juul Pedersen, Lene Munksgaard, Jens Malmkvist, Karen Thodberg, Claus Bo Andreasen, Tina Albertsen (all Aarhus University)

**Scientific Committee**

Margit Bak Jensen (chair), Mette S. Herskin, Lene Juul Pedersen, Lene Munksgaard, Jens Malmkvist, Karen Thodberg (all Aarhus University), Jan Ladewig, Björn Forkman (both University of Copenhagen)

**Social Committee**

Karen Thodberg, Lene Juul Pedersen

**Media**

Claus Bo Andreasen, Nina Hermansen (both Aarhus University)

**Ethics Committee**

Anna Olsson (Chair), Portugal; Francesco De Giorgio, The Netherlands; Francois Martin, USA; Cecilie Mejdell, Norway; Franck Peron, France; Elize van Vollenhoven, South Africa; Alexandra Whittaker, Australia

**Technical support**

Jens Bech Andersen, Lars Bilde Gildberg, Mads Ravn Jensen (all Aarhus University)

**Secretary assistance**

Tina Albertsen

**ISAE helpers**

Katrine Kop Fogsgaard, Sarah-Lina Aagaard Schild, Mona Lilian Vestbjerg Larsen, Maria Vilain Rørvang, Fernanda Machado Tahamtani, Julie Cherono Schmidt Henriksen, Toke Munk Schou, Cecilie Kobek Thorsen, Claire Toinon, Anne S. Bak and Birthe Houbak (all Aarhus University)

**Professional conference organisers**

DIS Congress Service Copenhagen A/S (www.discongress.com)
## Reviewers

Michael Appleby

Gareth Arnott

Harry Blokhuis

Xavier Boivin

Laura Boyle

Bjarne Braastad

Donald Broom

Stephanie Buijs

Oliver Burman

Andy Butterworth

Irene Camerlink

Janne W. Christensen

Sylvie Cloutier

Michael Cockram

Melanie Connor

Jonathan Cooper

Rick D'Eath

Antoni Dalmau

Ingrid De Jong

Trevor DeVries

Pierpaolo Di Giminiani

Laura Dixon

Rebecca Doyle

Cathy Dwyer

Bernadette Earley

Sandra Edwards

Inma Estevez

Emma Fabrega

Mark Farnworth

Katrine Kop Fogsgaard

Francisco Galindo

Lorenz Gygax

Derek Haley

Laura Hänninen

Moira Harris

Marie Haskell

Suzanne Held

Per Jensen

Jenna Kiddie

Ute Knierim

Paul Koene

Fritha Langford

Alistair Lawrence

Caroline Lee

Pol Llonch

Maja Makagon

Xavier Manteca

Jeremy Marchant-Forde

Georgia Mason

Rebecca Meagher

Suzanne Millman

David Morton

Ruth Newberry

Christine Nicol

Birte L. Nielsen

Per P. Nielsen

Cheryl O'Connor

Elizabeth Paul

Jean-Loup Rault

Bas Rodenburg

Jeffrey Rushen

Kenny Rutherford

Lars Schrader

Karin Schütz

Janice Siegford

Mhairi Sutherland

Fernanda Tahamtani

Michael Toscano

Cassandra Tucker

Simon Turner

Anna Valros

Heleen Van De Weerd

Antonio Velarde

Daniel Weary

Francoise Wemelsfelder

Christoph Winckler

Hanno Würbel
## Sponsors

### Main sponsor:

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SEGES

### Bronze sponsors:

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Boehringer
Ingelheim

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DeLaval

### Exhibitor:

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Loligo® Systems
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Research

Applied
research

Implementation

Assessment

Animal welfare

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* Reduce calf mortality

* Reduce cow mortality

* Improve claw health

* Increase longevity of
cows

www.seges.dk/
fagomraader/kvaeg/

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* Protocols for mink
and fox

* Based on the Welfare
Quality methodology

* Implementation on
4.000 farms in Europe
from 2017

www.fureurope.eu/
fur-policies/welfur/

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* Free farrowing

* Reduce taildocking

* Alternatives to cas-
tration

* New welfare label

www.pigresearchcen-
tre.dk

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# Maps

## Welcome reception

Aarhus University's Main Hall and surrounds.

The address of the Main Hall (building 1412) is Nordre Ringgade 4, 8000 Aarhus C.

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## Main conference venue

Aarhus Music Hall and surrounds.

The address of the Music Hall is Thomas Jensens Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C

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# General information

## Venues

Registration and welcome reception will be at the Main Hall, Aarhus University, Nordre Ringgade 4, 8000 Aarhus C.

The congress will be held at the Aarhus Music Hall, Thomas Jensens Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C.

## Official language

English is the official language of the ISAE2017 Congress.

## Registration and information desk

The registration desk will be at the Main Hall at Aarhus University before the welcome reception on Monday 7 August (15.00 to 18.00) and additionally Tuesday 8 August from 8.00 at the Music Hall in the Foyer near the Small Hall. Wednesday 9 August and Thursday 10 August the opening hours of the information desk will be indicated on-site.

## Name badges

Name badges are required to allow admittance to the congress sessions, coffee breaks and lunches. Badges will be issued at registration.

## Poster and exhibition area

Posters will be shown on the balcony in the foyer area of the Aarhus Music Hall. Presenters of posters will be informed of where their poster will be located. Sponsors and other exhibitors will be shown in the foyer.

## Internet access codes

Delegates log on to SmartAarhus and request for a code via SMS.

## Coffee breaks and lunches

Tea, coffee, refreshments and lunches will be served on and under the balcony.

## Social programme

* **Welcome reception:** Monday 7 August, 17.00 to 19.00

The Welcome reception will be held at the Main Hall, Aarhus University, Nordre Ringgade 4, 8000 Aarhus C. Tickets are included in the congress registration fee, and entry is open to all registered delegates and accompanying persons.

* **Reception at Aarhus City Hall:** Tuesday 8 August, 17.30 to 18.30

The reception will be held at Aarhus City Hall, Rådhuspladsen 2, 8000 Aarhus C (close to congress venue and in the centre of Aarhus).

Tickets are included in the congress registration fee, and entry is open to all registered delegates and accompanying persons.

* **Conference dinner:** Wednesday 9 August, 18.30 to 20.30

The conference dinner will be held at the Turbine Hall, Kalkværksvej 12, 8000 Aarhuc C.

Tickets are purchased via the on-line booking system.

* **Farewell reception:** Thursday 10 August, 18.00 to 19.00

The farewell reception will be held at Aarhus Music Hall, Thomas Jensens Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C.

Tickets are included in the congress registration fee, and entry is open to all registered delegates and accompanying persons.
# How to get there

Aarhus University, Main Hall, Nordre Ringgade 4, 8000 Aarhus C:

The distance from Aarhus city centre (Aarhus train station) to the venue of the welcome reception is around 2.8 km. It takes around half an hour to walk to the venue. The venue is easily accessed by bus. Several buses run from in front of the Aarhus City Hall located close to the main train station. Please visit the ISAE homepage (www.ISAE2017.com) for more information.

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Aarhus Music Hall, Thomas Jensens Allé 2, 8000 Aarhus C:

The distance from Aarhus city centre (Aarhus train station) to the venue of the conference is around 500 m, and it will only take around 10 minutes to walk the distance.

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# Scientific and social programme

## Monday 7 August

15.00-18.00 Registration at Aarhus University, Main Hall

17.00-19.00 Welcome reception at Aarhus University.
Venue: Main Hall

## Tuesday 8 August

8.00 Placing of posters and registration

9.00 Opening Ceremony at Aarhus Music Hall.
Venue: Rhythmic Hall

9.45 Wood-Gush Memorial Lecture: Peter Teglberg Madsen:
Echolocating whales as models for studying how information flow governs behaviour.
Venue: Aarhus Music Hall, Rhythmic Hall

10.30 Break

Session 1, Topic 01 at Rhythmic Hall:
The world of animals: senses and perception

Session 2, Topic 02 at Small Hall:
Free papers

11.30 The role of olfaction in relation to stress and fear.
*Vincent Bombail*

Literature review on priority welfare issues of
commercially raised bison in North America.
*John S. Church*

12.00 Olfactory enrichment for cattle? Development of tests for determining olfactory investigation of complex odours in cattle.
*Maria Vilain Rørvang*

Associations between measures of rising and
lying down behaviour in dairy cows.
*Nina Dam Otten*

12.15 Do dogs see the Ponzo illusion? *Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere*

Feedlot cattle are motivated to obtain roughage
and show contrafreeloading.
*Cassandra Tucker*

12.30 Lunch
## Tuesday 8 August

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Session 3, Topic 01 at Rhythmic Hall:<br>The world of animals: senses and perception</th><th>Session 4, Topic 03 at Small Hall:<br>Human-animal interactions</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>13.30</td><td>Taking into account different sensory abilities of animals in their housing and management. <i>Birte L. Nielsen</i></td><td>Dogs, humans and genes: evidence for mutualistic symbiosis? <i>Per Jensen</i></td></tr><tr><td>14.00</td><td>The impact of ultraviolet wavelength on broiler chicken welfare indicators. <i>Charlotte James</i></td><td>Rat tickling: a systematic review of methods, outcomes and moderators. <i>Megan R. Lafollette</i></td></tr><tr><td>14.15</td><td>How incline angel affects the preparatory step prior to climbing a ramp in domestic fowl? <i>Alexandra Harlander</i></td><td>Cattle handling by untrained stockpeople gets worse along a vaccination work day. <i>Maria Camilla Ceballos</i></td></tr><tr><td>14.30</td><td>Do mink mothers recognise their kits' vocalisations? <i>Jens Malmkvist</i></td><td>The behavioural and physiological responses of horses to routine handling. <i>Jenna Kiddie</i></td></tr><tr><td>14.45</td><td>Behavioural indicators for cats' perception of food: A novel tool for development of veterinary pharmaceuticals. <i>Helena Telkanranta</i></td><td>Tourism and marine mammal welfare. <i>Donald Broom</i></td></tr><tr><td>15.00</td><td>Break and poster session 1</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>16.00</td><td>ISAE AGM</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>17.30</td><td>Reception at the Town Hall of Aarhus (1 h)</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

## Wednesday 9 August

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>PLENARY: Mike Appleby:<br>9.00 Understanding human and other animal behaviour: ethology, welfare and food policy.<br>Venue: Aarhus Music Hall, Rhythmic Hall</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Session 5, Topic 04 at Rhythmic Hall:<br>Applying ethology in the keeping of animals</td><td>Session 6, Topic 02 at Small Hall:<br>Free papers</td></tr><tr><td>9.30</td><td>The welfare of working dogs in cars. <i>Lena M. Skånberg</i></td><td>The limits of animal welfare concepts. <i>Jes Harfeld</i></td></tr><tr><td>9.45</td><td>Do cull dairy cows become lame from being transported? <i>Kirstin Dahl-Pedersen</i></td><td>Behaviour and brain gene expression of environmentally enriched pigs. <i>Alistair Lawrence</i></td></tr><tr><td>10.00</td><td>The effect of overstocking different resources within a freestall pen on the behaviour of lactating Holstein cows. <i>Clay Kesterson</i></td><td>Can body nosing in early-weaned piglets be prevented by artificial sucking and nosing devices? <i>Roland Weber</i></td></tr></tbody></table>
Wednesday 9 August

10.15 Effect of water temperature on drinking behavior and stress response of sheep. *Shin-ichiro Ogura*

Multiple enriched cages increase silver fox cubs' confidence and reduce stereotypic head twirls. *Anne Lene Hovland*

10.30 Break and poster session 2

Session 7, Topic 04 at Rhythmic Hall:
Applying ethology in the keeping of animals

Session 8, Topic 05 at Small Hall:
Animal stress responses

11.30 Effects of genetic background and selection for egg production on food motivation in laying hens. *Anissa Dudde*

11.45 On-farm techniques used to minimize aggression in pigs by US pork producers. *Sarah H. Ison*

12.00 If you give the pig a choice: suckling piglets eat more from a diverse diet. *Anouschka Middelkoop*

12.15 Impact of straw particle size and reticulorumen health on the feed sorting behaviour of early lactation dairy cows. *Rachael Coon*

Who's stressed: nonlinear measures of heart rate variability may provide new clues for evaluating the swine stress response. *Christopher J. Byrd*
Effect of space allowance and simulated sea transport motion on the behaviour and heart rate of sheep. *Grisel Navarro*
Effects of acute lying and sleep deprivation on behaviour and milk production of lactating Holstein dairy cows. *Jessie A. Kull*
Can faecal cortisol metabolites be used as an Iceberg indicator in the on-farm welfare assessment system WelFur-Mink? *Anna F. Marsbøll*

12.30 Lunch

Session 9, Topic 06 at Rhythmic Hall:
Animal learning and cognition

Session 10, Topic 05 at Small Hall:
Animal stress responses

13.30 From Pavlov to Bekhterev – and the pros and cons of positive and negative reinforcement. *Janne Winther Christensen*

14.00 Development of an ethical virtual fencing system for sheep. *Danila Marini*

14.15 Motor self-regulation by goats (*Capra aegagrus hircus*) in a detour-reaching task. *Jan Langbein*

14.30 Cylinder size affects cat performance in the motor self-regulation task. *Katarzyna Bobrowicz*

14.45 Factors affecting dairy calves' abilities to learn to use colour cues to locate a source of milk. *Jeffrey Rushen*

The effect of a low dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on physiology and behaviour of individually housed pigs. *Janicke Nordgreen*
Effects of embryonic norepinephrine on juvenile and mature quail behaviors. *Jasmine Mengers*
The influence of social stress on three selected lines of laying hens. *Patrick Birkl*

Feather pecking: is it in the way hens cope with stress? *Jerine A. J. Van Der Eijk*

Do feather peckers, victims and control hens differ in symmetry of bilateral traits, body weight and comb size? *Fernanda M. Tahamtani*

15.00 Break and poster session 3
## Wednesday 9 August

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Session 11, Topic 06 at Rhythmic Hall:<br>Animal learning and cognition</th><th>Session 12, Topic 05 at Small Hall:<br>Animal stress responses</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>16.00</td><td>Goats prefer happy human faces. Christian<br>Nawroth</td><td>Investigation of response to the novel object<br>test in pigs in relation to tail biting phenotypes.<br>Jen-Yun Chou</td></tr><tr><td>16.15</td><td>Responses in novelty tests are associated with<br>grain intake and unrewarded visits to the milk<br>feeder in dairy calves. Heather W. Neave</td><td>Effects of elevated platforms on fearfulness in<br>fast-growing broilers. Ida J. Pedersen</td></tr><tr><td>16.30</td><td>Light during incubation and noise around<br>hatching affect cognitive bias in laying hens. Bas<br>T. Rodenburg</td><td>Meloxicam and temperament effects on pain<br>sensitivity and inflammatory response in surgical<br>or rubber ring castrated calves. Désirée Soares</td></tr><tr><td>16.45</td><td>Facial expressions of emotion influence sheep<br>learning in a visual discrimination task. Lucille<br>Bellegarde</td><td>Cat responses to handling: assessment of<br>scruffing, clips, and full body restraint. Carly<br>Moody</td></tr></tbody><tfoot><tr><td colspan="3"><strong>18.30 Conference dinner. Venue: Turbine Halls, Aarhus</strong></td></tr></tfoot></table>

## Thursday 10 August

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>PLENARY: Jean-Loup Rault:<br>Positive social behaviour: Inside out.<br>Venue: Aarhus Music Hall, Rhythmic Hall</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>9.00</td><td>Session 13, Topic 07 at Rhythmic Hall: Social<br>behaviour of animals</td><td>Session 14, Topic 04 at Small Hall: Applying<br>ethology in the keeping of animals</td></tr><tr><td>9.45</td><td>Artificial intelligence algorithms as modern tool<br>for behavioural analysis in dairy cows. Oleksiy<br>Guzhva</td><td>Lowered tail can predict a tail biting outbreak in<br>grower pigs. Helle Pelant Lahrmann</td></tr><tr><td>10.00</td><td>Best friends forever, new approach to automatic<br>registration of changes in social networking in<br>dairy cows. Per Peetz Nielsen</td><td>Using hen-mounted light sensors to monitor<br>outdoor range use. Stephanie Buijs</td></tr><tr><td>10.15</td><td>Phenolab: ultra-wide band tracking shows<br>feather pecking hens spent less time in close<br>proximity compared to controls. Elske N. De Haas</td><td>Housing laboratory mice from the mouse's point<br>of view. Elin M. Weber</td></tr><tr><td>10.30</td><td>Break and poster session 4</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>
Thursday 10 August

<table><tr><td></td><td>Session 15, Topic 07 at Rhythmic Hall:<br/>Social behaviour of animals</td><td>Session 16, Topic 04 at Small Hall:<br/>Applying ethology in the keeping of animals</td></tr><tr><td>11.30</td><td>Floor feeding over multiple drops does not<br/>increase feeding opportunities for submissive<br/>sows. Megan Verdon</td><td>Welfare relevance of floor area for single-housed<br/>female mink (Neovison vison). María Díez-León</td></tr><tr><td>11.45</td><td>The effect of socialization before weaning on<br/>social behaviour and performance in piglets (Sus<br/>scrofa) at a commercial farm. Laura Salazar</td><td>Differential effects of enrichment on the<br/>subtypes of stereotypic behaviour in mink. Andrea Polanco</td></tr><tr><td>12.00</td><td>Socialisation, play behaviour, and the<br/>development of aggression in domestic pigs (Sus<br/>scrofa). Jennifer Weller</td><td>Effects of space allowance and simulated sea<br/>transport motion on the behavior of sheep. Ramazan Col</td></tr><tr><td>12.15</td><td>Intensity of aggression in pigs depends on their<br/>age and experience at testing. Irene Camerlink</td><td>Cooling cows with soakers: effects of flow<br/>rate and spray frequency on behaviour and<br/>physiology. Grazyne Tresoldi</td></tr><tr><td>12.30</td><td>Lunch</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Session 17, Topic 08 at Rhythmic Hall:<br/>Animal affective states</td><td>Session 18, Topic 09 at Small Hall:<br/>Maternal and neonatal behaviour</td></tr><tr><td>13.30</td><td>What can facial expression reveal about animal<br/>welfare? Supporting evidence and potential<br/>pitfalls. Kris Descovich</td><td>The affective dyad: the role of maternal<br/>behaviour in positive affective states of mother<br/>and young. Cathy M. Dwyer</td></tr><tr><td>14.00</td><td>Do dogs smile when happy? An objective and<br/>comparative study of dog and human facial<br/>actions in response to emotional trigger. Cátia<br/>Correia-Caeiro</td><td>Dairy cows and heifers prefer to calve in a<br/>bedded pack barn or natural forage compared to<br/>open pasture. Erika M. Edwards</td></tr><tr><td>14.15</td><td>Facial expression of harbour seal pups (Phoca<br/>vitulina) in response to painful stimuli. Amelia<br/>Mari Macrae</td><td>Factors affecting maternal protective behavior in<br/>Nellore cows. Marcia Del Campo</td></tr><tr><td>14.30</td><td>The startle response as a measure of fear in dairy<br/>calves. Sarah J. J. Adcock</td><td>Preference for mother does not last long after<br/>weaning in lambs. Rodolfo Ungerfeld</td></tr><tr><td>14.45</td><td>Pre-weaning environment affects pigs' emotional<br/>reactivity. Oceane Schmitt</td><td>Behavioral responses of dairy calves to<br/>separation: the effect of nutritional dependency<br/>on the dam. Julie Føske Johnsen</td></tr><tr><td>15.00</td><td>Break and poster session 5</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Session 19, Topic 08 at Rhythmic Hall:<br/>Animal affective states</td><td>Session 20, Topic 09 at Small Hall:<br/>Maternal and neonatal behaviour</td></tr></table>
Thursday 10 August

16.00 Lying around with nothing to do: boredom in farmed mink. Rebecca K. Meagher

16.15 Can minor, easily applied alterations of routines during the rearing period reduce fearfulness in adult laying hens? Margrethe Brantsæter

16.30 Assessing anxious states in sheep: a more practical attention bias test. Jessica Monk

16.45 Development of behavioural tests for Welfur on-farm welfare assessment of foxes. Jaakko Mononen

Does farrowing duration affect maternal behaviour of outdoor kept sows? Cecilie Kobek
Thorsen

Does dietary tryptophan around farrowing affect sow behavior and piglet mortality? Jeremy N. Marchant-Forde

Relationships between sow conformation, accelerometer data and crushing events in commercial piglet production. Stephanie Matheson

Effects of litter size on maternal investment and neonatal competition in pigs with different genetic selection pressures. Marko Ocepek

17.10 Closing of conference. Venue: Aarhus Music Hall, Rhythmic Hall

18.00 Farewell Reception. Venue: Aarhus Music Hall
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# Table of contents

## Plenaries

### Oral presentations

**Wood-Gush Memorial Lecture:**

Echolocating whales as models for studying how information flow governs behavior 45

*Peter Teglberg Madsen*

Understanding human and other animal behaviour: ethology, welfare and food policy 46

*Michael C. Appleby*

Positive social behaviour: inside out 47

*Jean-Loup Rault*

## Topic 01. The world of animals: senses and perception

### Oral presentations – Session 1

**Key-note:**

The role of olfaction in relation to stress and fear 48

*Vincent Bombail*

Olfactory enrichment for cattle: development of tests for determining olfactory investigation of complex odours in cattle 49

*Maria Vilain Rørvang, Margit Bak Jensen and Birte Lindstrøm Nielsen*

Do dogs see the Ponzo illusion? 50

*Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, Lynna C. Feng, Nicholas J. Rutter, Jessica K. Woodhead, Philippe A.*

*Chouinard, Tiffani J. Howell and Pauleen C. Bennett*

### Oral presentations – Session 3

**Key-note:**

Taking into account different sensory abilities of animals in their housing and management 51

*Birte L. Nielsen*

The impact of ultraviolet wavelengths on broiler chicken welfare indicators 52

*Charlotte James, Lucy Asher and Julian Wiseman*

How incline angle affects the preparatory step prior to climbing a ramp in domestic fowl 53

*Chantal Leblanc, Bret Tobalske, Bill Szkotnicki and Alexandra Harlander*
Do mink mothers recognise their kits' vocalisations?
Jens Malmkvist
54

Behavioural indicators for cats' perception of food: a novel tool for development of veterinary pharmaceuticals
Saila Savolainen, Helena Telkanranta, Jouni Junnila, Jaana Hautala, Sari Airaksinen, Anne Juppo, Marja Raekallio and Outi Vainio
55

## Poster presentations – poster session 1

The effect of lighting provided during incubation on the initiation of feeding behaviour in broiler chicks
Miriam Gordon, Xuijie Li, Kayla Graham, Karen Schwean-Lardner and Bruce Rathgeber
56

# Topic 02. Free papers

## Oral presentations – Session 2

### Key-note:

Literature review on priority welfare issues of commercially raised bison in North America
Fiona C. Rioja-Lang, Jayson K. Galbraith, Robert B. McCorkell, Jeffrey M. Spooner and John S. Church
57

Associations between measures of rising and lying down behavior in dairy cows
Nina Dam Otten, Victor Henrique Silva De Oliveira, Mari Reiten, Anne Marie Michelsen, Franziska Hakansson, Vibe Pedersen Lund, Marlene Kirchner and Tine Rousing
58

Feedlot cattle are motivated to obtain roughage and show contrafreeloading
Jennifer Van Os, Erin Mintline, Trevor Devries and Cassandra Tucker
59

## Oral presentations – Session 6

The limits of animal welfare concepts
Jes Harfeld
60

Behaviour and brain gene expression of environmentally enriched pigs
Sarah Mills Brown, Rebecca Peters, Emma Baxter and Alistair Burnett Lawrence
61

Can body nosing in early-weaned piglets be prevented by artificial sucking and nosing devices?
Roland Weber, Daniela Frei, Hanno Würbel, Beat Wechsler and Lorenz Gygax
62

Multiple enriched cages increase silver fox cubs' confidence and reduce stereotypic head twirls
Anne Lene Hovland
63
## Poster presentations – poster session 1

Use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a tool to measure animal welfare outcomes in beef calves
Justin Mufford, Desiree Soares, Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, David James Hill, Mark Paetkau, Nancy Flood and John Church
64

Differences in behaviour between aubrac and Lithuanian black and white bulls kept for beef
Vytautas Ribikauskas, Jūratė Kučinskienė, David Arney and Daiva Ribikauskienė
65

Effect of switch trimming on hindquarters cleanliness of cows
Ken-ichi Takeda and Mao Shibata
66

Prevalence of lameness and skin lesions on intensive dairies in southern Brazil
Joao H.C. Costa, Maria J. Hötzel, Tracy A. Burnett, Angélica Roslindo, Daniel M. Weary and Marina A.G. Von Keyserlingk
67

Shelter use by horses and beef cattle during the winter
Katrine Kop Fogsgaard, Karen Thodberg and Janne Winther Christensen
68

Feeding behavior of group-housed calves in Midwest US farms with automated feeders
Marcia Endres, Mateus Peiter and Matthew Jorgensen
69

Effects of prenatal stress on lamb immune response, brain morphology and behaviour
Leonor Valente, Kenny M.D. Rutherford, Carl W. Stevenson, Jo Donbavand, Nadiah Md Yusof, Kevin D. Sinclair and Cathy M. Dwyer
70

Effect of ammonia exposure on eating and ruminating behaviour in sheep during simulated long-distance transport by ship
Yu Zhang, Lauréline Guinnefollau and Clive J.C. Phillips
71

## Poster presentations – poster session 2

Factors affecting misdirected dunging behaviour of loose housed lactating sows and their piglets
Janni Hales and Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen
72

Selection for tameness affects metabolism and latency in a novel object test in junglefowl – a model for early domestication?
Rebecca Katajamaa, Beatrix Agnvall, Jordi Altimiras and Per Jensen
73

The ranging behaviour of laying hens in relation to their personality
Sabine Vögeli, Bernhard Völkl, Eimear Murphy, Luca Melotti, Jeremy D. Bailoo, Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich, Ariane Stratmann and Michael J. Toscano
74
The effect of dark brooders and overhangs on fearfulness and free-range use in slow-growing broiler chickens
Lisanne Stadig, T. Bas Rodenburg, Bart Ampe, Bert Reubens and Frank A.M. Tuyttens
75

Epigenetic marks of rearing conditions detected in red blood cells of adult hens
Fábio Pértille, Margrethe Brantsæter, Janicke Nordgreen, Luiz Lehmann Coutinho, Andrew M. Janczak, Per Jensen and Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna
76

Do laying hens have a preference for clean or unclean scratch mats?
Bishwo Pokharel, Luxan Jeyachanthiran, Ilka Boecker and Alexandra Harlander
77

Bovine bone is a valuable activity object in Finnraccoon (Nyctereutes procyonoides ussuriensis)
Tarja Koistinen, Juhani Sepponen and Hannu T. Korhonen
78

The development and use of methods in animal welfare sciences: justifications, derivations, and concepts
Birgit Benzing and Ute Knierim
79

## Topic 03. Human-animal interactions

### Oral presentations – Session 4

**Key-note:**
Dogs, humans and genes: evidence for mutualistic symbiosis?
Per Jensen, Mia Persson and Ann-Sofie Sundman
80

Rat tickling: a systematic review of methods, outcomes, and moderators
Megan R. Lafollette, Marguerite E. O'Haire, Sylvie Cloutier and Brianna N. Gaskill
81

Cattle handling by untrained stockpeople gets worse along a vaccination work day
Maria Camila Ceballos, Aline C. Sant'anna and Mateus J.R. Paranhos Da Costa
82

The behavioural and physiological responses of horses to routine handling
Jenna Kiddie, Emma Grocutt, Sophia Kelly, Melissa Robertson and Alison Northrop
83

Tourism and marine mammal welfare
Donald Broom
84

### Poster presentations – poster session 1

Rethinking the application of ethological methods in animal-assisted-therapy research
Karen Thodberg, Bente Berget and Lena Lidfors
85
Behaviour of visiting dogs during a 6-week experimental trial - a pilot study
Anne Sandgrav Bak, Julie Cherono Schmidt Henriksen, Janne Winther Christensen and
Karen Thodberg
86

What are we measuring? Aggression in shelter dogs violates assumptions of
local independence and measurement invariance
Conor Goold and Ruth C. Newberry
87

Which behavioural choices do dogs show during an animal assisted intervention?
Manon De Kort, Aimee Kommeren and Carlijn Van Erp
88

Behavioural and physiological responses of two ovine breeds to human exposure
Mariana Almeida, Rita Payan-Carreira, Celso Santos and Severiano R. Silva
89

Monitoring changes in heart rate and behavioral observations in donkeys
during onotherapy sessions: a preliminary study
Emanuela Tropia, Daniela Alberghina, Maria Rizzo, Gemma Alesci and Michele Panzera
90

Longitudinal stretching while riding (LSR) as a preventive training method of
riding horses - will it improve welfare?
Linn Therese Olafsen, Inger Lise Andersen, Lars Roepstorff, Juan Carlos Rey and Sylvia Burton
91

The influence of arena flooring type on behaviour in a test of calves' relationship
towards humans
Stephanie Lürzel, Andreas Futschik and Susanne Waiblinger
92

Characterising personality traits and influences on these traits in German
Shepherd Dogs
Juliane Friedrich, Pamela Weiner, Zita Polgár and Marie J. Haskell
93

Social support from companion animals as an important factor influencing
therapy and education effectiveness
Agnieszka Potocka
94

**Topic 04. Applying ethology in the keeping of animals**

**Oral presentations - Session 5**

The welfare of working dogs in cars
Lena M. Skånberg, Yezica Norling, Oskar Gauffin and Linda J. Keeling
95

Do cull dairy cows become lame from being transported?
Kirstin Dahl-Pedersen, Mette S. Herskin, Hans Houe and Peter Thorup Thomsen
96
The effect of overstocking different resources within a freestall pen on the behaviour of lactating Holstein cows
Clay Kesterson, Randi Black, Nicole Eberhart, Erika Edwards and Peter Krawczel
97

Effect of water temperature on drinking behavior and stress response of sheep
Shin-ichiro Ogura, Iori Kajiwara and Shusuke Sato
98

## Oral presentations – Session 7

Effects of genetic background and selection for egg production on food motivation in laying hens
Anissa Dudde, Lars Schrader, Mohammad Bashawat and E. Tobias Krause
99

On-farm techniques used to minimize aggression in pigs by US pork producers
Sarah H. Ison, Ronald O. Bates, Juan P. Steibel, Catherine W. Ernst and Janice M. Siegford
100

If you give the pig a choice: suckling piglets eat more from a diverse diet
Anouschka Middelkoop, Raka Choudhury, Walter J.J. Gerrits, Bas Kemp, Michiel Kleerebezem and J. Elizabeth Bolhuis
101

Impact of straw particle size and reticulorumen health on the feed sorting behaviour of early lactation dairy cows
Rachael Coon, Todd Duffield and Trevor Devries
102

## Oral presentations – Session 14

Lowered tail can predict a tail biting outbreak in grower pigs
Helle Pelant Lahrmann, Christian Fink Hansen, Rick D'Eath, Marie Erika Busch and Björn Forkman
103

Using hen-mounted light sensors to monitor outdoor range use
Stephanie Buijs, Christine Nicol, Francesca Booth, Gemma Richards and John Tarlton
104

Housing laboratory mice from the mouse's point of view
Elin M. Weber, Jerome Geronimo, Jamie Ahloy-Dallaire and Joseph P. Garner
105

## Oral presentations – Session 16

Welfare relevance of floor area for single-housed female mink (Neovison vison)
María Díez-León, Samuel Decker, Nora Escribano, David Galicia, Rupert Palme and Georgia Mason
106

Differential effects of enrichment on the subtypes of stereotypic behaviour in mink
Andrea Polanco, María Díez-León and Georgia Mason
107
Effects of space allowance and simulated sea transport motion on the behavior of sheep
Ramazan Col, Grisel Navarro and Clive Phillips
108

Cooling cows with soakers: effects of flow rate and spray frequency on behavior and physiology
Graziyne Tresoldi, Karin E. Schütz and Cassandra B. Tucker
109

## Poster presentations – poster session 2

Nesting behaviour of broiler breeders
Anne Van Den Oever, Bas Rodenburg, Liesbeth Bolhuis, Lotte Van De Ven and Bas Kemp
110

Laying hens' behavioural response to wearing automated monitoring equipment
Francesca Booth, Stephanie Buijs, Christine Nicol, Gemma Richards and John Tarlton
111

Effects of stocking density and exercise on incidence of Tibial dyschondroplasia in broilers
Elmira Kabiri and Ahmad Tatar
112

Effects of enriched environments with perches and dust baths on behavioural patterns of slow-growing broiler chickens
Hanh Han Quang, Xuan Nguyen Thi and Ton Vu Dinh
113

Farmers' perception of pig aggression and factors limiting welfare improvements
Rachel S.E. Peden, Simon P. Turner, Irene Camerlink and Laura Boyle
114

Behaviour and welfare of cull sows on the day of slaughter – current knowledge and possible ways forward
Mette S. Herskin, Katrine Kop Fogsgaard and Karen Thodberg
115

Clinical consequences of keeping cull sows in on-farm pick-up pens before transport to slaughter
Cathrine Holm, Karen Thodberg and Mette S. Herskin
116

Development of an indoor positioning system for automatic monitoring of locomotor behaviour of group-housed sows
Shaojie Zhuang, Olga Szczodry, Jarissa Maselyne, Johan Criel, Frank Tuyttens and Annelies Van Nuffel
117

Exploratory behavior in commercial and heritage breed swine
Kristina M. Horback and Thomas D. Parsons
118

Effect of space allowance and flooring on pregnant ewes' behavior
Stine Grønmo Vik, Olav Øyrehagen and Knut Egil Bøe
119
Motivation of dairy cows to enter a milking robot: effects of concentrate type and amount
Julie Cherono Schmidt Henriksen, Martin Riis Weisbjerg and Lene Munksgaard
120

Relationship between daily lying time and weight during lactation in Holstein and Jersey cows
Lene Munksgaard, Julie Cherono Schmidt Henriksen, Martin Riis Weisbjerg and Peter Løvendahl
121

## Poster presentations – poster session 4

Effects of stocking density on bedding quality and indicators of cow welfare in hybrid off-paddock facilities
Cheryl O'Connor, Suzanne Dowling and Jim Webster
122

The effect different tie-rail placements have on ruminating and feeding behavior of dairy cows housed in tie-stalls
Jessica St John, Elsa Vasseur and Jeff Rushen
123

Characterizing changes in feeding behaviour of lactating dairy cows during the peri-oestrus period
Hawar M. Zebari, S. Mark Rutter and Emma C.L. Bleach
124

Inclusion of feeding behaviour to improve the accuracy of dry matter intake prediction in dairy cows
Guilherme Amorim Franchi, Natascha Selje-Aßmann and Uta Dickhoefer
125

Validation of the ability of a 3D pedometer to accurately determine number of steps in dairy cows when housed in tie-stall
Elise Shepley, Marianne Berthelot and Elsa Vasseur
126

Lameness in grazing dairy herds: cow level risk factors
José A. Bran, Rolnei R. Daros, Marina Von Keyserlingk, Stephen Leblanc and Maria José Hötzel
127

Grouping, synchrony and comfort related behaviors of dairy cows are affected by the presence of trees in the paddocks
José A. Bran, Thomás L. Ferreira, Luã Veiga, Sérgio A.F. Quadros and Luiz C.P. Machado-Filho
128

The accuracy of accelerometer-based, leg-mounted sensors for measuring dairy cow locomotion and lying behaviour at pasture
Gemma L. Charlton, Carrie Gauld, Emma C.L. Bleach and S. Mark Rutter
129

Motivation of dairy cows to access a mechanical brush
Emilie A. McConnachie, Alexander J. Thompson, Anne-Marieke C. Smid, Marek A. Gaworski, Daniel M. Weary and Marina A.G. Von Keyserlingk
130
Association of cow- and farm-level factors with lying behaviour and risk of elevated somatic cell count

Ivelisse Robles, David Kelton, Herman Barkema, Gregory Keefe, Jean-Philippe Roy, Marina Von Keyserlingk and Trevor Devries

131

## Topic 05. Animal stress responses

### Oral presentations – Session 8

Who's stressed: nonlinear measures of heart rate variability may provide new clues for evaluating the swine stress response

Christopher J. Byrd, Jay S. Johnson and Donald C. Lay, Jr.

132

Effects of space allowance and simulated sea transport motion on the behavior and heart rate of sheep

Grisel Navarro

133

Effects of acute lying and sleep deprivation on behaviour and milk production of lactating Holstein dairy cows

Jessie A. Kull, Gina M. Pighetti, Katy L. Proudfoot, Jeffrey M. Bewley, Bruce F. O'Hara, Kevin D. Donohue and Peter D. Krawczel

134

Can faecal cortisol metabolites be used as an Iceberg indicator in the on-farm welfare assessment system WelFur-Mink?

Anna Feldberg Marsbøll, Steen Henrik Møller, Tine Rousing, Torben Larsen, Rupert Palme and Jens Malmkvist

135

### Oral presentations – Session 10

**Key-note:**

The effect of a low dose of lipopolysaccharide on physiology and behaviour of individually housed pigs

Janicke Nordgreen, Camilla Munsterhjelm, Frida Aae, Anastasija Popova, Preben Boysen, Birgit Ranheim, Mari Heinonen, Joanna Raszplewicz, Petteri Piepponen, Andreas Lervik, Anna Valros and Andrew M. Janczak

136

Effects of embryonic norepinephrine on juvenile and mature quail behaviors

Jasmine Mengers and Rachel Dennis

137

The influence of social stress on three selected lines of laying hens

Patrick Birkli, Joergen Kjaer, Peter McBride, Paul Forsythe and Alexandra Harlander-Matauschek

138

Feather pecking: is it in the way hens cope with stress?

Jerine A.J. Van Der Eijk, Aart Lammers and T. Bas Rodenburg

139
Do feather peckers, victims and control hens differ in symmetry of bilateral traits, body weight and comb size?

Fernanda M. Tahamtani, Lena K. Hinrichsen, Björn Forkman and Anja B. Riber

140

## Oral presentations – Session 12

Investigation of response to the novel object test in pigs in relation to tail biting phenotypes

Jen-Yun Chou, Rick B. D'Eath, Dale Sandercock and Keelin O'Driscoll

141

Effects of elevated platforms on fearfulness in fast-growing broilers

Ida J. Pedersen, Fernanda M. Tahamtani and Anja B. Riber

142

Meloxicam and temperament effects on pain sensitivity and inflammatory response in surgical or rubber ring castrated calves

Désirée Soares, Sonia Marti, Daniela Melendez, Diego Moya, Eugene Janzen, Ed Pajor and Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein

143

Cat responses to handling: assessment of scruffing, clips, and full body restraint

Carly Moody, Georgia Mason, Cate Dewey and Lee Niel

144

## Poster presentations – poster session 3

Evaluation of saliva, milk and hair cortisol as an indicator for increased HPA axis activity in lactating sows

Winfried Otten, Susen Heimbürge, Margret Tuchscherer, Armin Tuchscherer and Ellen Kanitz

145

Effect on hair cortisol by the dominance relationship in the cow group

Hideaki Hayashi, Mami Matsumoto and Shigeru Morita

146

Behavioural effects at colostrum feeding when using an oesophageal tube or a nipple bottle in dairy calves

Carlos E. Hernandez, Bengt-Ove Rustas, Charlotte Berg, Helena Röcklinsberg, Stefan Alenius, Kerstin Svennersten-Sjaunja and Lena Lidfors

147

Motor lateralisation as welfare risk measure in dogs entering a rescue centre

Shanis Barnard, Deborah L. Wells and Peter G. Hepper

148

Effect of isolation stress on feeding behaviour of caged laying hens using a high-speed digital camera

Shuichi Ito, Mari Iwahara, Yumi Nozaki, Yuko Suenaga, Ken-ichi Yayou and Chinobu Okamoto

149

Effects of overstocking and restricting feed access on the behaviour of lactating Holstein dairy cows

Mac A. Campbell, Peter D. Krawczel, Heather M. Dann and Rick J. Grant

150
<table><tr><td>The behaviour and heart rate variability of wool-biting sheep<br> Akane Sato, Ken-ichi Takeda and Chen-Yu Huang</td><td>151</td></tr><tr><td>Does behaviour in novelty tests predict tail biting in pigs?<br> Sabine Dippel, Martina Gerken, Christina Veit and Marie Albers</td><td>152</td></tr><tr><td>The occurrence of tail and ear lesions in relation to enrichment and manipulative behavior in weaner piglets<br> Christina Veit, Angelika Grümpel, Joachim Krieter and Sabine Dippel</td><td>153</td></tr><tr><td>Intramuscular injections induce conditioned place aversion in calves<br> Thomas Ede, Marina Von Keyserlingk and Daniel Weary</td><td>154</td></tr><tr><td>Pain face intensity for quantification of pain in Bos indicus bull calves<br> Karina Bech Gleerup, Teresa Collins, Gabrielle C. Musk, Timothy H. Hyndman, Heidi S. Lehmann, Craig B. Johnson and Michael Laurence</td><td>155</td></tr><tr><td>'Sounding the slaughterhouse': testing the 'soundness' of cow vocalisations as an indicator of cow welfare assessment<br> Eimear McLoughlin</td><td>156</td></tr><tr><td>Effect of long or short pre-slaughter handling on meat quality and physiological response of broiler chickens<br> A.F. Soleimani, A.O. Bello and Z. Idrus</td><td>157</td></tr></table>

# Topic 06. Animal learning and cognition

## Oral presentations – Session 9

**Key-note:**

From Pavlov to Bekhterev – and the pros and cons of positive and negative reinforcement

Janne Winther Christensen, Andrew McLean and Jan Ladewig

158

Development of an ethical virtual fencing system for sheep

Danila Marini, Dennis Muleman, Sue Belson, Bas Rodenburg and Caroline Lee

159

Motor self-regulation by goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) in a detour-reaching task

Jan Langbein

160

Cylinder size affects cat performance in the motor self-regulation task

Katarzyna Bobrowicz and Mathias Osvath

161

Factors affecting dairy calves' abilities to learn to use colour cues to locate a source of milk

Alison Vaughan, Jeffrey Rushen and Anne Marie De Passille

162
## Oral presentations – Session 11

Goats prefer happy human faces
Christian Nawroth, Natalia Albuquerque, Carine Savalli, Marie-Sophie Single and
Alan G. McElligott
163

Responses in novelty tests are associated with grain intake and unrewarded visits to the milk feeder in dairy calves
Heather W. Neave, Joao H.C. Costa, Katrina Rosenberger, Daniel M. Weary and
Marina A.G. Von Keyserlingk
164

Light during incubation and noise around hatching affect cognitive bias in laying hens
T. Bas Rodenburg, Nathalie J.T. Scholten and Elske N. De Haas
165

Facial expressions of emotion influence sheep learning in a visual discrimination task
Lucille Bellegarde, Hans W. Erhard, Alexander Weiss, Alain Boissy and Marie J. Haskell
166

## Poster presentations – poster session 3

Free-choice exploration in laboratory-housed zebrafish
Courtney Graham, Marina A.G. Von Keyserlingk and Becca Franks
167

Cognitive bias and paw preference in the domestic dog (Canis familiaris)
Deborah Wells, Peter Hepper, Adam Milligan and Shanis Barnard
168

Breed and behavioral characteristics of dogs that differ in owner reported tendency to attend to visual stimuli on a TV
Miki Kakinuma, Izuru Nose, Yumiko Uno, Shuichi Tsuchida, Hitoshi Hatakeyama, Sayaka
Ogawa and Miyoko Matoba
169

Effects of birth weight and gender on spatial learning and memory in pigs
Sanne Roelofs, Ilse Van Bommel, Steffi Melis, Franz Josef Van Der Staay and
Rebecca Nordquist
170

Never wrestle with a pig
Dorte Bratbo Sørensen
171

Exploring the effect of automated milk feeding stall design on dairy calf behavior
Tanya Wilson, Stephen Leblanc, Trevor Devries and Derek Haley
172

Poor reversal learning in dairy cows is associated with endometritis risk after calving
Kathryn Proudfoot, Becca Franks, Alexander Thompson and Marina Von Keyserlingk
173
# Topic 07. Social behaviour of animals

## Oral presentations – Session 13

Artificial intelligence algorithms as modern tool for behavioural analysis in dairy cows 174
Håkan Ardö, Oleksiy Guzhva, Mikael Nilsson, Anders Herlin, Lena Lidfors and
Christer Bergsten

Best friends forever, new approach to automatic registration of changes in social
networking in dairy cows 175
Per Peetz Nielsen, Luis E.C. Rocha, Olle Terenius, Bruno Meunier and Isabelle Veissier

Phenolab: ultra-wide band tracking shows feather pecking hens spent less time
in close proximity compared to controls 176
Elske N. De Haas, Jerine A.J. Van Der Eijk, Bram Van Mil and T. Bas Rodenburg

## Oral presentations – Session 15

Floor feeding over multiple drops does not increase feeding opportunities for
submissive sows. 177
Natalia Zegarra, Paul. H. Hemsworth and Megan Verdon

The effect of socialization before weaning on social behaviour and performance
in piglets (Sus scrofa) at a commercial farm 178
Laura Salazar, Irene Camerlink, Heng-Lun Ko, Chung-Hsuan Yang and Pol Llonch

Socialisation, play behaviour, and the development of aggression in domestic
pigs (Sus scrofa) 179
Jennifer Weller, Simon Turner, Irene Camerlink, Marianne Farish and Gareth Arnott

Intensity of aggression in pigs depends on their age and experience at testing 180
Irene Camerlink, Marianne Farish, Gareth Arnott and Simon P. Turner

## Poster presentations – poster session 4

Effect of overstocking during the dry period on the behaviour and stress level of
dairy cows, and on pre-weaning calf growth 181
Mayumi Fujiwara, Kenny Rutherford, Marie Haskell and Alastair Macrae

Relationship between social rank and reproductive, body and antler traits of
pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) males 182
Matías Villagrán, Florencia Beracochea, Luděk Bartoš and Rodolfo Ungerfeld

Rearing bucks (Capra hircus) isolated from females affects negatively their sexual
behavior when adults 183
Lorena Lacuesta, Julia Giriboni, Agustín Orihuela and Rodolfo Ungerfeld
Social behavior and adrenocortical activity in goats up to four wees after grouping 184
Susanne Waiblinger, Eva Nordmann and Nina Maria Keil

Social behaviour in groups of intact organic fattening boars – a cause for concern? 185
Jeannette C. Lange and Ute Knierim

Effect of removing the heaviest pigs from a group of grower pigs on aggression and the dominance hierarchy 186
Sabine Conte, Niamh O'Connell and Laura Boyle

Behavior and growth of pigs with divergent social breeding values 187
Joon-Ki Hong, Ki-Hyun Kim, Na-Rae Song, Hyun-Su Hwang, Jae-Kang Lee, Tae-Kyung Eom and Shin-Jae Rhim

Influence of breed of sire on the occurrence of tail-biting in pigs 188
Friederike Katharina Warns, Felix Austermann, Tobias Scholz and Ernst Tholen

The effect of illness on social behaviour, cytokine levels and feed intake in undocked boars 189
Janicke Nordgreen, Camilla Munsterhjelm, Frida Aae, Mari Heinonen, Kristin Olstad, Torunn Aasmundstad, Andrew M. Janczak and Anna Valros

Bash item or clash item – examining pigs’ enrichment material priorities and their effects on social behaviour 190
Linda Wiesner, Hanna Iffland, Rahel Ambiel, Christiane Schalk, Birgit Pfaffinger and Volker Stefanski

Effects of long-term selection for productive traits on sexual behaviour of Taiwan Country chicken 191
Hsi-Wen Hung

## Topic 08. Animal affective states

### Oral presentations – Session 17

**Key-note:**

What can facial expression reveal about animal welfare? Supporting evidence and potential pitfalls. 192
Kris Descovich, Jennifer Wathan, Matthew Leach, Hannah Buchanan-Smith, Paul Flecknell, David Farningham and Sarah-Jane Vick

Do dogs smile when happy – an objective and comparative study of dog and human facial actions in response to emotional trigger 193
Cátia Correia-Caeiro, Kun Guo and Daniel Mills
Facial expression of harbour seal pups (*Phoca vitulina*) in response to painful stimuli
*Amelia Mari Macrae, David Fraser and Joanna Makowska* 194

The startle response as a measure of fear in dairy calves
*Sarah J.J. Adcock and Cassandra B. Tucker* 195

Pre-weaning environment affects pigs' emotional reactivity
*Oceane Schmitt, Laura Boyle, Emma M. Baxter and Keelin O'Driscoll* 196

## Oral presentations – Session 19

Lying around with nothing to do: boredom in farmed mink
*Rebecca K. Meagher, Dana L.M. Campbell and Georgia J. Mason* 197

Can minor, easily applied alterations of routines during the rearing period reduce fearfulness in adult laying hens?
*Margrethe Brantsæter, Fernanda Machado Tahamtani, Janicke Nordgreen, Ellen Sandberg, Tone Beate Hansen, Bas Rodenburg, Randi Oppermann Moe and Andrew Michael Janczak* 198

Assessing anxious states in sheep: a more practical attention bias test
*Jessica Monk, Rebecca E. Doyle, Sue Belson, Greg Cronin and Caroline Lee* 199

Development of behavioural tests for WelFur on-farm welfare assessment of foxes
*Jaakko Mononen, Eeva Ojala, Hannu T. Korhonen and Tarja Koistinen* 200

## Poster presentations – poster session 5

Dietary tryptophan supplementation and affective state in pigs
*Jenny Stracke, Winfried Otten, Armin Tuchscherer, Maren Witthahn, Cornelia C. Metges, Birger Puppe and Sandra Düpjan* 201

Playing or exploratory behaviour in pigs: neurohormonal patterns in mini-pigs and suggestions for welfare management
*Míriam Marcet Rius, Alessandro Cozzi, Cécile Bienboire-Frosini, Eva Teruel, Camille Chabaud, Philippe Monneret, Julien Leclercq, Céline Lafont-Lecuelle and Patrick Pageat* 202

Low rate of stereotypies in pregnant sows is associated to fear related behaviours in their offspring
*Patricia Tatemoto, Thiago Bernardino, Luana Alves, Marisol Parada Sarmiento, Anna Cristina De Oliveira Souza and Adroaldo José Zanella* 203

Influence of novelty and housing environment on play and tail wagging behavior in pigs
*Lisa Christine McKenna and Martina Gerken* 204
The effect of different stimuli on the 'stick test' should be taken into account when measuring the mink's temperament

*Britt I.F. Henriksen, Jens Malmkvist and Steen H. Møller* 205

Stress in male Japanese macaques living in vegetated and non-vegetated enclosures

*Josue S. Alejandro, Michael A. Huffman and Fred Bercovitch* 206

Algorithm for real-time classification of mental responses of horses during physical activity

*Vasileios Exadaktylos, Anne Marleen Van Aggelen, Tomas Norton and Daniel Berckmans* 207

The use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to try to develop a pharmacological model of positive affect in sheep

*Andrew Fisher, Leigh Atkinson, Emily Houghton, Caroline Lee and Rebecca Doyle* 208

Video footage captured in a walk-over-weigh (WoW) system can be used to assess welfare state in sheep

*Emily Grant, Amy Brown, Sarah Wickham, Fiona Anderson, Anne Barnes, Patricia Fleming and David Miller* 209

How does a stationary cow brush affect cattle physiologically and behaviourally?

*Daisuke Kohari, Kenji Shimizu and Tsuyoshi Michikawa* 210

## Topic 09. Maternal and neonatal behaviour

### Oral presentations – Session 18

**Key-note:**

The affective dyad: the role of maternal behaviour in positive affective states of mother and young

*Cathy M. Dwyer* 211

Dairy cows and heifers prefer to calve in a bedded pack barn or natural forage compared to open pasture

*Erika M. Edwards, Katy L. Proudfoot, Heather M. Dann and Peter D. Krawczel* 212

Factors affecting maternal protective behavior in Nellore cows

*Franciely Costa, Tiago Valente, Marcia Del Campo and Mateus Paranhos Da Costa* 213

Preference for mother does not last long after weaning in lambs

*Rodolfo Ungerfeld, Aline Freitas-De-Melo, Raymond Nowak and Frédéric Lévy* 214

Behavioural responses of dairy calves to separation: the effect of nutritional dependency on the dam

*Julie Føske Johnsen, Cecilie Mejdell, Annabelle Beaver, Anne Marie De Passille, Jeffrey Rushen and Dan Weary* 215
## Oral presentations – Session 20

Does farrowing duration affect maternal behavior of outdoor kept sows?
Cecilie Kobek Thorsen, Sarah-Lina Aagaard Schild, Lena Rangstrup-Christensen, Trine Bilde
and Lene Juul Pedersen 216

Does dietary tryptophan around farrowing affect sow behavior and piglet mortality?
Jeremy N. Marchant-Forde, Brian T. Richert, Jacob A. Richert and Donald C. Lay, Jr. 217

Relationships between sow conformation, accelerometer data and crushing
events in commercial piglet production
Stephanie M. Matheson, Rob Thompson, Thomas Ploetz, Ilias Kyriazakis, Grant A. Walling
and Sandra A. Edwards 218

Effects of litter size on maternal investment and neonatal competition in pigs
with different genetic selection pressures
Marko Ocepek, Ruth C. Newberry and Inger Lise Andersen 219

## Poster presentations – poster session 5

The piglet weigh test – a novel method to assess sows’ maternal reactivity
Anna Valros, Margit Bak Jensen and Lene Juul Pedersen 220

Background noise impacts older sow behavior in farrowing barns, a preliminary study
Nichole M. Chapel and Donald C. Lay, Jr. 221

The relationship between maternal behavioural traits and piglet survival, can we
breed for improved maternal ability in sows?
Inger Lise Andersen and Marko Ocepek 222

Pre-farrow dietary inclusion of magnesium to increase ease parturition and
increase piglet survival
Kate Plush and William Van Wettere 223

Pre-weaning environmental enrichment increases play behaviour in piglets (Sus
scrofa) at a large scale commercial pig farm
Chung-Hsuan Yang, Heng-Lun Ko, Laura Salazar, Irene Camerlink and Pol Llonch 224

Strategic supply of straw for nest-building to loose housed farrowing sows
reduced number of stillborn piglets
Kari Baekgaard Eriksson, Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen and Christian Fink Hansen 225

Agression, vocalization and underweight in piglets born from gilts with lameness
Marisol Parada, Thiago Bernardino, Patricia Tatemoto and Adroaldo Zanella 226
Performance of non-maternal as well as maternal nest-building behaviour
improves reproduction in female mink
227
*Toke Munk Schou and Jens Malmkvist*

Being reared by ewes that grazed in different pasture allowances does not affect
the lamb response to a short-term separation
228
*Aline Freitas-De-Melo, María Belén López-Pérez, Florencia Corrales, Camila Crosa, Dermidio
Hernández, Rodolfo Ungerfeld and Raquel Pérez-Clariget*

Shearing pregnant ewes in winter in a Mediterranean environment increases
vigour of the offspring
229
*David Miller, Mara Farrelly and Caroline Jacobson*

Can we increase calves' milk intake during the first days of their lives by
facilitating their normal sucking behaviour?
230
*Anne Marie De Passille and Jeffrey Rushen*

Short and long term effects of free and half-day contact between dairy cows
and their calves
231
*Katharina A. Zipp, Yannick Rzehak and Ute Knierim*

Fence-line separation of dairy calves at four days and its effect on behaviour
232
*Lena Lidfors, Anya Törnkvist, Emma Fuxin and Julie Johnsen Foske*

Effect of calf suckling, weaning and use of calf dummy as milk ejection stimuli
on behaviour and performance of Sahiwal cows
233
*M.L. Kamboj, A. Kumar, P.K. Singh, N. Kumar, M. Saini and S. Chandra*

The natural weaning window of suckler beef cattle
234
*Dorit Albertsen and Suzanne Held*
<figure><img src="image_32.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_33.png" /></figure>
**Wood-Gush Memorial Lecture:**

**Echolocating whales as models for studying how information flow governs behavior**

*Peter Teglberg Madsen*

*Aarhus University, Department of Bioscience, C.F. Møllers Allé 3, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark*

*peter.madsen@bios.au.dk*

Sensible behavioral responses of an animal to the environment depend critically on the capability to sample its surroundings with a suite of sensory systems. Quantification of the sensory flow available to animals in time and space is therefore crucial for understanding behaviors in the wild such as predator avoidance, foraging strategies and mate selection. However, animals are exposed to a barrage of information in their natural habitats, and it is inherently difficult to quantify which sensory cues are extracted by their sensory systems to inform behavioral transitions. Further, because most animals perceive their surroundings on the basis of multimodal sensory integration, behavioral changes are often precipitated by a complex set of sensory inputs making it difficult to isolate a single causal cue. Moreover, sensing is an interactive process in which animals modulate their information flow by continuously adjusting their attention and sensor performance by changing sensitivity and directivity of each sensory modality. Keeping track of all of the potential sensory inputs that may guide behavior is therefore a major experimental challenge even in a controlled laboratory setting let alone in a free-ranging animal in the wild: there is inevitably a trade-off between how well sensory inputs and attention can be measured, and the impact of the measurement apparatus itself on the animal. With this talk I wish to introduce echolocating toothed whales as models for overcoming at least some of these challenges. Echolocation is a process where the animals must emit sound to generate echoes returning to the auditory system for processing, meaning that they control sensory information flow by the rate, type and direction of the sounds they produce as well as by adjusting the sensitivity of their hearing. These parameters directly influence the temporal resolution and spatial extent of their perception of their environment, enabling dynamic control of attention in response to environmental complexity and behavioral objectives. Thus, the way that echolocating toothed whales manipulate their perception of the surrounding environment is revealed by the sonar pulses they emit, the echoes they receive and the evoked behavioral changes; all of which can now be sampled by small archival tags attached to their backs with suction cups for up to 3 days. I will argue that echolocating toothed whales are ideal experimental models for studying sensory and cognitive adaptations that confer advantages in handling a dynamic sensory umwelt in time and space, providing a unique, non-invasive insight into perception in a naturally behaving animal. I hope that such examples from using multisensor tags on echolocating whales will inspire applied ethologists working with farm, laboratory and companion animals to further use biologging technology to quantify the relationships between complex stimuli and behavior.
**Understanding human and other animal behaviour: ethology, welfare and food policy**

*Michael C. Appleby*

*University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh, EH25 9RG, United Kingdom*

*michael.appleby@ed.ac.uk*

Food security and sustainability are paramount goals of global policy in the Twenty First Century. What are the contributions of applied ethology and animal welfare in delivering these major goals? Livestock plays a major role in food security and nutrition (FSN), because meat and animal products are important in people's diets and the livestock sector is central to food systems' development. And many aspects of the welfare of livestock are important for production, as expressed in the advice, 'Look after your animals and they will look after you,' for example, reduction of disease. Consideration of animal welfare can enable advantages for production that have not otherwise been identified, and is therefore not just compatible with but important for achieving good management of livestock for production, livelihoods and FSN. Furthermore, understanding of animal behaviour and care for livestock welfare contribute to all three pillars of sustainable agriculture: economic profitability, social equity and environmental health. Ethology clarifies the interactions between animals, humans and the environment, and thus helps to optimise livestock management for the best balance between these complex priorities. However, although considering behaviour and welfare is valuable for production and FSN, people do not always recognise or act on this value. They may need information or help to do so: mechanisms are needed to provide information, help and sometimes financial assistance to producers. These mechanisms need input from experts in applied ethology and animal welfare, at both practical and policy level. Six policy areas will be briefly outlined. Each requires (to a variable degree) understanding of animal behaviour and welfare and implementation of that understanding. For example, (1) Development of humane, sustainable food security strategies, requires implementation of animal welfare standards, research and development into practical improvement of management and welfare on farms, and knowledge transfer to farmers. The other areas are (2) Decisions on intensification of livestock farming; (3) Feeding of arable crops, especially cereals, to livestock; (4) Development of specific food and livestock policies to assist vulnerable sectors of the population; (5) Sustainable diets; and (6) Development of markets for humane, sustainable livestock production. Increased urgency is needed to achieve food security and sustainability, by producers, governments and intergovernmental organisations in consultation with other stakeholders including scientists and non-governmental organisations. The livestock sector has both positive and negative impacts. Consideration of animal behaviour and welfare helps to ensure and increase the positive impacts, and to reduce and avoid the negative, and should therefore be a priority for countries worldwide.
**Positive social behaviour: inside out**

Jean-Loup Rault

University of Melbourne, Animal Welfare Science Centre-Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Alice Hoy building 162, Parkville, 3010, Australia; raultj@unimelb.edu.au

Social behaviour is central to the life and well-being of humans and domestic animals. Nevertheless, we know much less about positive social behaviours (the ‘bright side’ of living in a group) in comparison to negative social behaviours (the ‘dark side’, albeit necessary). The definition of positive social behaviour itself has challenged psychologists for decades. As an operational definition, a positive social behaviour (also referred to as prosocial behaviour, hereafter) refers to an action that an individual engages in intended to benefit others. Examples include affiliative (e.g. allo-grooming, spatial proximity, behavioural synchronisation), maternal, cooperative and other types of caring and helping behaviours toward another individual. Research on prosocial behaviours has been hindered by a poor understanding of their mechanisms. Evidence from complementary fields such as behavioural neuroscience provides crucial insight for applied behaviour science; helping us understand how a behaviour is perceived as prosocial and how it affects the recipient. The oxytocin family hormones play a crucial role in social communication and social cognition, both essential conditions for prosocial interactions. Whether oxytocin's action is specific to prosocial behaviours is still debated. Behavioural science itself has much to contribute: discrepancy in the literature on prosocial behaviours may be partly explained by their modulation by contextual features (i.e. features of the situation in which prosocial behaviours are shown, or conversely not shown); a parameter that has often been overlooked. Understanding the role of ontogeny and identifying means to encourage prosocial behaviours are particularly relevant to improve the way we manage and care for captive social animals. However, important questions remain to be addressed. For instance, which situations encourage prosocial behaviours, group stability vs conflict (the ‘social buffering’ effect)? Furthermore, are we overlooking benefits the emitter may receive from delivering prosocial behaviours, and is reciprocity important? Also, what effects prior experience, and particularly ontogeny, has on the ability to process and benefit from prosocial behaviours? This knowledge is key to implement solutions that promote positive experiences, given the powerful influence of social factors on well-being. Prosocial behaviours also cross species boundaries, as illustrated by the growing number of studies on the effects of positive human-animal relationships. Ultimately, the close relationship between social behaviour and emotions offers tremendous opportunities to utilise prosocial behaviours in practice for promoting positive mental states and well-being.
**Key-note:**

**The role of olfaction in relation to stress and fear**

Vincent Bombail

INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Neurobiologie de l'Olfaction, Domaine de Vilvert, 78350 Jouy en Josas, France; vincent.bombail@inra.fr

In a world populated with more competitors and predators than friends, sensory information
can guide and help animals adapt to their environment. Olfaction is a key sensory modality in
several animal species. It affects many behaviours related to essential functions such as feeding,
reproduction or social interactions. The ability to detect and recognise odorant molecules is
affected by the inner state of the animal, indeed olfactory detection can undergo changes in
order to adapt perception to physiological needs. In turn, odours can include alarm signals that
induce fear or a stress response. The stress response is an important mediator of the adaptation
process, linking physiology and behaviour in response to environmental challenges. In this
overview of the literature, we will reflect on the interplay between stress or fear and olfaction,
with a view to describe recent discoveries relevant to the study of animal behaviour, and to
highlight interesting gaps in our knowledge that might require further investigation (e.g. how
to assess behavioural alterations caused by altered senses?). First, experimental evidence will
be presented that supports an effect of the stress response on olfactory detection. Acutely or
chronically stressed animals might indeed perceive odours differently (quantitatively and
qualitatively); we will discuss how this might affect animal behaviour. Next we will review
the abundant literature on odours that can cause fear or stress in animals. Predator odours
and molecules purified from predator bodily secretions are well documented inducers of fear
and the stress response. Interestingly, certain odours from stressed conspecifics can also elicit
physiological and behavioural signs of alarm in naive individuals. Examples of this chemical
communication and its impact on animal behaviour and welfare will be discussed. Finally, we
review the claim that odours can alleviate the effects and manifestations of the stress response.
This intervention seems an elegant way to improve animal welfare, indeed several researchers
report that exposure to certain odorant compounds, such as essential oils, can have anxiolytic
or antidepressant effects. Concepts and data from seemingly unrelated fields of neuroscience
such as olfaction and stress biology should be taken into account in experimental design and
interpretation, for a better understanding of animal behaviour. Perhaps, as a species that do
not often use olfaction as our primary sensory modality, we humans might lack some empathy
towards animals that do. In order to improve the welfare of captive animals, we should be more
aware of these aspects of animal perception.
**Olfactory enrichment for cattle: development of tests for determining olfactory investigation of complex odours in cattle**

Maria Vilain Rørvang¹, Margit Bak Jensen¹ and Birte Lindstrøm Nielsen²

¹Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark,

²INRA, NeuroBiologie de l'Olfaction, Université Paris-Saclay, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France; maria.vilainrorvang@anis.au.dk

Olfaction is the main sensory modality in the majority of mammalian species, playing a key role in their interactions with the environment. However, the link between chemical signals and animal behaviour has often been ignored, especially with respect to large domestic species. In cattle, there may be unexploited potential for using odours and olfaction in their management. By applying an olfactory habituation/dishabituation test originally developed for rodents, this study aimed to assess olfactory ability in cattle. Group housed, pregnant, dry cows (n=10) and heifers (n=13) were presented with three different odours (orange juice, liquid coffee and a tap water control placed in a test bucket) in randomised order. The test was conducted on individual animals in their home pen and consisted of each odour being presented twice in a row for 2 min each with an inter-trial pause of 2 min. Following another 2-min pause without odour the animal was presented with the new odour, with order of odour presentation balanced between animals. Duration of sniffing (muzzle in proximity or contact with) the test bucket as well as the occurrence of licking or biting the test bucket were recorded by direct observation. All animals sniffed an odour (i.e. the test bucket) less when presented for the second time (habituation; Median (IQR): 3.01 (0.43-11.61), 0 (0-5.14), 15.19 (4.73-42.50), 3.04 (0-12.08), 8.61 (2.72-46.76) and 1.44 (0-7.69) for Water1, Water2, Coffee1; Coffee2, Orange1 and Orange2, Wilcoxon-Pratt signed-rank test: all 1st vs 2nd presentations: z³ 4.20, P<0.001). Sniffing duration increased after presentation of a new odour (dishabituation; all 2nd vs 1st presentations: z £ -3.74, P<0.001). All animals sniffed coffee and orange longer than water (water vs coffee, z=-4.17, P<0.001 and water vs orange, z=-3.74, P<0.001), but the animals also sniffed coffee longer than orange (z=2.28, P=0.021). Licking or biting behaviour occurred only when presented with coffee or orange (13 out of 23 animals for both samples). No effect of parity was found for sniffing, licking or biting behaviour. This is the first example of an olfactory test being adapted for and applied to cattle, which adds to our knowledge of what types of odours bovines are capable of smelling. The test showed that cattle can distinguish between different complex odours (coffee and orange), and that increased interest was evoked for one of these odours (coffee). These results are the first steps towards exploring the possibility of using odours when adapting or enriching the environment in which we keep cattle and improving the management practices currently applied.
**Do dogs see the Ponzo illusion?**

Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, Lynna C. Feng, Nicholas J. Rutter, Jessica K. Woodhead, Philippe A. Chouinard, Tiffani J. Howell and Pauleen C. Bennett

La Trobe University, Psychology and Public Health, P.O. Box 199, Bendigo Victoria 3552, Australia; s.byosiere@latrobe.edu.au

Domestic dogs play many roles in human lives, but little is known about how they perceive their environment. While dogs possess an exceptional olfactory sense, dog cognition is commonly assessed via visual tasks. This makes it important to understand how dogs perceive simple visual stimuli. One way to begin to uncover visual capabilities in animals is to assess perception of geometric illusions, in which mechanisms that are normally helpful for accurately perceiving the environment trick the brain into misperceiving certain visual stimuli. Using a two-choice discrimination paradigm, eight dogs were trained to select, by touching with their nose, either the larger (7 dogs) or smaller (1 dog) of two circle stimuli presented on a screen. They then underwent familiarization sessions in which the circle stimuli were embedded in non-illusory backgrounds, before being assessed for their susceptibility to various presentations of the Ponzo illusion across four separate experiments. Test sessions comprised control presentations, where stimuli differed in size, and illusion presentations, where stimuli were identical in size. Correct choices in the illusion condition were defined as selecting the stimulus typically chosen by susceptible humans in similar tasks. Two-tailed binomial tests assessed each dog's responses in both conditions to determine if they were performing significantly above chance. Effect sizes were calculated for each illusion condition based on the means of the group. To examine group performances all illusions were analysed using two-tailed one-sample t-tests conducted on the dogs' average percent correct. A one-sample t-test of dogs' responses in the first experiment demonstrated illusion susceptibility at the group level [$t(7)=2.65, P=0.033, SD=6.68, Cohen's d=0.9328$]; however, no individual dog performed significantly above chance in binomial tests ($P\ge0.06$ for all tests). In three subsequent experiments one-sample t-tests found no significant results at the group level [$t(7)=0.42, P=0.685, SD=12.52, Cohen's d=-0.1498; t(5)=0.66, P=0.53, SD=0.15, Cohen's d=-0.269; t(6)=0.95, P=0.37, SD=18.64, Cohen's d=0.34, respectively$]. Only one dog demonstrated a small but significant tendency towards susceptibility ($P<0.03$). Taken together, then, there was no evidence for dogs' susceptibility to the Ponzo illusion in a two-choice discrimination paradigm. As most animals tested previously have demonstrated susceptibility, these findings have implications for theoretical explanations of the Ponzo illusion, which, in humans, typically posit a reliance on high levels of visual processing. The divergence of results between dogs and humans/other animals suggest that mechanisms underlying perception of the Ponzo illusion may differ across species. They also suggest that care should be taken when using visual paradigms to test dogs' cognitive skills.
**Key-note:**

**Taking into account different sensory abilities of animals in their housing and management**

Birte L. Nielsen

INRA, Neurobiologie de l'Olfaction, Université Paris-Saclay, 78359 Jouy en Josas, France;

birte.nielsen@inra.fr

Animals as well as humans interact with the surroundings in a way, which reflects their ability to receive and process information. As humans, most of us rely heavily on our eyes and ears when we go about our daily lives, whether it is looking out for passing cars or listening to music. When it comes to the sense of smell, however, we do not think it is as important as vision and hearing. Animals differ from us in many ways when it comes to use of sensory modalities. Some species have sensory abilities we can only dream of, such as the echolocation of bats and certain birds, and the electric field sensing of sharks. Animals also use the sensory modalities we do share to a different extent than us, and often with a higher acuity. The olfactory ability of rats, for example, is much more developed than our sense of smell; the rat being a nocturnal animal, which in nature rarely ventures out during the day. Likewise, birds of prey have a well-developed visual ability, being able from a great height to spot and track tiny prey on the ground. So what are the implications of this for the housing, management, and welfare of animals in our care? In essence: that we need to try and sense the world from the animal's point of view. This will depend on the species in question and the situation we are trying to manage. Moving cattle through a corridor with minimum stress obviously demands different procedures than those needed to provide a laboratory rat with suitable housing. As scientists, as farmers, as pet-owners, and as zoo-keepers, we need to know and understand the sensory abilities of the species we deal with. In the presentation, I will discuss how differences in sensory abilities between species affect the behaviour and welfare of animals managed by humans. This will be based on illustrative examples from mammals and birds, and touch upon issues such as lighting, enrichment, and handling. Different sensory modalities will be covered, and for once I will refrain from putting special emphasis on the importance of olfaction.
# The impact of ultraviolet wavelengths on broiler chicken welfare indicators

*Charlotte James¹, Lucy Asher² and Julian Wiseman¹*

¹University of Nottingham, Animal Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, United Kingdom, ²Newcastle University, Centre for Behaviour and Evolution IoN, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom; charlotte.james@nottingham.ac.uk

The aim of the study was to investigate the impacts of Ultraviolet wavelengths (UV) on a variety of welfare indicators in broiler chickens. We explored UVA and UVB wavelengths. UVA is visible to chickens and may provide a valuable source of environmental enrichment, in turn facilitating more harmonious flock interactions. UVB wavelengths promote endogenous vitamin D synthesis, which could support the rapid skeletal development of broiler chickens. Day-old Ross 308 birds were randomly assigned to one of three treatments; C) White Light Emitting Diode (LED) control group, representative of farm conditions (18-hour photoperiod). A) White LED & supplementary UVA LED lighting (18-hour photoperiod) and B) White LED (18-hour photoperiod) with supplementary UVA & UVB fluorescent lighting providing 30 micro watts/cm² UVB at bird level (on for 8 hours of the total photoperiod to avoid over-exposure of UVB). Birds were kept at a final stocking density of 33 kg/m² and fed ad-lib on a commercial diet. Welfare indicators measured were; feather condition (day 24, n=546), tonic immobility duration, a measure of stress responsiveness (day 29, n=308), and gait quality, using the Bristol Gait Score (day 31, n=299). For statistical analysis, generalised linear or ordinal logistic regression models were fitted in R statistical software. Results showed, improved feather condition in treatment A, compared the control (P=0.03). Treatment A birds also had a lower average tonic immobility duration of 1.02 (SE 0.10) minutes, compared to 1.52 (SE 0.12) minutes in the control group (P=0.03). Lighting condition had no effect on Bristol Gait Score. Results suggest UVA may be beneficial for broiler chicken welfare. While treatment A and AB both provided UVA, the improvements in welfare indicators were not consistent. One possible explanation is that the beneficial effects of UVA are exposure time dependent. Future research identifying the links between UVA exposure and positive impacts on feathering rate, stress, activity patterns, spatial distribution and flock interactions will be of further importance to broiler welfare.
How incline angle affects the preparatory step prior to climbing a ramp in domestic
fowl

Chantal Leblanc¹, Bret Tobalske², Bill Szkotnicki¹ and Alexandra Harlander¹

¹University of Guelph, Animal Biosciences, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada, ²University of Montana, Division of Biological Sciences, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA; aharland@uoguelph.ca

For laying hens, daily activities require that they adapt their walking pattern to account for different challenges of their environment. Especially in three-dimensional rearing systems, birds have much more space and opportunity to interact with their environment. To help them safely navigate this complex setting, ramps and ladders are provided for reaching high-elevation tiers of the housing structures. Perceiving these obstacles and modifying basic locomotion patterns in an anticipatory manner to safely navigate different surfaces is referred to as adaptive locomotion. Individuals visually perceive the environmental properties or obstacles ahead of them, and modify their locomotion patterns in an anticipatory manner. We measured the effects of incline angle upon the locomotor adjustments of the preparatory step prior to climbing a ramp. We predicted that the magnitude of kinetic changes would be greatest for steep inclines, specifically, that birds would modulate kinetics to maximize peak ground reaction force (GRF), and maximize ground contact time. We assessed the GRFs using a walkway integrated force plate, collecting force data one step prior to climbing the ramp. We recorded 20 female domestic fowl preparing to ascend ramp inclines at slopes of +0, +40 and +70° when birds were 17, 21, 26, 31, and 36 weeks of age. Birds had experience with the ramp apparatus over a series of sessions before testing. Each bird was tested once per treatment. Hens were provided with motivation to ascend using 5 pen mates in a crate in addition to providing a table spoon of their feed along with raisins. We tested for effects of incline upon locomotion kinetics using PROC GLIMMIX in SAS (9.4). We conducted a repeated measures variance analysis for each variable. Age of the birds, incline and interaction (age×incline) were included as fixed effects. There was no effect of age on kinematic force plate data. We found that GRFs of the foot changed gradually for increasing slope angle. There were significantly higher vertical peak GRFs and longer level ground contact times in preparation for the steepest inclines. The magnitude of the peak vertical GRFs (relative to bodyweight) showed a significant increase at the greatest angle (F2, 37.55=28.88, P<0.0001). There were no significant differences between horizontal and +40° ramp inclines, whereas higher vertical peak GRFs were measured on +70° ramp inclines compared to +40° ramp incline (-1.31±0.18, t17.49=-7.32, P<0.0001) and compared to the horizontal ramp (-1.34±0.18, t17.08=-7.58, P<0.0001). Contact time depended on the angle of the incline (F2,41.28=10.73, P=0.0002). Our results reveal that domestic fowl modulate their locomotion in response to incline angle, possibly in an anticipatory manner. This information about bipedal kinetic modulation is essential for our understanding of the control for locomotion in laying hens.
**Do mink mothers recognise their kits' vocalisations?**

Jens Malmkvist

Aarhus University, Animal Science, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark;

jens.malmkvist@anis.au.dk

Offspring recognition requires fulfilment of at least two fundamental criteria: (1) offspring must produce distinctive signals and (2) parents must be able to discriminate between these signals. We have previously suggested that the vocalisations of offspring from farm mink (*Neovison vison*) meet the first criteria with reports of rich signature in kit calls already early in life. Mink kits produce complex ultrasonic vocalisations with energy up to 50 kHz with individual variation in e.g. pulse duration, frequency modulation rate and relative energy of harmonics. Likewise, the hearing ability of the mink dam is well developed with a broad hearing range from 1 kHz up to above 70 kHz. On farms, several mink are individually housed in the same facility, delivering around the same time of year, and farmers often transfer kits between litters of the same age within the first week of life. Levelling out of large litters is believed to increase kit survival. However, it is unknown whether mink mothers are able to differentiate between own vs unfamiliar kits' vocalisations. Therefore, we studied mink mothers' (n=18 second-parity brown, litter size 6 to 9) behaviour towards playbacks of own vs unfamiliar kit vocalisations day 2 postpartum. Each dam was randomly assigned to a block of playback sessions of offspring vocalisations recorded from individual male kits the previous day (postpartum day 1). The unfamiliar kit came from distant, not neighbouring cages relative to the test dam. The playback loudspeaker – with a high linearity output in the range 1-125 kHz – was placed just outside the end of the home cage opposite to the nest box opening. To reduce novel object exploration and to allow dams to habituate to the test in their home cage, a fake loudspeaker was placed in the playback position more than 24 h before the playbacks. Each dam was exposed to fixed orders of own and one unfamiliar male kit in call bouts of 1 min, controlled for order in the presentation for own and unfamiliar calls. Successive tests within session were separated by pauses of 5 min. Dam behaviour was recorded from video, and data analysed used Mixed model ANOVA taking repeated measures per dam into account. Dams reacted to the playback with approach, moving from the nest box with their litter into the wire cage closer to the source of the sound (time spent in wire cage: 69.1% with vocalisation, 14.2% when silent, P<0.001), also spending more time in contact with the loudspeaker (39.8%) during kit vocalisation than when silent (0.3%; P<0.001). The time spent in the cage was negatively associated with the litter size (P=0.035); litter size tended to decrease behavioural shifts (P=0.069), but not dam contact (P=0.12) during playback sessions. The dams explored (touched, sniffed) the back wall area with the loudspeaker for significantly longer time during the playback of her own kit (time spent: 19.0±2.11%) vs an unfamiliar kit (12.5±2.20%; P=0.040). This result and preference is the first evidence for mink mothers' recognition of own vs unfamiliar kits' calls.
**Behavioural indicators for cats' perception of food: a novel tool for development of veterinary pharmaceuticals**

Saila Savolainen<fnref n="1" />, Helena Telkanranta<fnref n="1" />,², Jouni Junnila³, Jaana Hautala<fnref n="1" />, Sari Airaksinen<fnref n="1" />,⁴, Anne Juppo<fnref n="1" />, Marja Raekallio<fnref n="1" /> and Outi Vainio<fnref n="1" />

Administering oral medication to cats is often challenging to owners. Cats have a strong aversion to swallowing objects they perceive as non-food, and voluntary consumption of veterinary tablets by cats is typically below 50%. The pharmaceutical industry recognises the need to develop veterinary pharmaceuticals with a more acceptable smell, taste, size and consistency, but development is hindered by lack of research methods capable of detecting subtle differences in cats' perceptions. Such methods could help determine which formulations under development are less aversive than others, so that they can be selected for further improvement. Existing palatability tests are based on the less informative dichotomous measure of whether or not the cat eats a tablet; and on assessments by owners, subject to bias. Behavioural indicators offer a promising window to more detailed information on cats' perceptions. A set of behavioural indicators has previously been determined for two degrees of palatability of cat foods. The aim of this study was to identify an expanded set of behavioural indicators to measure subtle vs substantial degrees of palatability. A total of 34 pet cats were used in the study. The cats were presented with three types of edible items with a size of approx. 1 cm³, selected individually for each cat according to preferences reported by the owner. FF (favoured food) was defined as a food preferred by the cat and having a consistency that makes it possible to hide a small tablet in it. TFF (tablet in favoured food) was the same food as above, with a placebo mini-tablet hidden in it. NFF (non-favoured food) was defined as something edible that the cat is unlikely to eat. The edible items were presented one at a time in a pseudo-randomized sequence. There were six trials per item, totalling 18 trials per cat, over a period of two days. Behaviour of cats before, during and after eating or refusing to eat was recorded on video. Two trained observers independently determined the prevalence of 16 behavioural patterns on the video recordings, blinded to the types of edible items. The data were analysed with a mixed logistic regression model. The following behavioural patterns were found to be more prevalent with NFF than with FF: a rapid ear flick backward (OR 12.6, P<0.001), a lick on the nose after not eating the item (OR 80.2, P<0.001), flicking of the tail (OR 7.3, P<0.001) and grooming of the body (OR 1.8, P<0.05). For the subtle difference between TFF and FF, the most promising indicator was the more prevalent dropping of food from the mouth while eating TFF (OR 2.0, P<0.001). These findings provide evidence of new behavioural indicators for objective assessment of food perception in cats, and they have practical applicability in designing a novel palatability test for developing veterinary pharmaceuticals with improved palatability for cats.

<footnote n="1">¹University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 57, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland, ²University of Bristol, Stock Lane, Langford, Bristol, BS40 5DU, United Kingdom, ³4Pharma Ltd., Ahventie 4, 02170 Espoo, Finland, ⁴Orion Pharma, P.O. Box 65, 02101 Espoo, Finland; helena.telkanranta@bristol.ac.uk</footnote>
The effect of lighting provided during incubation on the initiation of feeding
behaviour in broiler chicks

Miriam Gordon¹, Xuijie Li¹, Kayla Graham¹, Karen Schwean-Lardner² and Bruce Rathgeber¹

¹Dalhousie University, Animal Science and Aquaculture, 58 River Rd, B2N 5E3 Truro, Canada,
²University of Saskatchen, Animal Science and Poultry, 6D12 Agriculture Building 51 River Dr.,
S7N 5A8 Saskatoon, Canada; miriam.gordon@dal.ca

Producing a high-quality broiler chick at hatch is important for subsequent growth and production of the bird. While commercial eggs are typically incubated in the dark, researchers have shown that *in ovo* photo-stimulation can influence embryo development and chicks may adapt more readily to the rearing environment. This study examined the initial placement behaviour of chicks that were incubated using different light spectrums. Ross 308 broiler eggs (n=1,600) were obtained from a commercial hatchery and randomly assigned to eight ChickMaster E09 single-stage incubators. Two incubators were operated with the traditional dark method of incubation (0L:24D), while the remaining 6 incubators were illuminated with white, red, or blue light (12L:12D). After 512 h of incubation, all hatched chicks were counted and gender determined. Upon arrival at the growing facility, chicks (n=1,248) were group weighed and randomly placed in 48 floor pens by block (incubator) with 26 birds of the same light colour treatment and gender in each pen (2.2×1.0 m). Chicks were all placed behind the waterline (0.49 m from back of pen). The time it took 50% of the birds to leave the back end of the pen and the time it took for 50% of the chicks to reach the feeder were measured immediately after placement. Broilers were raised under 18L:6D lighting condition. Lights came on at 05:00 h. On the day after placement, the number of chicks in the feed box were counted at 1-min intervals for the first hour after the lights came on. Average chick body weights and feed box weigh backs were measured 24 h after placement to corroborate feeding behaviour. The dark treatment chicks took the longest (160.8±13.5 sec) for 50% of the chicks to cross the waterline (P<0.05) and to have at least 50% of the chicks visit the feeder (221.0±27.2 sec; P<0.10) compared to white (99.0±13.5, 114.0±27.2), red (81.8±13.5, 119.0±27.2 sec), and blue (119.8±13.5, 160.5±27.2 sec). The average number of chicks counted in the feed box was least in the white light treatment (4.8±0.2) compared to red (6.2±0.2), blue (6.5±0.2), and dark (6.6±0.12; P<0.0001). The average weight gain (g/bird) and feed intake (g/bird) was greatest in the white light treatment (11.0±0.3 g; 8.2±0.2 g) compared to red (10.8±0.3 g; 7.93±0.2 g), blue (9.9±0.3 g; 7.8±0.2), and dark (9.6±0.3 g; 7.5±0.2 g; P<0.05). These results suggest that providing light during incubation can have positive influence on the behaviour of broiler chicks, which may subsequently improve their health and welfare. The effects of different spectrums of light are not clear.
**Key-note:**

**Literature review on priority welfare issues of commercially raised bison in North America**

Fiona C. Rioja-Lang¹, Jayson K. Galbraith², Robert B. McCorkell³, Jeffrey M. Spooner¹ and John S. Church⁴

¹National Farm Animal Care Council, P.O. Box 5061, Lacombe, A.B., Canada, ²Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Livestock and Farm Business Section, 4910-52 St, Camrose, A.B., Canada, ³University of Calgary, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 2500 University Dr. NW, A.B., Canada, ⁴Thompson Rivers University, Dept. of Natural Resource Science, 900 McGill Road, Kamloops, B.C., Canada; jchurch@tru.ca

A review of the scientific literature on bison was carried out as part of the National Farm Animal Care Council's (NFACC) process of updating Canada's current Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farmed Bison. Four priority welfare issues were identified including the effect of seasonality on the nutritional requirements of bison; bison behaviour; euthanasia on-farm; and pain. Bison reduce their feed intake and activity during winter, sparing energy reserves during periods of cold temperatures and food scarcity. To promote consistent carcass quality during this seasonality, producers commonly feed bison high grain diets. It has been suggested that feeding bison high concentrate finishing diets, greater than 80%, is likely to cause ruminal acidosis. Research is required into strategies that could help producers manage the effects of seasonality and to make it work to their advantage. Regarding behaviour, the handling of bison differs from traditional cattle handling techniques. Injuries and death during handling are more likely to occur if bison are handled incorrectly. They are more excitable than cattle, which have been bred for calm temperaments. Bison have a very intact social structure that has definite spacing requirements. The flight zone of bison tends to be much greater than that of cattle, and bison can be moved most effectively if the handlers work on the edge of it. Bison that become severely stressed during handling can suffer from a recognised condition known as capture myopathy. Handling facilities should restrict bison's vision and minimize loud noises. Bison should never be left in isolation as solitary bison display high levels of agitation. In the event of euthanizing bison on-farm, specific information regarding the gauge, calibre of firearm, and bullet selection is lacking. However, the combination of firearm and ammunition selected must achieve a muzzle energy of at least 1000 ft-lb (1,356 J) for animals larger than 400 lb. Understanding the correct landmarks for euthanizing bison are especially important as they are different from cattle. Due to the physical thickness of a bison skull, higher calibre firearms or heavier gauge shotguns are required than those used for other species. Bison producers in Canada rarely, castrate or brand animals, and they are seldom dehorned. There is currently a lack of peer reviewed research regarding the effect of painful procedures, however, there is little reason to suspect their physiological responses to pain are different to cattle. Both freeze branding and hot-iron branding cause pain and distress in bison, however in cattle, freeze branding causes less acute pain at the time of the procedure. The commercial bison industry is still relatively young, and continues to evolve. Expanding scientific studies will help to improve production whilst maintaining high welfare standards.
Associations between measures of rising and lying down behavior in dairy cows

Nina Dam Otten¹, Victor Henrique Silva De Oliveira², Mari Reiten², Anne Marie Michelsen¹, Franziska Hakansson¹, Vibe Pedersen Lund¹, Marlene Kirchner¹ and Tine Rousing²

¹University of Copenhagen, Dept. of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Grønnegårdsvej 8, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark, ²Aarhus University, Dept. of Animal Science, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark; nio@sund.ku.dk

On farm welfare assessment should by international consensus primarily be based on an animal centred approach with a majority of outcome or so called animal-based measures. Although, these measures are regarded as having high construct validity they are also very time consuming to obtain and thus often replaced by resource-based measures or subject to a limited number of observations. In the Welfare Quality (WQ) protocol, a minimum of six observations per farm is regarded sufficient to assess lying down behaviour in cows. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to investigate associations between measures of rising and lying down behaviour in order to explore the possibility of measure reduction in future assessment protocols. Lying down behaviour including ‘time needed to lie down’ and ‘collisions’ was recorded in 60 Danish dairy herds according to the WQ protocol (min. six observations per herd) together with ‘rising behaviour’ among minimum 10% of the lactating cows. A total of 435 lying down and 1,332 induced rising sequences were evaluated. Mean time needed to lie down was assessed at herd level and rising sequences were categorized as ‘normal’ (pause on carpal joints less than three seconds, normal flow of movement), ‘moderately problematic’ (pause longer than three seconds and an otherwise normal rising sequence) or ‘severely problematic’ (pause longer than three seconds and other abnormal behaviour e.g. awkward head twisting, dog sitting, crawling backwards). Associations between the mean time needed to lie down and herd prevalences of observed collisions as well as mean herd level prevalences of the three rising behaviour categories were assessed in a linear regression model with herd as random effect and a backwards elimination at a 0.05 significance level. Arcsine transformation of the outcome and explanatory variables resulted in normal distribution of data. Overall mean time needed to lie down was 5.9 seconds (SD=3.7, median=5.2, min-max=1.8-51.3); collisions were present at an average of 33% (SD=34, median=25%, min-max=0-100) of the lying down sequences; herd level means for rising behaviour were: normal=78% (SD=17, median=82%, min-max=21-100), moderately problematic=17% (SD=14; median=14%, min-max=0-53) and severely problematic=5% (SD=8, median=2%, min-max=0-31.5). The final model showed significant associations between time needed to lie down and the percentage of collisions and severely problematic rising behaviour (P<0.001, R2=0.48). It can be concluded, that in order to reduce the number of measures and observations needed time needed to lie down might be sufficient to characterize the issues regarding cows’ potential problems concerning both rising and lying down. Although, resource-based factors like cubicle design or stocking density are also potential influencing factors, these have not been included as the aim was to investigate relationships between the animal-based measures, rather than simply replacing these with resource-based measures.
**Feedlot cattle are motivated to obtain roughage and show contrafreeloading**

Jennifer Van Os¹,², Erin Mintline², Trevor Devries³ and Cassandra Tucker²

¹University of British Columbia, Animal Welfare Program, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada, ²University of California, Department of Animal Science, Davis, 95616, USA, ³University of Guelph, Department of Animal Biosciences, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada; cbtucker@ucdavis.edu

Feedlot cattle are commonly fed high-concentrate diets, which may lead to ruminal acidosis. In contrast, consuming roughage stimulates rumination and leads to more buffering of rumen pH. However, little is known about how motivated feedlot cattle are to consume roughage. A way to quantify motivation is requiring cattle to work (e.g. push a weighted gate) to access a resource. Using this method, we evaluated the motivation of feedlot cattle to obtain roughage when fed high-concentrate or high-fiber diets. During the study, and for 30 d before, 12 yearling Angus-Hereford cross heifers were fed either Sudan hay (high fiber, n=6) or a total mixed ration with 12% forage (as fed, high concentrate, n=6) *ad libitum*. These primary diets were delivered to individual cattle in an open feed bunk. Cattle were trained (≤4 d) to push and hold open a gate with their heads to obtain feed from a second bunk. Once data collection began, Sudan hay (200 g/d) was fed behind the gate, to which additional weight (34 kg/d) was added until heifers no longer pushed. Maximum weight pushed was expressed as % of bodyweight (BW). To compare consistently across days, behavioral data were evaluated on 5 d (d -4 to 0, relative to the final day they pushed the gate). All data were analyzed with generalized linear mixed models. We predicted cattle fed a concentrate-rich diet would push heavier weights, show a shorter latency, and spend more time using the gate, relative to those fed a high-fiber diet. Indeed, those fed a finishing diet pushed the gate immediately after hay delivery and much sooner than those fed a high-fiber diet (1.7 vs 75.7 min, respectively, back-transformed means, 95% confidence interval: 0.2-6.4 vs 40.0-131.0 min, P<0.001). This pattern was apparent even as the gate's weight increased: on the day before they no longer pushed the gate, cattle fed a high-concentrate diet showed a latency of only 2.9 min after hay delivery (vs 92.4 min for those fed a high-fiber diet). The suddenness with which heifers ceased pushing the next day suggests they were unable to move heavier weights to express their motivation. This may explain why maximum weight pushed (high concentrate vs high fiber: 46 vs 44% of BW, respectively, SEM: 3% of BW, P=0.73) and time spent using the gate (4.9 vs 5.8 min/d, SEM: 0.6 min/d, P=0.24) were similar between treatments. The small sample size may have limited our ability to detect treatment differences. Nonetheless, the considerable gate use by heifers with unrestricted access to hay is the first evidence in cattle of contrafreeloading (expending effort to obtain a resource even when it is simultaneously available freely), suggesting an internal motivation to work for food. In conclusion, we found evidence that consuming roughage is important to feedlot cattle, and this is affected by both their primary diet and an internal motivation to work to obtain feed.
The limits of animal welfare concepts

Jes Harfeld

Aalborg University, Center for Applied Philosophy, Kroghstræde 3, 9220, Denmark;

jlh@learning.aau.dk

Mink and pigs are some of the most intensively produced animals in Danish farming with an estimated production of 14 million pelts and 20 million pigs for slaughter per year. Taking this fact into account it is no wonder that Denmark has seen an increasing number of both public and academic debates about the welfare of animals in production systems. Much of the debate, however, revolves more around the possible legal and political consequences of animal welfare than around the concept of the welfare itself. Thus, the arguments from one side claims that animal welfare for pigs and mink is so poor that this should lead to the abolishment of the fur and pork production, while the other side claims that the welfare is good and that production of mink furs and pork loins should remain legal. It is an unresolved issue 'clouded in prejudice and misunderstandings on both sides'. It is not the main purpose of this article to take sides in this debate about legality. Instead, the concept and definition of mink and pig welfare itself is the turning point for this contribution and I will argue that much of the current debate is hindered by misconceptions about welfare. First of all, I will argue that the most important aspect of welfare - indeed what we actually mean by the concept - is an experiential phenomena, which traditional natural science, with its standard array of methods, has no tools to access directly. Marian S. Dawkins claims that much of current ethology too easily take the notion of animal experiential phenomena for granted and that it is problematic when we 'are asked to believe that the 'explanatory gap' between the physiology and behaviour we can observe and the subjective experience we cannot is no more than a small ditch that we can hop across'. I will argue that Dawkins is right, given her premises. I will, however, also argue that her premises, the claims about what science is, can and ought to be, are wrong, and that we can meaningfully address animal experiences within a scientific framework less rigid than her positivistic approach. Secondly, I will show how Dawkins' idea, although not taken entirely to heart, is acknowledged in the scientific literature by an - intentional or unintentional - narrowing of the concept of welfare. By attempting to approach welfare through an overly positivistic lens, the concept becomes removed from its fundamentally qualitative and experiential definition. Third and last, I will, inspired by philosophers Martha Nussbaum and Bernard E. Rollin, consider a more holistic concept of welfare and welfare assessment for mink and pigs based on the notion of species-typical thriving and flourishing. I will argue that such a holistic concept of welfare is necessary in order for us to gain a more adequate understanding of the animals and thus qualify the debate concerning their welfare.
**Behaviour and brain gene expression of environmentally enriched pigs**

Sarah Mills Brown¹, Rebecca Peters², Emma Baxter² and Alistair Burnett Lawrence²

¹University of Edinburgh, Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, Penicuik, EH25 6RG, United Kingdom, ²SRUC, Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, Penicuik, EH25 9RG, United Kingdom; alistair.lawrence@sruc.ac.uk

There is a clear need to provide further understanding of the biological relevance of
environmental enrichment (EE) to pigs to promote EE in pig production systems. This project
aimed to study the effects of EE on piglet behaviours and also for the first time on pig brain gene
expression levels using RNA-sequencing technology. At 4 days post weaning, 8 piglets/ litter
(from 6 litters) were selected as close to average litter weight as possible. Litters were split into
2 quartets balanced for sex, and housed in enriched (EE) or barren (B) pens. EE pens measured
approx 3.6×1.8 m and were 2× the size of barren pens. Approximately 40 kg of long-straw
was provided per EE pen to ensure the whole floor was well covered. Further enrichment was
provided at the same time point daily to the 6 EE pens in the form of a plastic bag filled with
straw (2 kg approx). Video footage was analysed using scan sampling from 15 min before and
following bag provision (total=4 hours). On the final day 2 males per pen were euthanased
under sedation via an intracardial overdose of pentobarbital sodium. Brain tissue was then
collected and RNA extracted. Average active behaviours across scan samples were greater in
the EE compared to the B pens (t<sub>9</sub>=3.04, P=0.014). Differences in active behaviours (feeding,
locomotion, object interaction, hops, pivots, nosing of penmate or pen) were most strongly
observed at 1 hour post enrichment (t<sub>9</sub>=4.55, P=0.001). At this time-point EE piglets were
observed to interact with the bag in 19.5% of scans, with overall active behaviours occurring
in 46.8% of scans (this compared with 22.6% in B piglets). RNA-sequence analysis of frontal
cortex tissue showed EE relative to B piglets to have an over-representation of 9 gene ontology
(GO) terms linked to biological processes with an under-representation of 14 biological process
GO terms. Genes within over-represented GO terms in this dataset were those primarily
associated with learning (e.g. *EGR2*) and neuronal signalling (e.g. *DUSP5*). Genes involved
in feeding behaviour were also over-represented. These changes in brain gene expression are
consistent with previous work showing increased learning capacity in EE pigs and with the
trend towards higher average daily gain in the EE pigs in this study (F=3.21, P=0.087). Under-
represented GO terms included a number involved in neuro-immunity (such as genes *IFI44L*,
*IL1R1*, *CTSS*). As differential expression is determined as expression in one treatment relative
to another, further work is required to understand if this reflects a more active neuro-immune
response in B piglets or a down-regulation of neuro-immunity in EE piglets. Previous work in
rodents has demonstrated lower expression of inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus of
EE mice compared to B mice when exposed to a virus. The present study demonstrates that
environmental enrichment changes the expression of genes involved in learning and feeding
behaviour and neuro-immune responses. These changes maybe linked to the level of active
behaviours stimulated by EE housing.
Can body nosing in early-weaned piglets be prevented by artificial sucking and nosing devices?

Roland Weber¹, Daniela Frei², Hanno Würbel³, Beat Wechsler² and Lorenz Gygax²

¹Agroscope, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Tänikon 1, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland, ²Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Tänikon 1, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland, ³University of Bern, Division of Animal Welfare, Länggassstrasse 120, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; roland.weber@agroscope.admin.ch

In recent years, litter size has increased substantially by selection for hyper-prolific sows. Consequently, the number of live born piglets may exceed the number of functional teats, and surplus piglets are reared in artificial rearing systems as early as at the age of two days. In previous studies, it was found that early-weaned piglets show belly nosing and increased levels of other oral behaviours directed at pen mates. Belly nosing is considered as redirected suckling behaviour, as it resembles massaging and sucking at the udder. The development of such abnormal behaviour indicates that behavioural needs of the piglets are not met if raised without the sow. Moreover, belly-nosing may disturb resting behaviour of pen-mates and cause damage to the skin of their belly. The aim of this study was to examine whether body nosing (belly nosing plus nosing on any other part of the body) can be reduced or even prevented in piglets raised in an artificial rearing system. To do so, dummies designed to elicit sucking or massaging behaviour were presented to the piglets. During eight batches, a total of 144 Swiss Large White piglets were removed from the sow at two to five days of age and raised in groups of six piglets in artificial rearing units. A two-by-two between-group factorial design was applied in that a sucking and a massaging opportunity was either presented to the piglets or not. The behaviour of each piglet was scored from video for 90 min in six 15 min periods between 05:00 to 9:30 and 13:00 to 17:30 on days 4 and 18 after introduction to the artificial rearing unit. Data was analysed using linear-mixed effects models. The duration of body nosing increased in all treatment combinations between day 4 and day 18 from an average of 0.61 min (CI: 0.42-0.86) to 2.67 (1.87-3.84), but piglets raised in units equipped with a combined sucking/ massaging dummy showed a much smaller increase from 0.37 (0.20-0.68) to 0.59 (0.35-1.03) min (three-way interaction: P=0.022). Piglets spent more time nosing the combined dummy (P=0.019) from an average of 0.17 (0.12-0.25) min than the dummies allowing for suckling and massaging only from 0.03 (0.02-0.04) min. The duration of body nosing was not directly related to the duration of dummy nosing (P=0.38). The time spent resting decreased in all treatments between day 4 with an average of 66 (63-69) min and day 18 with an average of 59 (57-62) min (P<0.001). Piglets with a combined dummy tended to a higher average resting bout length than piglets in other treatments (two-way interaction: P=0.066). To conclude, the combined dummy was most efficient in reducing body nosing. Additionally, piglets were less disturbed in their resting behaviour in this treatment. However, body nosing could not be prevented in any treatment. Therefore, the dummies tested do not seem to be sufficient in order to satisfy the piglets' behavioural needs for sucking and massaging.
**Multiple enriched cages increase silver fox cubs' confidence and reduce stereotypic
head twirls**

Anne Lene Hovland

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, P.O.
Box 5003, 1432 Ås, Norway; anne.hovland@nmbu.no

Access to environmental enrichment, defined as the addition of biological relevant objects and/
or structures to captive animals' housing, is an important means to improve their welfare. Silver
foxes kept for fur production are traditionally kept in wire mesh cages with access to a resting
shelf and a gnawing object, and occasionally a nest box. Farmed foxes will eagerly explore their
environment and show preferences for objects that can be chewed and manipulated and favour
cages furnished with artificial dens (nest boxes) and shelves, devices found to support their
welfare. Although foxes' have favourite objects, e.g. meat bones, access to several enrichments
give multiple choices, potentially reinforcing activity and play. Here, we aimed to examine how
access to a multiple enriched cage affected some welfare related parameters like fear towards
humans, exploration, stereotypic head twirls and weight gain. In particular, knowledge on
how enrichments affect the occurrence of abnormal behaviors in silver foxes is scarce and is
thus important for improving our knowledge on captive fox welfare. Sixty 3-months-old cubs
were pair housed where 15 pairs were housed in double standard cages additionally furnished
with a tube, a wooden plate, a hockey-puck, straw and a meat bone. The controls had access to
double standard housing conditions with a top nest box, a resting shelf and wooden gnawing
sticks. To examine fearfulness and exploration a feeding test, a repeated titbit-test and a novel
object test were conducted after 4 and 5 weeks. Stereotypic head twirls were recorded from
video 30 minutes before feeding time after 6 weeks. The feeding test did not differentiate
between the groups, but the titbit test revealed significant differences (P≤0.05) where more
cubs from enriched cages accepted the titbit (53.3 vs 23.3%) after two trials. Immediately
following handling and weight recording none of the controls accepted the titbit compared to
16.7% of the enriched foxes. Significantly more cubs from the enriched cages contacted the
novel object (96.6 vs 70.0%; P=0.012). The latency to contact the object was shorter (P≤0.003)
and the manipulation time was longer in the enriched group (P=0.019). The number of cubs
with stereotypic head twirls were lower in the enriched group (33.3 vs 73.3%; P=0.004) and
the level of head twirling also tended to be lower compared to the controls (P=0.056). After
5 weeks control cubs gained more weight compared to enriched cubs (P=0.009). Our results
show significant effects of early access to multiple enrichments on cubs' behaviour, reducing
fearfulness towards humans and novel objects, after only 6 weeks of access. Especially, the
lowered incidence of head twirls indicates the potency of multiple enrichments to reduce
frustrated motivations underlying the development of behavioural abnormalities. The results
suggest addition of multiple enrichments as an important method for improving foxes' housing
conditons. Future studies are needed to examine long term effects of early access to multiple
enriched cages.
**Use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as a tool to measure animal welfare outcomes
in beef calves**

Justin Mufford¹, Desiree Soares², Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein², David James Hill¹, Mark Paetkau¹, Nancy Flood¹ and John Church¹

¹Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Rd, V2B 0C8, Kamloops, BC, Canada, ²Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, 5403 1 Ave S, T1J 4P4, Lethbridge, AB, Canada; jt.mufford@gmail.com

Standard livestock management procedures (e.g. ear-tagging, branding, castration) can cause pain or stress to animals. To advance research on animal welfare, pain and stress mitigation strategies need to be better assessed under extensive field conditions. We developed a novel method to monitor cow-calf social affiliations by quantifying the proximity between animals using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Using two UAVs equipped with video-capable digital cameras, as well as photogrammetry and image analysis software, we measured the distance between cow-calf pairs. We hypothesized that this distance can be accurately measured by UAVs and has the potential to provide valuable information for studies of animal behavior and welfare. Twelve cow-calf pairs were uniquely identified with the use of penning tags and coloured fabric squares glued to their backs. Aerial videos of the calves held with their dams in a pasture were made over four days using UAVs. Recordings were made during two periods on most days of study: Morning-afternoon (M-A) and Evening (Eve) (Poor weather precluded data collection in 2 of the possible 8 periods.) Calves were acclimated to the UAVs by flying one UAV intermittently overhead at an approximate height of 20 m on the days before experimental recording began. We used two UAVs to video-capture the following: (1) the location of all individuals (UAV flown at 100 m) and (2) the identity of cow-calf pairs (UAV flown at 30 m). Still-images extracted from the UAV-acquired video screenshots were used to produce orthomosaics using Agisoft Photoscan software. An orthomosaic is a large composite image that has been processed to remove lens and perspective distortions in the original images. The orthomosaics captured all of the cows and calves in a single image, from which we measured cow-calf proximity with ImageJ software. Average cow-calf distances were then calculated for each of the six periods of data. Mean cow-calf proximity varied significantly among the six time periods (ANOVA; F=25.33, P<0.01), with M-A periods forming a group distinct from Eve; the average distance between cows and their caves was less in the M-A periods ('X=33.2, SD=5.74) than the Eve ('X=67.9, SD=7.59). These results will be compared with global positioning system (GPS) measurements on the same animals to examine the use of UAVs as an effective tool in animal welfare and behavioural studies in field conditions.
Differences in behaviour between aubrac and Lithuanian black and white bulls kept for beef

Vytautas Ribikauskas¹, Jūratė Kučinskienė¹, David Arney² and Daiva Ribikauskienė³

¹Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Veterinary Academy, Tilžės 18, 47181 Kaunas, Lithuania, ²Estonian University of Life Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 62, 51014 Tartu, Estonia, ³Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, Pramones pr. 20, 50468 Kaunas, Lithuania; vytautas.ribikauskas@lsmuni.lt

In Lithuania, there is a tendency to have mixed cattle breed farms, where dairy farmers support the financial viability of their businesses with beef cattle as an additional production source. In such cases, all male offspring of dairy cows are kept for veal in the same conditions as hybrid or purebred beef bull calves. This situation raises some questions about the welfare and behavioural needs of such different animals. This study aimed at comparing the behaviour of finishing bulls from two different breeds – Lithuanian black and white (dairy cattle breed, LBW) and aubrac (beef cattle breed). Two groups of 11 to 14 month old bulls, one of the Aubrac (n=17) and the other group of the LBW breed (n=22) have been observed. At the start of the experiment, average weight of Aubrac and LBW bulls was 372.7±8.9 and 296.9±5.7 kg respectively. Animals were raised in insulated barn in pens with deep litter, both breeds under similar conditions (animals were 11 to 14 month old, each group in separate 100 m² pen). The behaviour was observed for a period of 24 hours (00:00-24:00 h) in June. The bulls were observed using instantaneous sampling with a 5-min sampling interval. The following behaviours were considered: total lying, eating feed at the feeding trough, drinking, standing ruminating, lying ruminating, walking, standing idling, lying resting and aggressive behaviour. In the present study, we found that total lying time of Aubrac and LBW bulls was 652 min (45.3±3.0%) and 677 min (47.0±3.0%) per day respectively, total standing time 720 min (50.0±2.8%) and 692 min (48.0±2.8%) per day respectively. The study indicated that there were no significant differences between the two groups of animals as regards moving behaviours. Aubrac bulls spend more time in standing idling (17.2±1.5 vs 12.5±1.1%, P<0.025), standing ruminating (10.7±1.1 vs 7.9±0.8%, P<0.05), drinking (1.6±0.3 vs 0.7±0.2%, P<0.01) and less time in eating (20.5±2.0 vs 27.1±2.3%, P<0.05) than the LBW bulls. LBW bulls spent more time lying with less lying bouts (6 lying bouts) compared with aubrac bulls (9). Aubrac bulls were distinguished by more clearly expressed aggressive behaviour in the group. The average time per animal spent in fighting accounted for 4.2% of the total time (39 encounters between two or more bulls) compared with the average 1.5% of time (21 encounter) for LBW bulls. At 90 and 95% thresholds, behaviour synchronization of Aubrac bulls was lower compared to LBW bulls. That means that 90 (and more) and 95% (and more) of Aubrac bulls were observed showing the same posture (lying or not lying) 39.6 and 25% of all observations accordingly compared to 48.6 and 38.9% (P<0.025) of observations of LBW bulls. These differences could be related to different breed of animals, and should inform decision making about the management of the two breeds studied.
Effect of switch trimming on hindquarters cleanliness of cows

Ken-ichi Takeda¹ and Mao Shibata²

¹Shinshu University, Institute of Agriculture, Academic Assembly, 8304 Minamiminowa, 399-4598

Nagano, Japan, 2Shinshu University, Faculty of Agriculture, 8304 Minamiminowa, 399-4598

Nagano, Japan; ktakeda@shinshu-u.ac.jp

Tail docking of cows is performed in some countries to improve cow cleanliness and udder health. Periodic trimming of the long hairs growing at the distal end of the tail (i.e. switch trimming) has been proposed as a humane alternative to tail docking in cows. Here we investigated the effect of switch trimming on hindquarter cleanliness of cows. Five Japanese Black cows, aged 9-14 years, were repeatedly used in three treatments. The length from the tail head to the switch tip was 105 cm in the control treatment. In addition, two experimental treatments were established: (1) a simulated tail docking treatment that assumed the length from the tail head to the switch tip to be 20 cm and the switch tip was painted; and (2) a switch trimming treatment in which the length from the tail head to the switch tip was approximately 60 cm. Cows were moved into the experimental pen sequentially. The same amount of paint was applied to the end of the tails in all treatments. In the simulated docking treatment, we painted the switch of each cow twice using a brush to ensure the same amount of applied paint as for the other treatments. After 5, 10 and 20 min of paint application, the side and rear side of each cow was photographed. We repainted the switch after 5 and 10 min. Each cow was washed with a special shampoo used for cattle shows before the experiment and after each treatment to remove the paint. During the treatment, to standardise the number of tail swings in each treatment (20-30 swings/min), we simulated flies landing on the back of each cow using toy flies attached to a mobile. In each treatment, the paint adhesion rate on the cow increased with increasing time. The paint adhesion rates were significantly different between treatments (P<0.05, F2, 12=14.5, one-way repeated ANOVA). Using a Tukey-Kramer test, a significantly higher paint adhesion rate was observed in the control (70.5±8.3%, P<0.05), whereas it was lower in the switch trimming treatment (34.8±3.3%, P<0.05) and lowest in the simulated docking treatment (2.4±0.7%, P<0.0.5). Our results show that the simulated tail docking treatment the most effective for transfer dirt to body, but considering that the function of the tail is lost in a docking, it can be said that the switch trimming is an effective way to guarantee the cleanliness and welfare of cows.
# Prevalence of lameness and skin lesions on intensive dairies in southern Brazil

Joao H.C. Costa<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="2" />, Maria J. Hötzel<fnref n="2" />, Tracy A. Burnett<fnref n="1" />, Angélica Roslindo<fnref n="2" />, Daniel M. Weary<fnref n="1" /> and Marina A.G. Von Keyserlingk<fnref n="1" />

Lameness is one of the greatest welfare challenges facing the North American and European dairy industries but there is little information on the prevalence of lameness and lesions in the intensive Brazilian dairy industry. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of lameness and skin lesions on intensive dairies that used either freestalls, compost or a combination of these two systems. Data were collected in the autumn and winter months of 2016 from 50 dairy farms located in Paraná state, including 22 freestall dairies, 13 compost barn dairies and 15 dairies that used a combination (these dairies used freestalls for most of the herd but housed their vulnerable cows – transition and sick cows – on a compost bedded pack). Each visit to the farm consisted of three parts: (1) a management questionnaire, (2) inspection of the milking parlour, the barn where animals were housed, and the walkways from the barn to the milking parlor, and (3) an evaluation of all lactating cows as they exited the parlour for lameness, hygiene, BCS and skin injuries (lameness 1-5 score, hygiene 0-1 score, BCS 1-5 score, and skin lesions 0-1 score). The median one-way chi-squared test was used to compare production systems. We found no difference between farm types in foot health management practices or average daily milk production per cow (31 [29-33.9] kg/d; median [q1-q3]), percentage of Holstein cattle in the herd (100 [90-100]), conception rate (35.8 [30.2-38]%) or pregnancy rate (15 [13.7-18]%). The compost farms (85 [49.5-146.5] milking cows) were smaller than both the combined farms (360 [150-541.5] milking cows) and the freestall farms (270 [178-327.5] milking cows; P<0.01). The overall prevalence of severe lameness across all farms (score 4 and 5) was 21.2 [15.2-28.5]% but was lower on the compost farms (14.2 [8.45-15.5]%) in comparison to freestall farms (22.2 [16.8-26.7]%) and the combined farms (22.2 [17.4-32.8]%; P=0.03). Less than 1% of all cows scored on the compost farms were observed with swollen and/or wounded knees, which was lower than either the freestall or the combined dairies (7.4 [3.6-11.9]% and 6.4 [2.6-11.8]% of all cows scored, respectively; P<0.01). The same pattern was found for hock injuries, where the farm-level prevalence was 0.5 [0-0.9]%, 9.9 [0.8-15.3]%, and 5.7 [2.6-10.9]% on compost, freestall or combined dairies, respectively (P<0.01). No differences between farm type were observed for hygiene and BCS. On average, 2.7 [0.8-10.9]% of lactating cows had a soiled side, 15.4 [2.1-37.4]% had dirty legs and 1.7 [0-9.3]% had dirty udders. The average herd-level BCS across farms was 2.9 [2.9-3], with 0.52% of the cows having a BCS<2. Overall, the prevalence of lameness in intensive dairies in southern Brazil is high and highlight the need for changes in environmental design and management practices. We found that compost barn farms in this region had reduced lameness and injuries in relation to free stall and combined dairies.

<footnote n="1">¹University of British Columbia, Animal Welfare Program, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada,</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, LETA – Laboratório de Etologia Aplicada, Florianópolis, SC, 88034-001, Brazil; jhcardosocosta@gmail.com</footnote>
Shelter use by horses and beef cattle during the winter

Katrine Kop Fogsgaard, Karen Thodberg and Janne Winther Christensen

Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark;

katrine.kopfogsgaard@anis.au.dk

In Denmark, horses and beef cattle can be pastured 24 h/day during the winter if they have access to shelters. For horses, specific requirements exist for individual space allowance but there are no regulations in terms of shelter design, e.g. the number of entrances and partitions inside the shelter. Similarly, for beef cattle, only general recommendations of space allowance and width of entrances to shelters exist. Currently for beef cattle, an ongoing project examines the effect of space availability per cow and the shelter design on time spent in the shelters. An initial study was conducted with 9 groups (3-7 individuals) of Angus cattle. Each group, all kept on pasture in one private herd, had access to a 50 m² shelter open on one long side with straw-bedding (5×10 m). Infrared cameras were placed inside all shelters taking a photo every 15 minutes 24 h/day. The first preliminary results from this study show that at least one individual was inside each shelter in 30-60% of a 14-day period (Dec-Jan). The shelters were mainly used in the dark hours. These results were based on a setting where space allowance per individual was larger than the Danish recommendations (4 m² per adult individual) which might have facilitated the use of the shelter. Based on this knowledge the following steps in the project is to investigate the effects of space allowance (4, 6, or 8 m² pr. adult individual), shelter design and weather conditions on shelter use by Angus beef cattle during the Danish winter. For horses, we investigated the effect of the number of entrances (1 vs 2), partitions inside the shelter, and use in relation to weather conditions. Thirty-two Icelandic horses participated. The horses were kept on pasture in eight groups of four, and each group had access to a shelter (30 m²), which in the first study period (Dec-Jan) had either one or two entrances (n=4 groups in each treatment). In the second study period (Jan-Feb), all shelters had two entrances and half were equipped with partitions inside the shelter. Infrared cameras were used to assess shelter use, determined as % of pictures (6 pics/hour) where one or more horses was present inside the shelter. We found that groups with two entrances used the shelters significantly more than groups with only one entrance (Median Percentages [IQR]: 12.6% [7, 20] vs 3.0% [2, 4], Mann-Whitney U-test: P=0.029), whereas partitions inside the shelter did not affect shelter use. The shelters were used more when daily temperatures were below 0 °C compared to warmer days (P<0.001). Furthermore a positive correlation between shelter use and wind speed was found (r_s=0.5, P=0.02). Regardless of treatment, the shelters were mainly used at night (P<0.001). We conclude that shelters for horses should have at least two entrances.
**Feeding behavior of group-housed calves in Midwest US farms with automated feeders**

Marcia Endres, Mateus Peiter and Matthew Jorgensen

University of Minnesota, 1364 Eckles Ave, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA; miendres@umn.edu

It is becoming more common in the USA to house preweaned dairy calves in groups and feed them using computerized automated calf feeders. However, very limited research has been conducted in the USA to describe behaviors of calves when using these feeders and how they might be associated with housing and farm management factors. The objective of this observational, descriptive study was to characterize milk consumption, calf drinking speed, number of calf visits to the feeder (rewarded and unrewarded), and calf daily weight gain in 25 randomly selected farms in the Upper Midwest USA using automated feeders to feed their preweaned calves. Feeding behavior data were collected from the feeder software for approximately 18 months. We used PROC MEANS in SAS to calculate means and SD for each variable across all farms. Experimental unit for the analysis was calf-day (an average reading per calf/day recorded by the feeder software). We found that drinking speed (ml/min) was 794±324; n=54,747) with a mean/farm ranging from 442 to 1,113 ml/min. The average daily milk allowance (l/calf) was 8.7±2.3; calves consumed 87±21% (n=62,548) of their allowance resulting in an estimated daily milk intake of 7.6 l/calf. Mean estimated daily milk intake/farm ranged from 5.5 to 11.6 l/calf. The number of daily rewarded visits (visits when calf is entitled to receive milk; visits with milk) was 4.8±3.4 (n=53,798); mean/farm ranged from 2.5 to 6.9 visits; however, most farms averaged between 4 and 6 visits. The farm with greatest daily milk allowance in the study (15 l/calf) had a mean of 6.9 visits. The number of unrewarded visits (visits without milk) was 6.5±7.7 (n=53,798); mean/farm ranged from 1.0 to 9.9 visits. The farm with the greatest milk allowance had the lowest number of unrewarded visits (1/day). Number of unrewarded visits was greater than the number of rewarded visits (P<0.01) in this study. The number of unrewarded visits has been shown in previous studies to be associated with calf health along with daily consumption and drinking speed. Estimated daily weight gain (g/day) was 804±263 (n=60,205); mean/farm ranged from 567 to 1,131 g/day. The farm with the greatest milk allowance had estimated daily weight gain per calf of 1,131 g/day. These feeding behavior and weight gain measurements were most likely influenced by differences in housing and management practices across farms.
**Effects of prenatal stress on lamb immune response, brain morphology and behaviour**

Leonor Valente¹,², Kenny M.D. Rutherford², Carl W. Stevenson¹, Jo Donbavand², Nadiah Md Yusof², Kevin D. Sinclair¹ and Cathy M. Dwyer²

¹University of Nottingham, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington, LE12 5RD, United Kingdom,
²SRUC, Animal Behaviour and Welfare, SRUC, Roslin Institute Building, EH25 9RG, United Kingdom; leonor.valente@sruc.ac.uk

Stressful conditions experienced in pregnancy can have a detrimental effect on progeny development. However, the extent to which common husbandry conditions experienced by housed pregnant sheep have similar negative impacts is not known. We hypothesised that conditions such as high stocking density and social instability during pregnancy would negatively affect lamb immune response, brain morphology and behaviour. At week 11 of gestation 77 twin-bearing Scottish Mule ewes were allocated, balanced for parity, to either Control (C, n=42) or Stress (S, n=35) groups of 7 ewes. Groups differed in lying area (C: 2.70 m²/ewe, S: 1.19 m²/ewe), feed space (C: 71 cm/ewe, S: 36 cm/ewe) and social stability (C: remained undisturbed, S: underwent two social mixing events). All ewes were placed under Control conditions one week prior to the start of lambing. At 7 weeks of age two sub-groups of lambs were selected, balanced for sex and dam parity, and submitted either to euthanasia for collection of Hippocampus(C=10, S=10) or to blood sampling for measurement of levels of Serum amyloid A (SAA) (C=20, S=20) before and after vaccination. At 13 weeks the lamb (C=7, S=7) behavioural response to five consecutive five minute isolations was assessed. Data were analysed with a linear mixed model in Genstat, using the Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) method. All experimental procedures were performed in a research farm setting and completed under the authority of the Home Office Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act (1986) with approval from the local ethics committee. Animal care was carried out according to UK legislation and Defra guidelines, and approved by the ethics committee. There were no differences in dendritic spine density between treatment groups on pyramidal neurons from hippocampus cornu ammonis (CA1) area. However there were two interactions between prenatal stress and lamb sex for stubby (F=7.6, P=0.016) and thin (F=8.0, P=0.014) spines in this brain structure. C males had a higher proportion of stubby spines than S males (mean ± se: C=0.42±0.017; S=0.36±0.015), whereas C females did not differ from S females (mean ± se: C=0.33±0.015; S=0.36±0.016). Moreover, thin spines showed a lower proportion in C males than in C females (mean ± se: M=0.38±0.019; F=0.51±0.017) but no differences were found in S males or females (mean ± se: M=0.43±0.017; F=0.44±0.018). S did not affect the SAA response to vaccination (F=0.31, P=0.579). S had no effect (P>0.05) on the number of vocalizations, activity or escaping attempts in the repeated isolation test. However, given the small sample size used behavioural data should be interpreted with caution. Maternal stocking density and social instability altered the neuronal structure of the lamb. Still, these changes are dependent on lamb sex. Importantly, they do not necessarily translate into detectable behaviour differences.
**Effect of ammonia exposure on eating and ruminating behaviour in sheep during simulated long-distance transport by ship**

Yu Zhang¹, Lauréline Guinnefollau² and Clive J.C. Phillips¹

¹Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, 4343, Australia, ²Université Francois Rabelais, Université Francois Rabelais, Tours, France; yu.zhang2014@gmail.com

Ammonia accumulation in sheep accommodation during live export is a major welfare problem. Ammonia is an irritant to mucosal surfaces, including the buccal cavity, which may be linked to previously observed reductions in feed intake. We investigated the mechanisms for this by studying eating and ruminating rates in sheep in a climatic control room that simulated the typical ammonia concentration. Twelve 6-month-old lambs (mean body weight 24.5±2 kg) were randomly assigned to control or 30 ppm ammonia treatment (a validated maximum for livestock in live export) for three periods in a change-over design. Each period lasted for 14 days, which is a typical journey duration from Australia to the Middle East. Sheep were randomly allocated to individual pens. Animals were exposed to a 12 h light-12 h dark regime. Ammonia concentration, room temperature and humidity were measured three times each day. In each period, ruminating behaviour was recorded for ten periods of 60 seconds from 14:00 pm to 19:00 pm on day 7 and day 8. Rumination was recorded in chews/ min and the time interval between swallowing and regurgitation. Sheep were fed 400 g TMR pellets and long-chopped lucerne hay *ad libitum* daily. A general linear model was used for data analysis in Minitab 16.0. Ammonia decreased hay intake (1.03 vs 1.10 kg/d, SEM=0.014, P=0.002). Ruminating chewing rate decreased with ammonia (85.68 vs 88.10 chewing bites/ min, SEM=0.60, P=0.014) and the time between swallowing and regurgitation increased (6.75 vs 5.83 seconds, SEM=0.18, P=0.002). Palatability of a hard lucerne pellet and soft sorghum chaff was measured during a short (6 min) eating test. Ammonia reduced the rate of masticating lucerne pellets (2.20 vs 2.28 chews per second, SEM=0.012, P<0.001) but not sorghum chaff (2.26 vs 2.28 chews per second, SEM=0.018, P=0.47). Thus ammonia reduced feed intake and slowed chewing and swallowing, maybe due to an irritated buccal cavity. If proven, this would indicate reduced welfare of the very large numbers of sheep that are transported from Australia to the Middle East. This study was fully ethically reviewed to the standards required of ISAE.
# Factors affecting misdirected dunging behaviour of loose housed lactating sows and their piglets

Janni Hales¹ and Vivi Aarestrup Moustsen²

¹Jyden Animal Housing, Idomvej 2, 7570, Denmark, ²SEGES Danish Pig Research Centre, Axeltorv 3, 1609 Copenhagen V, Denmark; jhp@jydenbur.dk

Commercial viability of farrowing pens for loose housed sows relies on good performance and proper functionality of pen. Pens must be designed to accommodate the sow and satisfy the behavioural needs of the sow. Partly solid floor provides a lying area and serves as nesting area that can maintain materials in the pen. When the sow has freedom to move around dunging behaviour is less controlled and soiled solid floors and poor hygiene can have a negative impact on the welfare of the animals as materials become dirty and risk of infection increase. Piglet dunging behavior is equally difficult to control and soiled floors can be caused by unwanted piglet dunging behaviour. Prevalence of unwanted dunging behavior is unknown and the aim of this study was to investigate how factors such as herd, season and time in lactation influence this behavior. Data was collected from two herds with 1,200 sows per year and Sow Welfare And Piglet protection (SWAP) farrowing pens, which is a farrowing pen with an option to confine the sows temporarily. Pens had 60% and 40% solid floor in herd 1 and herd 2, respectively. The floor was divided into three areas: 'creep', 'sow area' and 'under sloping wall'. Areas were scored for cleanliness ('clean', 'partly 'dirty' or 'soiled') and sow cleanliness was assessed ('clean', 'partly dirty' or 'dirty'). Cleanliness of floors and sows was analysed for effects of herd, season and lactation week using PROC GLIMMIX in SAS. Creep floor was clean in 93% of observations in herd 1 and in 95% of observations in herd 2 (P=0.04). Cleanliness of the sow area differed between herds (P<0.001) and across seasons (P<0.001). In herd 1 proportion of clean sow areas increased (P<0.001) from 63% in the week before farrowing to 89%, 82% and 85% in week 1, 2 and 3 after farrowing, respectively. Similarly, the proportion of clean sow areas in herd 2 increased (P<0.001) from 73% before farrowing to 92%, 86% and 86% in week 1, 2 and 3 after farrowing, respectively. Cleanliness of the floor under the sloping wall decreased through lactation in both herds (P<0.001), indicating that piglets developed unwanted dunging behavior. In herd 1 the area under the sloping wall was clean in 89% of observations before farrowing, decreasing to 72%, 54% and 41% in week 1, 2 and 3 after farrowing, respectively. In herd 2 this area was clean in 92% of observations before farrowing, decreasing to 71%, 37% and 37% in week 1, 2 and 3 after farrowing, respectively. Sows were cleaner in herd 2 compared to herd 1 (P<0.001) but for both herds cleanliness decreased through lactation (P<0.001). In herd 1 70% of sows were clean to lactation week 1, decreasing to 63% in week 2 and 55% in week 3. In herd 2 96% of sows were clean before farrowing, 94% were clean in week 1, 88% in week 2 and 87% in week 3. Results showed that herd 2 was generally cleaner than herd 1, possibly caused by different floor profiles. Results also suggest that unwanted dunging behavior of sows and piglets developed through lactation and indicated seasonal variation. Further research into factors that influence sow and piglet dunging behavior is warranted to improve hygiene in pens with solid floors in the latter part of lactation.
# Selection for tameness affects metabolism and latency in a novel object test in junglefowl – a model for early domestication?

Rebecca Katajamaa, Beatrix Agnvall, Jordi Altimiras and Per Jensen

Linköping University, IFM Biology, Linköpings universitet, 581 83 Linköping, Sweden;

rebecca.katajamaa@liu.se

Domesticated animals are characterised by a coherent set of phenotypic traits. Tameness could be a central underlying factor driving that development. Therefore, we selected red junglefowl, ancestors of all domestic chickens, during five generations for high or low levels of fear of humans. Fear levels were determined through a standardised behaviour test, where the response to an approaching human was recorded. The birds were housed in an identical environment to ensure that the differences in fear levels between the two selection lines were mainly due to genetic effects. Previously, birds selected on only reduced fear of humans developed e.g. higher food competition and both larger eggs and offspring. So, in the fifth selected generation, we measured basal metabolic rate (BMR), feed efficiency and latency in a novel object (NO), to investigate if these traits had been affected by the selection on level of fear of humans. BMR was measured through open flow respirometry in 48 birds (six females and nine males from the low-fear line (L); 15 females and 18 males from the high-fear line (H)) at five to six weeks of age. The birds were placed individually in battery cages (60×40, height 40 cm) with *ad libitum* access to water and feed when 19 weeks old. Cages were furnished with dust bath, nest box and perch. Feed intake was measured for 7 days in 18 L-birds (8 female, 10 male) and 26 H-birds (14 female, 12 male). Average weekly growth of each bird between 112 and 200 days was divided by its total feed intake to be used as a proxy for feed conversion. At 21 weeks of age, the NO test was performed. The birds were presented with a cracked raw egg and when they started to eat from it, the NO was placed 10 cm from the egg. Latency to start feeding again was recorded with a maximum of 180 s. Generalized linear models were used for data analysis with selection, sex and their interaction as predictors. Wald X²-statistics were used for determining significance. BMR was higher in L-birds (26.96±0.29 ml O₂/min/kg in low-fear, 26.07±0.26 ml O₂/min/kg in high-fear, X²=5.4, P=0.02) with an effect of sex where females had a lower BMR (X²=17.1, P<0.001). L-birds were also faster in the NO test (103±17.4 s. for low-fear, 145±12.5 s. for high-fear, X²=4.1, P=0.044) with a sex effect where females were faster at approaching the novel object (X²=6.37, P=0.012). There was a tendency towards higher feed efficiency in L-birds (growth/feed intake [%]; 5.0±0.5% for low-fear, 4.1±0.3% high-fear, X²=3.5, P=0.061) but a significant interaction between selection and sex revealed that females mainly drove the effect (X²=10.5, P=0.001). The results support the hypothesis that reduced fear of humans, a trait important for successful domestication, during the early phases of chicken domestication may have caused correlated selection responses leading to a more growth-promoting metabolism and faster animals in a NO test.
**The ranging behaviour of laying hens in relation to their personality**

Sabine Vögeli¹, Bernhard Völkl², Eimear Murphy², Luca Melotti², Jeremy D. Bailoo², Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich¹, Ariane Stratmann¹ and Michael J. Toscano¹

¹Center for Proper Housing: Poultry and Rabbits, Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern,
Burgerweg 22, 3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland, ²Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern,
Länggasse 120, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; sabine.voegeli@vetsuisse.unibe.ch

Giving access to an outdoor range is considered a welfare-friendly way to keep poultry. However, previous studies on the individual ranging behaviour of laying hens showed that only a subset of animals use the range regularly, indicating the existence of sub-populations. The present study focused on individual ranging behaviour and investigated if differential ranging behaviour of laying hens is related to personality traits, specifically, fearfulness and risk taking. Four side-by-side pens, each containing 355 Brown Nick laying hens, were equipped with a radio frequency identification system, which allowed us to track the locations of 110 hens/pen: inside the pen or in one of three outdoor areas (veranda, bad-weather run, free-range). Based on the initial ranging behaviour of the birds, 15 hens/pen which rarely went outside (non-ranging, NR; n=60) and 15 hens/pen which often went outside (ranging, R; n=60) were chosen as focal birds for personality tests. The test took place on the verandas of adjoining pens in two experimental pens that served for acclimatisation and testing. Groups of 16 and 14 focal hens, respectively, were first placed in the acclimatisation pen, for at least 20 minutes and then individually tested in the test pen. During the first test (novelty-suppressed feeding test), a hen was placed in the middle of the test pen and the latency to approach a feeder in a corner and to eat a kernel of corn (max. 5 min; as a measure of fearfulness) was recorded. The test allowed for testing neophobia without previous training of the hens. After a second kernel was eaten, the hen was exposed to a falling object (startle test). The distance that the hen retreated from the feeder and the latency until the hen returned to the feeder and ate another kernel (max. 5 min; as a measure of risk taking) was recorded. Testing first occurred at 23 weeks of age, and then repeated at 30 and 42 weeks. Preliminary analysis of the novelty-induced feeding tests suggested that fewer NR hens went to the feeder compared to R hens, although this difference was not statistically significant (92 vs 115, P=0.12). In both groups, the number of animals that approached the feeder after being startled decreased from the first to the last test session (36 vs 31 vs 25 in NR and 45 vs 39 vs 31 in R), indicating learned avoidance to being startled. The latency to approach the feeder during the novelty-suppressed feeding test (P=0.86) and during the startle test did not differ between the two ranging groups (P=0.8) possibly due to a lack of food motivation rather than response to novelty. In summary, preliminary analyses do not suggest a relationship between behavioural responses and range use, at least with the respect to the conducted tests. Subsequent analyses comparing individual behaviour patterns between the test sessions, may lend further insight into whether and to what extent such a relationship exists.
**The effect of dark brooders and overhangs on fearfulness and free-range use in slow-growing broiler chickens**

Lisanne Stadig¹,², T. Bas Rodenburg³, Bart Ampe², Bert Reubens² and Frank A.M. Tuyttens¹,²

¹Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium, ²Flanders research institute for agriculture, fisheries and food, Burg. v. Gansberghelaan 92, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium, ³Wageningen University & Research, De Elst 1, 6708 WD Wageningen, the Netherlands; lisanne.stadig@ilvo.vlaanderen.be

Broiler chickens with free-range access often make limited use of the outdoor area, perhaps because they are fearful to use the (entire) range area. There are indications that chicks reared with dark brooders, i.e. dark, sheltered heat sources that simulate a mother hen, may be less fearful later in life. Another possible reason why chickens are reluctant to go outside, relates to the transition from the house to the range, which may be too abrupt (e.g. a large increase in light intensity). This may be addressed by providing a more gradual transition by placing overhangs in front of the popholes. Therefore, we tested the effects of dark brooders (through a presumed long-term effect on fearfulness) and of overhangs on free-range use. The experiment was conducted using three production rounds with 400 mixed-sex slow-growing broiler chickens (Sasso T451) each. Birds were housed indoors in four groups of 100 from day 0-28. In each round, two groups had access to a dark brooder whereas conventional heating lamps were used in the two other groups. On days 22 and 23, an open field (OF) and a tonic immobility (TI) test were performed on 25 randomly selected birds per group. From day 28-70 the birds were housed in four mobile houses, in the same groups as indoors. These houses were positioned on an 80×80 m field, split into four plots. Each house had a free-range area that consisted of 50% short rotation coppice with willow (dense vegetation) and 50% grassland with artificial wooden shelters. Overhangs were placed in front of two houses and switched to the other two houses weekly (always one house with and one house without a dark brooder history). Free-range use was monitored three times daily (09:00, 13:00 and 17:00) on week days; the number of birds outdoors per shelter type was recorded, as well as their distance from the house (0-2, 2-5 or >5 m). On average, 32.4% of the birds were outside. Preliminary analysis showed no effect of dark brooders on the behaviour observed during the OF test, except for a trend on escape attempts (brooders: 24.4% vs no brooders: 38.6% of birds with ≥1 escape attempt; P=0.075). TI duration (brooders: 64 s vs no brooders: 76 s) and number of inductions (brooders: 1.6 vs no brooders: 1.5) were not affected by the presence of dark brooders. No effects of dark brooders or their interaction with shelter type, distance from the house, and age on free-range use were found. This may be due to a possible limited use of the dark brooders by the chicks. Alternatively, fearfulness may not be affected by rearing with dark brooders, although a relationship may still exist between fearfulness and free-range use. No effects of overhangs or their interaction with distance from the house was found on free-range use. Possibly their design was insufficient, or birds had no problems making the transition from inside to outside in the first place. Concluding, no significant effects of dark brooders and overhangs were found in this study.
**Epigenetic marks of rearing conditions detected in red blood cells of adult hens**

Fábio Pértille¹,², Margrethe Brantsæter³, Janicke Nordgreen³, Luiz Lehmann Coutinho², Andrew M. Janczak³, Per Jensen¹ and Carlos Guerrero-Bosagna¹

¹Linköping University, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58 183, Sweden, ²University of São Paulo, Animal Science, Av. Pádua Dias, 11, 9, Brazil, ³Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Production Animal Clinical Science, Ullevålsveien, 72, Norway; fabiopertille@gmail.com

Stressful conditions are common in the environment where production animals are reared. Stress in animals is usually determined by the levels of stress-related hormones. A big challenge, however, is in determining past exposure to long-term stress of an organism. Epigenetics involves studying how environmental exposures affect gene regulation during the lifetime of organisms. It is expected that if animals are constantly subjected to stress and systemic hormonal changes, this exposure will imprint the epigenome of many cells types, including blood cells. Epigenomic effect of stress in blood cells have been reported in monkeys and humans. Chickens, however, provide a unique model to study stress effects in red blood cells (RBCs), which are nucleated in birds. Chickens are subjected to a variety of conditions in their production environment. The fact that chickens contain nucleated RBCs allows for a straightforward measuring of the epigenome in a cell type of easy access, and in live animals. The present study investigates in chickens whether two different rearing conditions can be identified by looking at DNA methylation patterns in their RBCs later in life. For this, RBCs were collected from 21 individuals of 24 weeks of age, reared in a system of open aviaries (AV) or in cages (CG). These rearing conditions are likely to differ regarding the stress experienced by the birds, as suggested by observations showing long-term differences in fearfulness and cognitive functions. DNA extraction from RBCs was performed using proteinase K. The sequencing library was prepared using the MeDIP method combined with an enzymatic genome digestion. The methylated DNA was sequenced using the Illumina platform. Data quality trimming was performed in paired-end short reads with the SeqyClean tool. The alignment of quality-trimmed reads was performed using the Bowtie2 tool against the chicken reference sequence (Gallus_gallus 4.0, NCBI). Coverage depth was checked using Samtools and a quality cut-off based on this parameter was stablished to avoid a skewed distribution of methylated sites along the genome. The Medips R-package was used for basic data processing, quality controls, normalization, and identification of differential coverage. Approximately 3.3 million 300 bp windows were analyzed between 4 AV and 6 CG individuals (which passed quality control). Of these, 61,911 regions (minimum coverage sum across individuals = 10) were tested for differential methylation (DMRs) between experimental groups. We found 115 DMRs in RBCs (P<0.0005). Network analyses of genes associated with these regions showed connections with important biological pathways using PathDB and Reactome tools, mainly related to immune system and signal transduction in opioid signaling. The aim of the present study is to generate a proof-of-concept for future detection of long-term stress in production animals using epigenetic measurements in cell types of easy accessibility in live animals.
**Do laying hens have a preference for clean or unclean scratch mats?**

Bishwo Pokharel, Luxan Jeyachanthiran, Ilka Boecker and Alexandra Harlander

University of Guelph, Department of Animal Biosciences, 50 Stone Road East, N1G 2W1, Guelph, Ontario, Canada; pokhareb@uoguelph.ca

Enriched cages offer laying hens areas for scratching/foraging on a wire mesh floor. Scratch areas (mats) may cause an accumulation of droppings quickly, causing the mats to become unclean. Whether birds prefer clean over unclean mats has never been studied. The goal of this research was to determine the effect of scratch mat cleanliness on scratching/foraging behaviour of laying hens. A total of 288 laying hens was housed in 16 enriched cages (18 hens per cage), each cage with two identical compartments joined by a pop hole to allow free movement of hens between compartments. On a daily basis, half of the scratch mats (1 in each compartment, which accounted for ~14% of the total cage surface) was removed and cleaned, while the other half was cleaned and covered with 550 g of conspecific feces. Clean (C) and unclean (U) mats were then put back into the cages in a random order, avoiding side bias. Feed as litter substrate (~5 g per delivery per scratch mat per day) was delivered automatically onto the scratch mats by a spiral conveyor pipe. After identifying the time when hens were most active (mid-day), the number of visits and the total time spent scratching/foraging on C and U mats were video recorded for 10 min/day, 3 times a week, over a period of 4 weeks. The observation started when the feed was delivered on each single scratch mat. Data were analyzed using PROC GLIMMIX and presented as means±SE. There was a significantly higher (P<0.01) number of visits per minute to the U [3.5±0.12] than to the C [3.2±0.12] mats. Birds scratched/foraged on average for a longer (P<0.05) period of time on the U [106.1±4.95 sec] than on the C [96.7±3.51 sec] mats. These findings suggest that laying hens kept on a wire floor are motivated to forage on scratch mats covered in conspecific feces. Foraging on unclean scratch mats to get feed requires more effort to obtain the feed and might explain why laying hens kept in enriched cages showed a relative preference for foraging on unclean scratch mats.
**Bovine bone is a valuable activity object in Finnraccoon (Nyctereutes procyonoides ussuriensis)**

Tarja Koistinen, Juhani Sepponen and Hannu T. Korhonen

Natural Resources Institute Finland, Halolantie 31 A, 71750 Maaninka, Finland;

tarja.koistinen@luke.fi

The knowledge of the interaction with activity objects is limited in Finnraccoon (Nyctereutes procyonoides ussuriensis). We measured the interaction with a biologically relevant activity object, namely bone, in juvenile Finnraccoons. The traditional cages (1.2 m²) of sixteen sister pairs of Finnraccoon cubs were furnished with a bovine bone in July. The bones were removed from half of the cages (8 cages, Deprivation group) for two weeks in two occasions, in September and November/December. In both occasions,the interaction with the bone was video recorded, for 24 hours, before removing the bones and after returning the bones to the animals. The duration and frequency of oral and other kinds of interactions with the bone were registered by using continuous registered for the first 15 mins of each hour of the day (total of six hours of analysis in 24 hours). The data were analysed by using Linear Mixed Model (SAS). The Deprivation group interacted with the bones longer (F₁,₁₄=8.12, P=0.0129) and more frequently (F₁,₁₄=7.64, P=0.0152) than Finnraccoons having the bones available continuously. The deprivation treatment affected the interaction with the bone in the Deprivation group: the daily interaction increased from 491+-99 (mean+-SD) seconds in 42+-4 bouts to 1,732+-314 seconds in 90+-5 bouts in September, and from 270+-43 seconds in 35+-5 bouts to 1,645+-242 seconds in 55+-7 bouts in December (group-recording interactions: F₃,₄₂=22.79, P<0.001, F₃,₄₂=17.64, P<0.001), respectively. No such a difference between recordings (means: 418-715 seconds, 36-45 bouts) was observed in Finnraccoons having the bones continuously available. When extrapolated to a full 24-hour day, Finnraccoon pair interacted with the bone a total of 18-48 mins in 140-180 bouts in a day. In conclusion, Finnraccoons do not lose their interest in interacting with the bone. The deprivation treatment increases interaction, indicating a continuous need for an activity object. Bone is a valuable activity object in Finnraccoon.
# The development and use of methods in animal welfare sciences: justifications, derivations, and concepts

Birgit Benzing and Ute Knierim

Kassel University, Farm Animal Behaviour and Husbandry, Nordbahnhofstraße 1a, 37213

Witzenhausen, Germany; benzing@uni-kassel.de

In animal welfare science a wide bunch of ethological and other indicators and methods to assess animal welfare has been developed. In order to explore the entanglement between ideal and practice of good science regarding the methodical development in animal welfare science, objectives were (1) to explicate the criteria for the choice of methods, (2) to identify those criteria which may legitimate a method as being established, and (3) to describe reasons for discrepancy between ideal and factual procedures. Structured guideline interviews were conducted with eight senior researchers, covering different European backgrounds and working in diverse areas of applied ethology and animal welfare science. They were asked about their concepts of animal welfare, the embedment of animal welfare within ethology, the development and choice of methods, as well as the relevance of methodological concerns for their own research. The interviews were carried out orally in English or German, recorded, transcribed and analysed with quantitative content analysis (software MAXQDA, VERBI GmbH). Code systems were developed inductively by two coders; disagreements were solved by consensus and the final code system checked for inter-coder-reliability. Results indicate that the choice of methods is clearly influenced by (all following categories were given by the interviewees) the scientist's 'background' and 'attitude', including welfare concepts, as well as 'research objectives', e.g. basic or applied research. Choices are also influenced by a 'random' factor, e.g. the work environment. Diverse views exist of when a method is regarded as established. While the validation of a method remains one major criterion, further criteria range from 'consensus' among the scientific community to 'being published' at least once in an adequate way. Discrepancies between ideal and factual procedures may result from 'insufficient resources' for proper validation studies and 'cost-benefit-considerations'. Unsatisfactory report and justification of the methodical choice was ascribed to 'common scientific sense', 'obvious knowledge' and 'the pressure to keep papers short'. However, the interviewees explained inconsistencies also with 'sloppy science' and following scientific 'trends'. While some explanations by the interviewees apparently stand to reason, closer analysis revealed how subliminal considerations, too, may shape the development and handling of methods. For instance, the interviewees acknowledged the influence of underlying welfare concepts, whereas the role of methodological presumptions, such as scientific paradigms – e.g. giving more credit to physiological or quantitative indicators – remained a largely unrecognised issue. This will be further investigated in relation to the evolvement of the methodical spectrum.
**Key-note:**

**Dogs, humans and genes: evidence for mutualistic symbiosis?**

*Per Jensen, Mia Persson and Ann-Sofie Sundman*

Linköping University, IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden;

*perje@ifm.liu.se*

During the course of evolution, certain species have come to form close inter-relationships with each other, favoring the fitness of both. Due to intentional and natural selection, individuals with genetic setups facilitating this relationship are positively selected. The dog is the oldest domesticated species and we suggest that the cohabitation of humans and dogs may be guided by similar genetic mechanisms in both species. Earlier research has demonstrated that dogs have evolved phenotypic traits differentiating them from their ancestors, the wolves, apparently in a direction facilitating life with humans. For example, they have a greatly improved ability to digest starch, and their ability to communicate with humans vastly exceeds that of wolves. The vocal repertoire of dogs is considerably larger than that of wolves, and most humans appear to have an innate understanding of their signals. To study the genetic underpinning of human-directed sociality, we measured the propensity of dogs to seek human contact and assistance when pursuing an unsolvable problem (trying to open a closed lid for a treat). After behavioural testing, DNA was obtained with buccal swabs. Using genome-wide association studies on 190 kennel-raised beagles, we found that their propensity to interact with humans for cooperation was significantly affected by two loci on canine chromosome 26 (GLM; P<0.001). Dogs homozygous for the A allele at one of the SNP-markers spent more time close to humans during the test than those homozygous for the C allele (GLM; P<0.001). The two loci identified are linked to five genes, four of which have previously been associated with social disorders in humans. In an independent replicate, we analysed the same genetic markers in two other breeds (golden and Labrador retrievers), and verified similar effects of the same loci (GLMM; P<0.001). These results suggest that social behaviour is affected by the same genes in both species. Furthermore, previous research shows that oxytocin may promote intra- as well as inter-specific social affiliation in both dogs and humans. We genotyped 60 golden retrievers on a previously identified SNP-marker associated with the oxytocin-receptor gene OXTR. The dogs were given oxytocin or saline control intra-nasally and then tested in the same problem-solving test as described above. Dogs with the AA-genotype at the marker increased the social contact with the owner after oxytocin treatment, while the opposite was found in dogs with the GG-genotype (GLMM, interaction treatment × genotype: P=0.007). The results show that human-directed social behaviour of dogs is affected by genetic pathways also involved in sociality in humans. This could suggest that mutualism may have evolved by selection of homologous genetic variation in dogs and humans.
Rat tickling: a systematic review of methods, outcomes, and moderators

Megan R. Lafollette¹, Marguerite E. O'Haire², Sylvie Cloutier³ and Brianna N. Gaskill¹

¹Purdue University, Animal Sciences, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA.

²Purdue University, Center for the Human Animal Bond, Comparative Pathobiology, 632 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907, USA, ³Canadian Council on Animal Care, Assessment and Accreditation Section, 190 O'Connor St, Suite 800, Ottawa, ON, K2P 2R3, Canada; lafollet@purdue.edu

Rats initially fear humans, which can increase stress, decrease welfare and impact human-animal interactions. Rat tickling is a conspecific play technique that can improve human-animal interaction and rat welfare. However, experiments use a range of protocols assessing different outcomes. Without a synthesis of previous experiments, researchers have insufficient guidance for using tickling which may prevent its widespread adoption. Our objective was to provide a comprehensive overview of empirical tickling research to provide direction for future application and investigation. Our specific aims were to synthesize rat tickling protocols, outcomes, and factors moderating these outcomes. We consulted the Preferred Reporting Guidelines for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) and Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation (SYRCLE) guidelines. These provide evidence-based guidelines for defining inclusion/exclusion criteria, data extraction, and bias assessment. In our review, two independent investigators systematically evaluated all articles about tickling identified from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsychInfo. Inclusion criteria were publication of original, empirical data on rats using tickling in a peer-reviewed journal. Bias was assessed using the SYRCLE bias tool. We identified 32 articles (56 experiments) about rat tickling published in peer-reviewed journals. The most common experimental method was to use the 'Panksepp Tickling Method' of 15 s baseline rest followed by 15 s of dorsal contacts and pins for a total of 2 min for at least 4 days (46%, n=26). Twenty-one experiments assessed tickling compared to a control. Although a variety of assessment measures were used, the most commonly found outcomes were increased positive vocalizations (n=16), increased approach behavior (n=9), improved ease of handling (n=5), decreased anxiety behavior (n=5), and decreased levels of stress hormones (n=2). Thirty-seven experiments assessed moderators of tickling outcomes; the most commonly identified moderators were individual differences (n=11) and housing type (n=8). Experiments minimized potential bias most commonly using blinding during outcome assessment (50%, n=28), having complete or addressing missing outcome data (41%, n=23) and ensuring similar baseline characteristics between groups (16%, n=9). We conclude that tickling is a promising method of human-animal interaction that can be used to improve rat welfare. Tickled rats usually experience increased positive affect and decreased anxiety and fear during general housing and handling. However, a wide variety of methods were used and techniques to mitigate bias were poorly reported. Establishing tickling best practices is essential since tickling outcomes are moderated by several factors. In particular, future research is needed to determine the effect of individual differences on rat welfare outcomes from tickling.
Cattle handling by untrained stockpeople gets worse along a vaccination work day

Maria Camila Ceballos¹, Aline C. Sant'anna² and Mateus J.R. Paranhos Da Costa³

¹Grupo ETCO. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zootecnia, FCAV-UNESP, Jaboticabal, SP, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N, 14884-900, Brazil, ²Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, UFJF. Grupo ETCO, Rua José Lourenço Kelmer, S/n, 36.036-330, Brazil, ³Departamento de Zootecnia, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, UNESP. Grupo ETCO, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castelane, S/N, 14884-900, Brazil; mceballos30@gmail.com

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the quality of cattle handling changed as a consequence of the passage of working time during handling routines in trained and non-trained beef cattle farms. The quality of handling was assessed in 15 beef cattle farms at Pará state, Brazil by recording the behavior of 88 stockpeople (all males) when carrying on the vaccination procedure. The farms were classified according to the access to training as: (1) farms with systematic training programs (n=43 stockpeople from 9 farms) - defined as farms in which the stockpeople regularly attended trainings on good handling practices and animal welfare; (2) farms without any type of training (n=45 stockpeople from 6 farms) - defined as farms on which none of the stockpeople had received any training or prior information on the topic. The actions of each stockperson in each farm were assessed during one day of work (180.2±70 minutes, on average) by recording the positive (PA, defined by the sum of correct use of handling flag and frequencies of touch and positive vocalizations), and negative actions during handling (NA, sum of the frequencies of hitting the gate against the animal; hitting and prodding the animals with a wooden stick; negative vocalizations and twisting the animal's tail), then the total of PA and NA was summarized per farm, resulting in the variables FPA and FNA. Simple regression analyses were done to evaluate the effect of time of handling (each 15 min of work) on all stockpeople behaviors as response variables (FPA, FNA). The averages (± SD) of FPA were 145.5±82.3 and 72.9±56.8 actions per farm, for trained and non-trained farms, respectively, while FNA were 82.1±84.6 and 159.2±84.2 actions. At trained farms the stockpeople worked, on average, 180±70 min a day and 175±77 min at non-trained. For trained farms, no significant effect of time of handling was found (P>0.05, for FPA and FNA) while for the non-trained group, a significant effect was observed on FPA (P<0.05) and a trend on FNA (P=0.065). As 15 min of handling passes within a day, positive actions decreases (0.06±0.02) and negative actions increases on the order of 0.04±0.02. Our results suggest that cattle handling get worse over time when the stockpeople do not have any information about good cattle handling practices, what could be worsened by the fatigue of those people. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of adequate workday hours associated with professional training and capacitation to minimize the poor quality of cattle handling in beef cattle farms, with beneficial consequences for animal welfare, labor safety and productivity.
The behavioural and physiological responses of horses to routine handling

Jenna Kiddie<fnref n="1" />, Emma Grocutt<fnref n="1" />, Sophia Kelly<fnref n="1" />, Melissa Robertson<fnref n="1" /> and Alison Northrop<fnref n="2" />

There is limited understanding of the more subtle behavioural responses demonstrated by the domestic horse during procedures such as tacking up and handling. It is possible that subtle behaviours are misinterpreted by humans and this may significantly affect horse welfare. The use of non-invasive methods to assess physiological responses could help to corroborate these behavioural responses. This pilot study aimed to investigate the response of horses to routine handling procedures by assessing subtle behaviours and physiological (right and left eye and ear temperature differences measured by infrared thermography (IRT)) indicators. The objectives of this project were to validate physiological and behavioural parameters that have the potential to indicate positive or negative responses by the horse. Ten horses were sampled from a local college's teaching yard. Horses were randomly assigned into two groups and were assessed using focal-animal sampling for the duration of two consecutive three-minute procedures using a cross-over design to reduce order effect: (1) horses were approached from their left and the routine handling of tacking up was carried out (assumed negative valence); (2) horses were approached from their left and allogrooming was carried out by the handler (assumed positive valence). Procedures were carried out in a tie-up area and recorded via four cameras, set up to capture the front, side and back of the horse, and an IRT camera in front of the horse (with an observer standing behind this camera). Wilcoxon rank-sum tests showed no significant treatment order effect. The following state behaviours varied significantly between valence treatments: mouth open (V=0, P=0.031), masticating (V=0, P=0.008), right ear forwards (V=3, P=0.005), head lowered (V=4, P=0.014), lean away (V=0, P=0.016), tail raise (V=0, P=0.004), and tail flick (V=0, P<0.001). The frequency of blinking also varied significantly between valence treatments (V=4, P=0.007). All of these behaviours were exhibited for longer or more frequently during the negative valence treatment. Temperature differences between left and right eyes and ears were also significantly different between valence treatment (eye: V=10, P=0.021; ear: V=10. P=0.021), with the right eye and ear being warmer than the left during the negative valence treatment. These results suggest that subtle behaviours could be used to differentiate between different emotional valences and lend support to the use of infrared thermography as a novel, non-invasive tool for measuring emotional response in animal welfare studies.

<footnote n="1">¹Anglia Ruskin University, Life Sciences, East Road, Cambridge, CB1 1PT, United Kingdom,</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Nottingham Trent University, Brackenhurst Campus, Southwell, Nottingham, NG25 0QL, United Kingdom; jenna.kiddie@anglia.ac.uk</footnote>
**Tourism and marine mammal welfare**

*Donald Broom*

*University of Cambridge, Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, United Kingdom; dmb16@cam.ac.uk*

A review of the scientific literature shows that, for most marine mammals the demands and profits of tourism lead to reduced likelihood of killing, although there is a small demand for body parts. There are negative impacts on populations because animals are taken from the wild to attract visitors, including tourists, to zoos and aquaria and because of some live animal watching methods. The welfare of captive animals varies but is often poor. Performances for tourists can have positive or negative effects on welfare. Seeing captive animals may lead to more positive public attitudes to the animals and hence result in pressure to reduce both the poor welfare associated with hunting and killing in the wild and poor keeping conditions. Life expectancy is a welfare indicator and longevity of orcas in the wild is reported to be 60-70 years for females and 50-60 years for males. In captivity it is reported to be 25 years when infant mortality is taken into account. Median survivorship in the wild, according to one calculation, is 15 years and in captivity 14 years for captive born and 12 years for all individuals but there is some disagreement about these figures. Wild cetaceans, seals, sea-otters and sirenians are an attraction that leads to tourist boat trips. Boat approach for observation, chasing and swimming with the animals may cause avoidance behaviour, reduced time for foraging, social disruption, injury, increased disease or reduced breeding success: all indicators of poor welfare. However, well-controlled observation methods may cause no negative effects on the animals. Tourist expectations can result in more negative impacts but there is evidence for tourist acceptance and understanding of limitations on contact. Educational information has positive impacts on some tourist attitudes but other tourists do not want to receive it. Some quantitative information now exists on the extent of reduction in breeding success of seals and cetaceans, extent of avoidance of human swimmers, numbers of cetaceans with injuries likely to have been caused by boats and duration and extent of social group disruption. As a consequence, some aspects of codes of practice for tourist trips to see marine mammals can be founded on facts but others are a precaution related to general biological knowledge so are harder to enforce. Where biologically-based codes of practice are used, the net effect of tourism on animal welfare and populations can be positive.
Rethinking the application of ethological methods in animal-assisted-therapy research

Karen Thodberg¹, Bente Berget² and Lena Lidfors³

¹Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark,

²University of Agder, P.O. Box 422, 4604 Kristiansand, Norway, ³Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Envoriment and Health, P.O. Box 234, 532 23 Skara, Sweden;
karen.thodberg@anis.au.dk

Humans have always benefitted from the resources achieved, practical help and companionship of animals. Some studies even find general health effects of owning a pet, but not all, and some even find negative effects. The involvement of animals in a therapeutic setting, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is getting more common, but even though the research area is growing, there is a lack of knowledge about causal pathways through which contact and interactions with animals can affect the mental state of mentally vulnerable persons. Among several suggestions for effective elements in AAT are physical contact with the animal; forming a relation to the animal; practicing skills of communication and gaining self-confidence through learning how to handle an animal. Traditionally the effects of animal assisted therapy are measured with validated psychiatric or psychological instrument such as self-evaluation or evaluation by a professional therapist as well as qualitative studies of clients with different mental and physical difficulties. In most cases the effects are measured as changes in psychiatric symptoms before and after a series of sessions. However, the relationship between such changes and the different element of the AAT is not identified this way. In this presentation we will explain how we think that future developments would benefit from cooperation between ethologist and researchers from psychiatry and psychology, and to a higher extent combine psychometric instruments with objective measures of the clients' immediate response using ethological methodology e.g. together with physiological measures. By using ethological methodology and physiological measures to quantify the human response in relation to the intensity, and type of human-animal interaction during AAT we are able to link the objective measures of immediate human response to the traditionally used measures of mental state. The use of ethology to study human behaviour is especially relevant when the target population has problems with verbal communication as is often the case in persons diagnosed with e.g. dementia or persons with autism. Much more focus on the response of the animals being part of different types of AAT is needed in order to be able to identify potential threats to the welfare of therapy animals. This approach calls for cooperation between several scientific disciplines and will help to move research in AAT forward and enhance the quality of future studies. The obvious advantage of cross disciplinary cooperation is the possibility to address scientific questions from several angles, ensuring a holistic approach, whereas a challenge could be to acknowledge and respect other research fields' use of different techniques and approaches, and to recognize that as a strength and not as an obstacle.
**Behaviour of visiting dogs during a 6-week experimental trial – a pilot study**

Anne Sandgrav Bak, Julie Cherono Schmidt Henriksen, Janne Winther Christensen and Karen Thodberg

Aarhus University, Department of Animal Science, Behaviour and stressbiology, Blichers Allé 20,
8830 Tjele, Denmark; annes.bak@anis.au.dk

The use of visiting dogs in nursing homes is widespread in the Western world. The visits affect the nursing home residents, but how these activities affect the dogs is not well studied. The aim of this explorative study was to study whether visiting dogs change their behaviour during a series of nursing home visits, depending on which resident they visit, and the behaviour of residents and handlers. The behaviour of four approved visiting dogs was observed during 10-minute visits involving a total of 28 residents in three nursing homes. Each resident was offered 12 visits during a 6-week period. The duration of lying, sitting and being active, and frequency of behaviour, which may be associated with frustration (yawning, scratching, licking lips, lifting paw) was registered. The duration of the residents' behaviour directed towards the dogs was recorded (physical contact, talking), as was frequency of corrections to the dog from the handler. Data were analysed by a Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks for effects of repeated visits (defined as t₁=visit 1-4, t₂=visit 5-8 and t₃=visit 9-12) and visits to different residents. Furthermore, the correlations between dog and resident/handler behaviour were analysed by a Spearman rank-order correlations, separately for t₁, t₂ and t₃. The statistical unit was a dyad, each consisting of one dog and one resident. Neither the percentage of time sitting, lying nor being active differed over time (P>0.05), however, prevalence of potential frustration behaviour decreased with time (χ²(df=2)=10.9; P<0.01), with the highest frequency per minute in t₁ (t₁=0.36 (range: 0-1.9), t₂=0.17 (range: 0-1.0), t₃=0.22 (range:0-1.4); t₁ vs t₂: P=0.001; t₁ vs t₃: P=0.07; t₂ vs t₃: P>0.05). In addition, the dogs changed their behaviour (frustration behaviour and postures) dependent on the resident being visited (P<0.001 for all behaviours). We found several significant correlations between the behaviour of the dog and the behaviour of the resident/handler, e.g. in t₂ and t₃ the duration of lying were negatively correlated to the number of corrections from the handler (t₂: rₛ=-0.42, P=0.025; t₃: rₛ=-0.51, P=0.008) and to the duration of talking and touching the dog by the resident (t₂: rₛ=-0.41, P=0.028; t₃: rₛ=-0.54, P=0.004). The frequency of potential frustration behaviour was positively correlated to the amount of corrections given by the handler in t₁ and t₃ (t₁: rₛ=0.59, P=0.001; t₃: rₛ=0.41, P=0.036). Overall, the dog's postures did not change over time, but was affected by the resident receiving the visit. This is in agreement with the correlations found between behaviour of the dog and behaviour of the residents. Behaviour related to frustration decreased over time and was positively correlated to the number of corrections given by the handler. It thus seems that the dogs are more frustrated in the beginning of the visit series compared to later on, and that situations, with less correction from the handler, are favourable.
**What are we measuring? Aggression in shelter dogs violates assumptions of local independence and measurement invariance**

Conor Goold and Ruth C. Newberry

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Arboretveien 8, 1432 Ås, Norway; ruth.newberry@nmbu.no

Studies of animal personality attempt to uncover underlying or ‘latent’ personality traits that explain broad patterns of behaviour, often by applying latent variable statistical models (e.g. factor analysis) to multivariate data sets. Interpreting behavioural responses as a function of the personality traits they are assumed to reflect, and making valid comparisons between individuals using personality traits, depends on two key, but infrequently confirmed, assumptions: (1) behavioural variables are independent (i.e. uncorrelated) after accounting for the effects of the latent personality traits being studied (local independence); and (2) personality traits are associated with behavioural variables in the same way across individuals or groups of individuals (measurement invariance). We investigated potential violations of these assumptions in observations of aggression in four age classes (4-10 months, 10 months - 3 years, 3-6 years, over 6 years) of male and female shelter dogs (n=4,743) in 11 different contexts. Data were gathered from a shelter’s longitudinal behavioural assessment, and analysed as dichotomous variables according to whether or not dogs had shown aggression in each context whilst at the shelter. A structural equation model supported the hypothesis of two correlated (r=0.25; P<0.001) personality traits underlying aggression across contexts: aggressiveness towards people and aggressiveness towards dogs (comparative fit index: 0.97; Tucker-Lewis index: 0.96; root mean square error of approximation: 0.03). Intraclass correlations demonstrated that both traits were moderately repeatable (aggressiveness towards people = 0.479, 95% CI: 0.466, 0.491; aggressiveness towards dogs = 0.303, 95% CI: 0.291, 0.315). However, certain contexts related to aggressiveness towards people (but not dogs) shared significant residual correlations (P<0.05) unaccounted for by latent levels of aggressiveness. Furthermore, aggression towards people and dogs in different contexts showed interactions with dog sex and age, indicating that sex and age differences in aggression were not simple functions of underlying aggressiveness. In conclusion, our analyses have detected two sources of measurement bias in personality assessments, which could help to explain inconsistencies in the predictive validity of personality assessments in shelter dogs, especially regarding aggressiveness.
Which behavioural choices do dogs show during an animal assisted intervention?

Manon De Kort, Aimee Kommeren and Carlijn Van Erp

HAS University of applied sciences, Animal, Onderwijsboulevard 221, 5200 MA Den Bosch, the Netherlands; kdm@has.nl

In the Netherlands the number of dogs performing as assistance dogs or in Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) explosively increased in de the last decade. Research on AAI has shown many positive effects on humans, such as health benefits and psychological improvements. Science is still searching for the underlying mechanism. One step towards gaining more knowledge is to explore the process of the intervention. Little information is available on the perspective of humans and effects on humans. Information on the dogs' perspective seems to be lacking. Therefore this pilot study explored the process of an AAI aiming at the dogs' perspective. Which behavioural choices do dogs show during AAI? In this pilot study five dogs were filmed during their AAI at a nursing home for elderly with demential symptoms. These five dogs included 1 mixed-breed (M), 1 Labradoodle (M), 1 Stabyhound (F), 1 Kooikerhondje (F) and 1 Icelandic Sheepdog (F), all more than one year of age. All dogs were kept in family homes and commonly acted 1-2 a week as an AAI dog. The visits at the nursing home took place at 10.00 am (approximately 2 hours after feeding). The dogs arrived at 10.00 were they could relax for 20 minutes. After that the handlers brought the dogs to the clients. During the AAI the dogs stayed on a leash (1-1.5 m), on the floor, except when the client could not reach for the dog. Each dog visited a group of approximately 5 clients during 45 minutes. Once a week, for eight weeks, the AAI took place. Film footage of these visits in the first, third and last week were analysed using the Observer XT. The ethogram used, focused on behaviours in which certain choices of the dogs could be distinguished, such as: who initiates the state of being nearby or apart, who initiates contact, how do dogs make contact with the client and if the client and dog have contact how does the dog react? Since this was a pilot study and the number of dogs was limited only descriptive statistics were used. Two third of the time of the intervention the dogs were apart from the clients. Initiative for being nearby the client: by Handler 65%, by Dog 35%. Initiative for apart: by H29%, by D71%. When a dog is nearby a client, initiative for contact: H35%, D40%, Client25%. The dog prefers to contact the client by using its eyes or nose. When there was contact the dog could react with different behaviours, how he reacted, varied with who initiated the contact (Dog, Handler or Client). Some behaviours that were seen: no reaction (12% D; 34%H; 39%C), head turning towards client (24%D; 28%H; 25%C), body contact (6%D; 17.5%C) and sniffing (21%D; 21%H; 8%C). The different ways to get in contact with clients seem to be similar with the way dogs communicate with each other and humans according to other studies. The great number of distractions, such as other dogs, handlers, clients and food, did not seem to influence their preference of contact. Also the limited freedom of movement, due to the leash, could have influenced the results. However, when a dog was nearby a client he did choose to initiate contact. The dog most often chose to leave the session (apart). This was a pilot study with a limited sample size, more studies on this subject would be helpful to gain more knowledge.