Consistency and stability of behavioural fear responses of heifers to different fear-eliciting situations involving humans
This study investigated the consistency and stability of fear responses in housed beef heifers over time using three behavioural tests. The flight (time to join peers and avoidance distance), docility (isolation and handling) and fear (4 phases; responses of isolated heifers in (i), the absence (ii), the presence, of food and responses to a stationary […]
Measuring fearfulness of hens in commercial organic egg production.
To evaluate agreement between flock-based fear tests used in welfare assessments of laying hens in commercial organic farms, three tests were applied in 27 flocks of layers. Tests were performed at 35 and 55 weeks of age and were based on the concepts of ‘novel object’, ‘sudden sound’ and two different measures of ‘approaching human’. […]
Validation of a fear test in sport horses using infrared thermography
The aims of the present study were to assess feasibility and validity of a fear test in adult sport horses and to investigate whether the exposure to a fearful stimulus induces a change in eye temperature. Fifty horses, aged 14 ± 6 years, of different breed and gender, entered the study. For each horse, a caretaker […]