Cortisol administration to pregnant sows affects novelty-induced locomotion, aggressive behaviour, and blunts gender differences in their offspring
Several behavioural effects of prenatal stress are reported in literature, and these seem to depend, among other factors, on the gender studied and the period of gestation in which prenatal stress is applied. In the present study, oral administration of hydrocortisone-acetate (HCA) to 41 pregnant sows was used as a model for prenatal stress, since […]
Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry method development for monitoring stress-related corticosteroids levels in pig saliva
Biochemical response stressors results in an increase of adrenocortical activity. Before knowing the corticosteroid levels in saliva in a stressful situation, baselines salivary levels should be established. A method for simultaneous determination of five corticosteroids was developed, validated and applied to pig saliva at farms. The method employs solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with clean-up extraction […]
Environmentally enriching American mink (Neovison vison) increases lymphoid organ weight and skeletal symmetry, and reveals differences between two sub-types of stereotypic behaviour
Enrichment studies for wild carnivores (e.g., in zoos) are often short-term, use enrichments of unknown motivational significance, and focus on glucocorticoids and stereotypic behaviour (SB), ignoring other stress-relevant variables. Our study assessed the broad behavioural and physiological effects of enriching American mink—a model carnivore—with preferred stimuli long-term, and investigated the welfare implications of individual differences […]