Behavioural deprivation: a central problem in animal welfare
A key issue in animal welfare is whether keeping animals in conditions where they cannot or do not perform behaviour typical of more naturally-kept members of their species causes them to suffer. Various measures have been used to resolve this issue. The cost an animal is prepared to pay for the opportunity to perform different […]
Effects of long-term deprivation of sand on dustbathing behaviour in laying hens
During 21 weeks of sand deprivation, intact and beak-trimmed laying hens, Gallus gallus domesticus, dustbathed on a barren floor (sham-dustbathing). The amount of dustbathing increased during the experiment to the same level (in the intact hens) as in non-deprived control hens, or to a higher level (in the beak-trimmed hens). During deprivation, the proportion of […]
The Stress of Not Being Able to Perform Dustbathing in Laying Hens
Vestergaard, K. S., E. Skadhauge and L. G. Lawson. The stress of not being able to perform dustbathing in laying hens. Physiol Behav 62(2) 413-419, 1997.–The stress of not being able to perform dustbathing was studied in small groups of laying hens. The birds were reared and kept for 2.5 years in cages with either […]
Rehabilitation of research chimpanzees: Stress and coping after long-term isolation
We report on the permanent retirement of chimpanzees from biomedical research and on resocialization after long-term social isolation. Our aim was to investigate to what extent behavioral and endocrine measures of stress in deprived laboratory chimpanzees can be improved by a more species-typical social life style. Personality in terms of novelty responses, social dominance after […]
Development and application of a protocol to evaluate herd welfare in Dutch dairy farms
A protocol was developed and applied in a field survey to incorporate evaluation of herd welfare into the existing quality assurance program in Dutch dairy farming. Welfare was derived from the state of the biological needs of cows. Welfare targets and critical control points were selected according to HACCP principles, while restriction was to dairy […]