Effects of group housing in an enlarged cage system on growth, bite wounds and adrenal cortex function in farmed blue foxes (Alopex Lagopus)
It has been claimed that the present farming environment does not meet foxes’ needs for social behaviour. In this study we measured the welfare of farmed blue foxes, Alopex lagopus, housed in two different social and spatial conditions: i) traditional housing (group T) where a male and a female cub were housed together and their […]
The Effects of Elevated Platforms and Concealment Screens on the Welfare of Blue Foxes
Nowadays in Europe, farmed blue foxes are kept for most of the year in wire-mesh cages furnished with a platform for resting and observing the environment but without any opportunity for hiding from other faxes or from man. We studied the welfare effects of providing an elevated platform and two types of concealment screens in […]
The development of on-farm welfare assessment protocols for foxes and mink: the WelFur project
The WelFur project aims at the development of on-farm welfare assessment protocols for farmed foxes (the blue fox [Vulpes lagopus], the silver fox [Vulpes vulpes]) and mink (Neovison vison). The WelFur protocols are based on Welfare Quality® (WQ) principles and criteria. Here, we describe the WelFur protocols after two years of developmental work. Reviews for […]
Blue foxes’ (Vulpes lagopus) motivation to gain access and interact with various resources
We analysed the willingness of blue foxes (Vulpes lagopus) to work for and utilise five resources: a platform, wooden block, sand floor, nest box and empty space. Ten juvenile blue fox males were housed singly in apparatus consisting of three cages connected with one-way doors through the walls in between the cages and subjected to […]