A note on the relationship between the behavioural response of lactating sows to humans and the survival of their piglets
The objective of this study was to examine the relationships, based on unit averages, between the behavioural responses of lactating sows to humans and the performance of sows in 25 farrowing units at a large commercial farm. The behavioural responses of 25 sows in each farrowing unit were observed at 2–4 and 16–18 days of […]
Conditioned approach-avoidance responses to humans: the ability of pigs to associate feeding and aversive social experiences in the presence of humans with humans
Since there is a number of common industry husbandry procedures conducted by stockpersons that may have rewarding or aversive elements for pigs, pigs may learn to associate these rewarding or aversive elements of a procedure with the handler conducting the procedure. Therefore, because of this second-order conditioning, changes in the behavioural response of pigs to […]
Habituation and desensitization as methods for reducing fearful behavior in singly housed rhesus macaques
Operant conditioning using positive reinforcement techniques has been used extensively in the management of nonhuman primates in both zoological and laboratory settings. This research project was intended to test the usefulness of counter-conditioning techniques in reducing the fear-responses of singly housed male rhesus macaques living in the laboratory environment. A total of 18 male rhesus […]