Behaviour and Preferences Among Deep Litters in Captive Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Capucinus)
A captive group of white-faced capuchins, Cebus capucinus, was presented with four deep litters in simultaneous choice (or preference) tests. A floor covering of ground corn cob, woodchips, wood wool or peat was presented once in each quarter of the group’s indoor floor-area for 14 consecutive days, and the layout of the litters was rotated […]
Predicting feather damage in laying hens during the laying period. Is it the past or is it the present?
Feather damage due to severe feather pecking (SFP) in laying hens is most severe during the laying period. However, SFP can develop at an early age and is influenced by early rearing conditions. In this study we assessed the risk factors during the rearing and laying period for feather damage at 40 weeks of age, […]
Behavioural assessment of pain in commercial turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) with foot pad dermatitis
Two experiments were conducted to investigate the differences in susceptibility to foot pad dermatitis (FPD) of two medium-heavy lines of turkeys, and whether FPD is painful, by detailed analysis of behaviour in birds with and without analgesic treatment (betamethasone).Turkeys housed on dry litter in the first experiment generally had more frequent bouts of different behaviours […]
Location tracking of individual laying hens housed in aviaries with different litter substrates
The laying hen industry is phasing out conventional cages in favor of other housing systems such as the aviary – designed to improve hen welfare by providing additional space and resources including a litter area. However, we do not know whether individual hens significantly vary in the time they spend in different areas of these […]
Access to litter during rearing and environmental enrichment during production reduce fearfulness in adult laying hens
Exaggerated fear-reactions are associated with injurious flying, smothering, feather pecking and other events that compromise animal welfare in laying hens. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that chicks with access to litter during the first five weeks of life would be less fearful as adult hens compared to birds reared without […]