• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.11
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• pp.1519-1524
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• 2015

It is well known that prepartum sows have an innate motivation to build a nest before parturition. Under commercial conditions, however, the farrowing crate, which is widely used in modern pig husbandry, inhibits this innate behaviour through the lack of space, materials, or both. Thus, restriction of nest-building behaviour could generate increased stress, resulting in a decrease in maternal endogenous hormones. Hence, it could lead to detrimental effects on farrowing and lactating performance. Here we review interactions between prepartum nest-building behaviour, stress and maternal endogenous hormone levels, and discuss their effects on parturition, lactation, and welfare of sows and offspring.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.111-116
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• 1996

An experiment was carried out to study the effect of environmental color on the eating behaviour in broiler chicks. A total of ninety broilers with average 350g of initial body weight were randomly assigned in the $3{\times}3$ randomized complete block design with 3 treatments(yellow, blue, red) and 10 birds per replication of various environmental color at walls, feeders and electric bulbs. The results obtained from these experiments are summarised as follows: 1. Feed Intake and average daily gain were significantly(P<0.05) increased by yellow colored environment. 2. Eating time and eating rate were significantly higher in the red colored than the other, indicating that yellow colored environment would maximize body weight gain and feed conversion for broiler chicks.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.154-160
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• 2021

Objective: The effect of environmental enrichment on the behaviour of piglets in the nursery phase was evaluated. Methods: A total of 450 hybrid pigs (21 day old), including both females and uncastrated males, weighing approximately 6 kg, were distributed in a completely randomised design with 3 treatments and 3 replicates of 50 animals each. The treatments were: i) pen without environmental enrichment (control), ii) treatment consisting of continuous environmental enrichment (CEE) with rubber balls throughout the experimental period, and iii) treatment consisting of environmental enrichment with washed balls (EEWB) during the whole experimental period which were removed daily for washing. For the behavioural evaluation, 10 animals were randomly selected per replicate. The behavioural assessments were performed once a week, from 8 am to 6 pm, using images captured with a video camera. The data were submitted to non-parametric analyses, the means were compared using the Bonferroni test, and Person's correlations were also calculated. Results: A statistical difference (p = 0.001) was observed in the B5 (playful) behaviour; the animals in the EEWB treatment group had a higher frequency of this behaviour than animals in the control treatment group. The animals in the control group showed a higher frequency of B7 behaviour (lying down) (p = 0.026) than those in the EEWB and CEE treatment groups. The animals in the control group had a higher frequency of the B9 (belly nosing) behaviour than those in the EEWB group (p = 0.015). There was a tendency towards a higher frequency of behaviour B3 (walking in the pen) (p = 0.067) when the animals received the control treatment than treatments EEWB or CEE. Conclusion: The use of an enriching object improved the animal welfare and altered the correlation between the evaluated behaviours compared to the animals that did not have environmental enrichment.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1496-1503
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of municipal abattoir conditions and animal factors on avoidance-related behaviour (AB) of sheep at slaughter, bleeding times (BT) and mutton quality. The behaviour of 66 castrates and 19 ewes of different age categories was observed at three stages of slaughter. Higher behaviour scores indicated higher levels of AB. Time intervals between the start of blood flow and the time the flow changed from a constant stream into drips were recorded as BT. Thirty two meat samples were obtained to measure quality variables. These were colour ($L^*$, $a^*$ and $b^*$), $pH_{24}$, temperature, cooking loss (CL) and tenderness. Correlations were determined between BT and meat quality variables. Animal behaviour at slaughter differed with breed, gender and age group. Avoidance behaviour was higher in the Dorper breed than in both the Merino breed and their crosses. It was also higher in younger (<10 months) lambs than in older sheep. Castrates were more aggressive or in panic than ewes. Castrates had longer ($72.6{\pm}0.53s$) BT than the ewes ($63.6{\pm}2.82s$). Ewes had higher CL ($39.8{\pm}1.04%$) values than castrates ($35.1{\pm}0.95%$). Meat from castrates was tougher ($32.6{\pm}1.95N$) than the meat from ewes ($24.3{\pm}1.16N$). There were no significant correlations obtained between BT and meat quality variables. It can therefore be concluded that abattoir conditions, breed, age and gender had an effect on AB at slaughter. Gender had an effect on BT and mutton quality.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.117-122
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• 1996

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of colors of feed-trough on the eating behaviour of pullets. A total of 64 12wks old pullets were assigned to a $4{\times}4$ Latin square design with 4 treatments(control, blue, yellow, red colored feed-troughs). The results of the study are summarized as follows: 1. Average daily gain and eed intake of the pullets were significantly(P<0.05) decreased with red color feed-troughs. 2. Feed conversion ratio appeared to be improved in the yellow color group compared to the others. 3. Total time spent for eating were not significantly different, among treatments.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.183-188
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• 1992

Behaviour of 7 horned Japanese Black Cattle (3-9 years old) kept in a $450m^2$ dry-lot under loose housing condition was observed in the daytime (0930-1730 h) during 3 consecutive days. Eating and lying behaviour of cattle and the positions of all animals when lying together were recorded at 10-min intervals. Agonistic encounters and social licking interactions in the herd were also recorded. The cattle established a social hierarchy which was near linear. An irregularity in the diurnal rhythm of lying behaviour was found on the 3rd day, which appeared to be caused by oestrus behaviour of a herdmate. Eating frequency showed greater variation among individuals than lying frequency, and the most dominant animal ate most frequently in the herd. The spatial pattern of the herd when lying indicated a relatively loose dispersion in the lot. Higher ranking cattle tended to lie down more frequently near the hay rack in the lot, so that lower ranking animals had more difficult access to feed. Cattle with more social licking interactions had a tendency to lie down near each other irrespective of proximity of social order, therefore it was suggested that social preference among particular individuals occurred in the herd.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.291-298
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• 2008

For many years beak trimming has been a controversial subject, particularly since the 1980's when the practice came under close scrutiny by animal welfare groups. In Australia it is considered an essential practice, averting losses of AUD$17.5m annually by reducing mortality from cannibalism. While mortality in flocks from cannibalism can be reduced from 25% of the flock to virtually nil, the beak trimming procedure is considered traumatic for the bird. This study examined if chronic pain in the beak was evident in birds 10, 20 and 60 weeks after being trimmed at hatch and in another group of birds, 8 and 52 weeks after being re-trimmed at 14 weeks. Chronic pain was assessed by measuring pecking behaviour and beak sensitivity responses. Pecking behaviour studies completed after beak trimming and re-trimming showed no evidence to indicate that birds were suffering severe chronic pain in the beak. Beak trimmed pullets pecked more at the cage and had more toe pecks, yet overall pecks made at the feed and the environment were no different than untrimmed controls. While the beak sensitivity studies provided evidence that the beak of birds trimmed at hatch and also re-trimmed at 14 weeks may be more sensitive there was no evidence that re-trimming resulted in a more sensitive beak than birds trimmed at hatch only. These studies have shown that birds which are beak trimmed and re-trimmed return to apparently normal feeding and pecking behaviour in the long term. However, there was limited evidence that beaks of trimmed birds have an altered threshold to potentially painful stimuli.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.1647-1654
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• 2001

In poultry, the selection against broodiness took up presumably naturally occurred mutations in the White Leghorn breed and led to an almost complete loss of the avian form of parental behaviour (incubation of eggs). Early studies on the genetics of broodiness demonstrated that the trait is polygenic with a major sex-linked effect. The reassessment of the studies on putative genes located on the Z chromosome, which are implicated in the control of broodiness, has resulted in the denial of this hypothesis. The recent experiments bear witness that incubation behaviour in chickens is not controlled by a major gene (or genes) on Z chromosome and there must, therefore, be major autosomal genes contributing to the expression of the behaviour. If a broody gene does exist on the Z chromosome it is one of at least three genes including two dominant autosomal genes, one causing and other one inhibiting incubation behaviour, with probably equal influence.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.1062-1068
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• 2019

Objective: For many generations, most species of farm animals have been subjected to intense and strictly targeted selection for improvement of their performance traits. This has led to substantial changes in animal anatomy and physiology, which resulted in considerable differences between the current animal breeds and their wild ancestors. The aim of the study was to determine whether there is breed-specific variability in behaviour as well as differences in emotional reactivity and preferences of laying hens. Methods: The investigations involved 50 Green-legged Partridge, 50 Polbar, and 50 Leghorn hens. All birds were kept in the same conditions, and the behavioural tests were carried out at 30 weeks of age. We used the tonic immobility test and a modified open-field test including such objects as water, commercial feed, feed enriched with cereal grains, finely cut straw, and insect larvae, a sandpit, a mirror, and a shelter imitating a hen nest. Results: The research results demonstrate that the birds of the analysed breeds differ not only in the excitability and emotional reactivity but, importantly, also in the preferences for environment-enriching elements. Ensuring hens' well-being should therefore be based on environmental modifications that will facilitate acquisition of essential elements of chickens' behaviour. The greatest emotional reactivity was found in the Leghorn breed, which may be a result of correlated selection aimed at an increase in chicken productivity. Conclusion: The differences in the behaviour of the birds from the analysed breeds indicate that laying hens cannot be regarded as one group of animals with the same environmental requirements.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.149-154
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• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the expression of harmful social behaviours in breeding pigs. Totally 64 pure breed pigs were assigned to determine the effect of breed (Yorkshire and Duroc) and sex (male and female) on the expression of each harmful social behaviours at the GGP level commercial breeding farm. Sucking, bothering, fighting and pushing behaviour were selected the notable harmful social behaviour. The most prevailing and the highest proportion of time spent in harmful social behaviours were bothering and sucking, respectively. Total frequency of bothering and fighting were more in Duroc than Yorkshire. Yorkshire had more proportion of time spent in sucking whereas fighting was more in Duroc. According to sex, female pigs had more frequency of sucking and pushing whereas fighting was significantly more in male pigs. The female pigs showed more time spent in sucking whereas bothering and fighting was more in male pigs.