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Full-Text Articles in Organisms
Qualitative Assessment Of Animal Behaviour As An On-Farm Welfare-Monitoring Tool, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Alistair B. Lawrence
Qualitative Assessment Of Animal Behaviour As An On-Farm Welfare-Monitoring Tool, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Alistair B. Lawrence
Françoise Wemelsfelder, PhD
There is a growing need to monitor the health and welfare of farm animals, and to develop methods which do so efficiently and reliably. A crucial problem with current methods is the integration of separate measurements taken during farm visits into accurate judgements of an animal’s overall welfare state. This paper proposes that the qualitative assessment of animal behaviour may serve as an integrative methodology which could guide the interpretation of other, more detailed welfare measurements. Recent research has demonstrated qualitative behaviour assessment to be reliable and repeatable under controlled experimental conditions. The paper concludes with a discussion of ways …
Flooring And Driving Conditions During Road Transport Influence The Behavioural Expression Of Cattle, Catherine A. Stockman, Teresa Collins, Anne L. Barnes, David Miller, Sarah L. Wickham, David T. Beatty, Dominique Blache, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Patricia A. Fleming
Flooring And Driving Conditions During Road Transport Influence The Behavioural Expression Of Cattle, Catherine A. Stockman, Teresa Collins, Anne L. Barnes, David Miller, Sarah L. Wickham, David T. Beatty, Dominique Blache, Françoise Wemelsfelder, Patricia A. Fleming
Françoise Wemelsfelder, PhD
This study examined whether observers could distinguish between cattle that were exposed to various road transport conditions: Experiment 1 compared a manipulated flooring treatment (non-grip flooring, NG) with a control transport event (grip flooring, G) and Experiment 2 compared a manipulated driving style (stop-start driving, SS) with a control transport event of smooth, continuous (C) driving. The behavioural expression of cattle was assessed through the process of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment (QBA), and these assessments were tested for correlation with various physiological parameters. Fourteen Angus steers were assessed. Blood samples were collected immediately before and after transport, and heart rate and …