Sickness behaviour and its relevance to animal welfare assessment at the group level
The inflammatory response evokes changes in behaviour including increased thermoregulatory activities and sleep, reduced social exploration and appetite, and altered food preferences. This sickness response also includes feelings of lethargy, depression, and pain, collectively referred to as ‘malaise’. Recent experiments involving laboratory rodents reveal information about proximate mechanisms of sickness behaviour, but scant information exists […]
Management and design of hospital pens relative to behavior of the compromised dairy cow: A questionnaire survey of Iowa dairy farms
Compromised dairy cows, such as those suffering from illness or injury, are likely to have different behavioral priorities and needs compared to healthy cows. Although hospital pens are typically required in animal welfare standards and assessment programs, there is surprisingly little information on best practices for housing and management of compromised cows. The purpose of […]