Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Business
Evaluation Of Animal-Based Indicators To Be Used In A Welfare Assessment Protocol For Sheep, Susan E. Richmond, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Ina Beltran De Heredia, Roberto Ruiz, Elisabetta Canali, Cathy M. Dwyer
Evaluation Of Animal-Based Indicators To Be Used In A Welfare Assessment Protocol For Sheep, Susan E. Richmond, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Ina Beltran De Heredia, Roberto Ruiz, Elisabetta Canali, Cathy M. Dwyer
Françoise Wemelsfelder, PhD
Sheep are managed under a variety of different environments (continually outdoors, partially outdoors with seasonal or diurnal variation, continuously indoors) and for different purposes, which makes assessing welfare challenging. This diversity means that resource-based indicators are not particularly useful and, thus, a welfare assessment scheme for sheep, focusing on animal-based indicators, was developed. We focus specifically on ewes, as the most numerous group of sheep present on farm, although many of the indicators may also have relevance to adult male sheep. Using the Welfare Quality® framework of four Principles and 12 Criteria, we considered the validity, reliability, and feasibility of …
Effect Of Sand And Wood-Shavings Bedding On The Behavior Of Broiler Chickens, S. J. Shields, J. P. Garner, J. A. Mench
Effect Of Sand And Wood-Shavings Bedding On The Behavior Of Broiler Chickens, S. J. Shields, J. P. Garner, J. A. Mench
Sara Shields, PhD
The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 2 different bedding types, sand and wood shavings, on the behavior of broiler chickens. In experiment 1, 6 pens were divided down the center and bedded half with sand and half with wood shavings. Male broilers (10/pen) were observed by scan sampling at 5- or 12-min intervals throughout the 6-wk growth period during the morning (between 0800 to 0900 h), afternoon (1200 to 1500 h), and night (2300 to 0600 h). There was a significant behavior x substrate x week interaction during the day (P < 0.0001) and at night (P < 0.0002). Drinking, dustbathing, preening, and sitting increased in frequency on the sand side but decreased on the wood shavings side during the day, as did resting at night. In general, broilers performed a greater proportion of their total behavioral time budget on the sand (P < 0.0001) as they aged. Broilers used the divider between the 2 bedding types to perch; perching behavior peaked during wk 4. In experiment 2, male broilers were housed in 8 pens (50 birds/pen) bedded only in sand or wood shavings. Bedding type had no effect on behavioral time budgets (P = 0.8946), although there were age-related changes in behavior on both bedding types. These results indicate that when given a choice, broilers increasingly performed many of their behaviors on sand, but if only one bedding type was provided they performed those behaviors with similar frequency on sand or wood shavings.