From: IN%"RUSHENJ@NCCCOT.AGR.CA" "JEFF RUSHEN" 9-MAY-1995 11:14:04.82 To: IN%"APPLIED-ETHOLOGY@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Robotic Sheep Shearer > Once the sheep was in position it was electrically immobilized and the > robot went to work shearing. I would be interested in hearing from those > who know more about this process and how the electrical immobilization > compares to conventional shearing restraint techniques. Is electrical > immobilization more stressful. Do the sheep remember getting "zapped?" > > > Cindy Smith > USDA, National Agricultural Library > Animal Welfare Information Center > Beltsville, MD > Sorry for the late reply but the line between me and applied-ethology seems to have been broken and I picked this message up somewhere else. Everything you always wanted to know about electro- immobilisation of sheep can be found in papers by Grandin and myself (Rushen) cited in Rushen, J. Use of aversion-learning techniques to measure distress in sheep Applied Animal Behaviour 1990 28:3-14. Physiologica studies are described in papers by Jephcott et al. cited in the same article. In general 1. sheep do remember getting zapped 2. it is more aversive than physical restraint 3. it is probably more aversive than shearing itself 4. it does not reduce the animals perception of shearing or other stressors 5. it increases cortisol and beta-endorphin as much as does shearing. Based on the data available, its use cannot be recommended for sheep. I am surprised that they are still using it. The last I heard was that the Australian Wool Corporation had withdrawn its support. Perhaps some of the still-Australians on this list can provide an ex-Australian with some details as to what is currently happening. I have also heard alarming talk that people in Western Canada are using the electro-immobiliser when de-antlering elk. Does anyone know if this is true? Jeff Rushen rushenj@ncccot.agr.ca From: IN%"Emily.Patterson-Kane@vuw.ac.nz" 9-MAY-1995 16:47:22.30 To: IN%"APPLIED-ETHOLOGY@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: operant vis. discrimination hi all i am trying to find a study that does a simultaneous visual discrimination in an operant box instead of a T- or Y-maze. (for use with rats). Using a similar set-up to the maze (trial, ITI, criterion etc) doesn't work to well... The rats learn quickly but make more errors after criterion, on a reversal the started going into extinction and then got stuck on direction biases... I expect more over-training and/or and FR requirement on the 'correct' key should put it right, but I am sure this sort of thing has been done before thanks EGPK From: IN%"Andre.Ramos@u-bordeaux2.fr" 10-MAY-1995 02:46:03.59 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Applied Ethology in Russia >Date: Wed, 10 May 1995 10:43:52 +0000 >To: caco >From: ramos@hippocrate.u-bordeaux2.fr >Subject: Applied Ethology in Russia >Cc: >Bcc: >X-Attachments: > > Dear friends, > I'm writing this msg to let you know about some things I've learned >yesterday that I think would be important to share with you. > We received in our lab in Bordeaux the visit of a Russian scientist >who gave us an informal talk yesterday. I was completelly amazed with his talk >for I realized that a huge amount of work had been done in an area which >interests me a lot and on which I thought there was nothing done. He has been >working for 15 years in a project of genetic selection of sheep based in >emotional behaviours (response to stress). They have already selected for many >generations a "strain" of low fearfullness sheep, based in a test of >approach/avoidance of a man near to the food. They've followed many different >parameters in these animals throughout the years of selection. Physiological >parameters (HPA axis) changed significantly when compared to the control >original breed. In the same way, weight gain, wool production, milk >production, fertility, sexual precocity, etc, etc, also changed with the >selection upon behaviour. It's true that I did't catch many details because >there was too much information. Anyways, the most amazing thing is that this >work has NEVER been published in English, only in Russian and Bulgarian. This >scientist has barely heard about ISAE, applied ethology network, etc. He is >not member of any society and he never goes to any Conferences in the west for >he says he cannot afford it, but he is very anxious to make contacts during >these 6 weeks that he will be in France. > Anyway, in the area of Behaviour Genetics of farm animals (excepting >fox and mink), he and his group are, in my opinion, at least 10 years ahead of >us. They have done a kind of work that I thought, up to now, was just a >perspective for the future but which had not left the field of lab animals >yet. So I think it's good if you guys write down his name and address and keep >in mind that he has a stock of 15 years of unknown original results and that >he would love to make contact and/or colaboration with the Western world. > > Vasily S. LANKIN > Institute of Citology and Genetics > Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences > Laboratory of Genetical Neuroendocrinology > 630090, Novosibirsk > Acad. Lavrentiev Ave., 10 > office tel. (383-2) 355471 > fax: (383-2) 356558 > e-mail: Lankin@cgi.nsk.su > > Best wishes to all, > Andre > Andre Ramos Departamento de Biologia - CCB Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianopolis, SC BRASIL Lab. Genetique du Stress et Neurobiologie de l'Adaptation Universite de Bordeaux II, BP 10 146 rue Leo Saignat 33076 BORDEAUX CEDEX - France phone: (33) 57 57 10 62 fax: (33) 57 57 10 87 e-mail: andre.ramos@u-bordeaux2.fr Bolsista da CAPES/Brasil Sponsored by CAPES/Brasil From: IN%"D.B.MORTON@BHAM.ac.uk" 10-MAY-1995 03:09:02.95 To: IN%"APN6JMF@SOUTH-01.NOVELL.LEEDS.ac.uk", IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Sacrifice Dear Prof. Forbes, What does the 1993 (?) Webster's give cf. the 1910 version quoted. I understand that Lexicographers had a battle some time ago over whether definitions of words should reflect usage or be cast in tablets of stone. Hence the variation in interpretations but presumeably there is always room for more to come and go. Perhaps the 'ethical cleansing' use of 'sacrifice' can be compared with 'ritual' and 'religous' for halal and other slaughter methods for non-believers and believers respectively? David Morton Prof.David.B.Morton | Janet: D.B.Morton@uk.ac.bham Biomedical Science and Ethics | Internet: D.B.Morton@bham.ac.uk The Medical School | University of Birmingham | Birmingham | Tel: +44 - (0)121 414 3616 B15 2TT, UK Fax: +44 - (0)121 414 6979 From: IN%"Per.Jensen@hhyg.slu.se" 10-MAY-1995 06:56:06.19 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Cats and urine-rubbing Dear all, In a chapter in the excellent book "The domestic cat - the biology of its behaviour" (Cambridge University Press, 1988), Kerby and McDonald mention that cats sometimes will rub in urine prior to greeting by stroking chins and foreheads against each other. Some people who know more about cats than I do seem to be unaware of the behaviour. Is there anyone on the network with any experience of such behaviour in cats? When do they do it? What is its function? DO they do it? Per ******************************************************************* Per Jensen Professor of Ethology __/\______________9 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,\ o I Department of Animal Hygiene, \- I Section of Ethology \_______________I SKARA, SWEDEN /\ /\ E-mail: Per.Jensen@hhyg.slu.se / \ / \ ******************************************************************* From: IN%"schilder@neuretp.biol.ruu.nl" 11-MAY-1995 04:06:00.05 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: growth promotors and welfare Dear all, I am interested in the effect of certain drugs that are used as growth promotors in bio-industry on the welfare of the animals involved. I know, for example, that application of PST has as a side effect that the body temperature raises slightly. The problem is, whether there are indications that welfare in these animals is affected by that raise in temperature or other (slight) physiological changes, that are not leading to appearent illness? Does anybody know about behavioural indications of possible welfare problems in cases in which such slight physiological changes are induced? I would be most obliged! Regards, dr Matthijs Schilder Ethology and socio-ecology University of Utrecht Netherlands From: IN%"l.fell@uws.EDU.AU" 11-MAY-1995 04:45:55.74 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Robotic Sheep Shearer > >> Once the sheep was in position it was electrically immobilized and the >> robot went to work shearing. I would be interested in hearing from those >> who know more about this process and how the electrical immobilization >> compares to conventional shearing restraint techniques. Is electrical >> immobilization more stressful. Do the sheep remember getting "zapped?" >> >> Cindy Smith >> USDA, National Agricultural Library >> Animal Welfare Information Center >> Beltsville, MD >> (snip) >Everything you always wanted to know about electro- >immobilisation of sheep can be found in papers by >Grandin and myself (Rushen) cited in Rushen, J. Use >of aversion-learning techniques to measure distress in >sheep Applied Animal Behaviour 1990 28:3-14. Physiologica >studies are described in papers by Jephcott et al. cited >in the same article. > >In general 1. sheep do remember getting zapped 2. it is >more aversive than physical restraint 3. it is probably >more aversive than shearing itself 4. it does not reduce >the animals perception of shearing or other stressors >5. it increases cortisol and beta-endorphin as much as does >shearing. Based on the data available, its use cannot be >recommended for sheep. > >I am surprised that they are still using it. The last I >heard was that the Australian Wool Corporation had withdrawn >its support. Perhaps some of the still-Australians on this list >can provide an ex-Australian with some details as to what is >currently happening. > >I have also heard alarming talk that people in Western >Canada are using the electro-immobiliser when de-antlering >elk. Does anyone know if this is true? > >Jeff Rushen >rushenj@ncccot.agr.ca > > Yes, as Jeff said, the Wool Corporation ceased funding this project several years ago, but the equipment manufacturer (Australian Merino Wool Harvesting in South Australia) has persisted with efforts to market at least some of their technology - especially the electro-immobiliser. I think it was approved for sheep in SA and WA some years ago. However, NSW has repeatedly refused to sanction its use with sheep - a decision based on the research of Rushen, Grandin etc. I know the company has written to Temple Grandin - and to me and presumably others - protesting about this. I actually did some behaviour work in Adelaide with Tim Kuchel who thought electro-immobilisation might prevent the stress of castration, tail docking etc., but our results did not support this and, regrettably, they have not been published. The present situation in NSW (and I think in some other Eastern states) is that the StockStill electro-immobiliser has recently been approved for use with cattle under certain conditions - operators must be trained by Govt. etc. I have queried this decision with the people responsible and was told that it didn't seem to be aversive when they brought a few animals back into the crush (chute) for a second dose. I don't know any more than that, but there seems to be a need for some more thorough work to be done. Lloyd ------------------------------------------ Dr Lloyd Fell Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute PMB 8 Camden NSW 2570 Australia Phone 61-46-293-436 Fax 61-46-293-300 From: IN%"RUSHENJ@NCCCOT.AGR.CA" "JEFF RUSHEN" 11-MAY-1995 12:15:45.86 To: IN%"APPLIED-ETHOLOGY@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: growth promotants and welfare A brief study of the effects of PST on pigs' behaviour is: Schaefer, A. L., Jones, S. D. M.; Tong, A. K. W.; de Passille, A. M. B.; Rushen, J. The effect of daily injections of prolonged-release implants of recombinant porcine somatotropin on behaviour in market weight pigs Canadian Journal of Animal Science 1994 vol 74:393-395. Only slight behavioural effects were found. Interestingly, PST reduced body fat and there was a tendency for the pigs to sleep more in groups rather than alone, perhaps reflecting a greater need for behavioural thermoregulation (?). A similar effect was found with the beta-agonist: A. L. Schaefer, S. D. M. Jones, A. K. W. Tong, A. M. B. de Passille, J. Rushen, J. K. Merrill The effect of feeding the beta-adrenergic agonist ractopamine on the behaviour of market weight pigs. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 1992 72:15-21. One paper has also lokked at behavioural consequences of GH releasing factor on pigs: de Passille, A. M. B.; Robert, S.; Dubreuil, P.; Pelletier, G. Brazeau, P. Effect of hypothalamic factor treatments on the behaviour of sows during lactation and on their behavioural and cortisol responses to weaning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1990 27:231-242 There were no marked behavioural effects although behavioural responses to weaning appeared to be increased while cortisol responses were reduced. Jeff Rushen rushenj@ncccot.agr.ca ************************************************************** Dear all, I am interested in the effect of certain drugs that are used as growth promotors in bio-industry on the welfare of the animals involved. I know, for example, that application of PST has as a side effect that the body temperature raises slightly. The problem is, whether there are indications that welfare in these animals is affected by that raise in temperature or other (slight) physiological changes, that are not leading to appearent illness? Does anybody know about behavioural indications of possible welfare problems in cases in which such slight physiological changes are induced? I would be most obliged! Regards, dr Matthijs Schilder Ethology and socio-ecology University of Utrecht Netherlands ******************************************************************** From: IN%"RUSHENJ@NCCCOT.AGR.CA" "JEFF RUSHEN" 11-MAY-1995 14:13:06.19 To: IN%"APPLIED-ETHOLOGY@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: electro-immobiliser >The present situation in NSW (and I think in some other Eastern states) is >that the StockStill electro-immobiliser has recently been approved for use >with cattle under certain conditions - operators must be trained by Govt. >etc. I have queried this decision with the people responsible and was told >that it didn't seem to be aversive when they brought a few animals back into >the crush (chute) for a second dose. >Lloyd The elctro-immobiliser has not been tested as extensively on cattle as on sheep although Pascoe and McDonnell (Veterinary Surgery 1985 vol 14 page 75 report that cattle do find electro-immobilisation aversive and Carter et al. Australian Vet. Journal 1983 60:17-19 found that it did not reduce any stress as a result of de-horning. What I find of concern is that a company can introduce a product like this, make all kinds of claims without providing any published evidence and then sell it to vets and farmers. Critics must the *prove* that it *doesn't* work before any action can be contemplated. Surely it would be more reasonable to ask the company to provide some evidence that the product does work and that it is not harming the animals *before* they can sell it. Jeff Rushen rushenj@ncccot.agr.ca From: IN%"kath@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU" "Kathryn Anne Champness" To: IN%"DRasmussen@usarso-lan1.army.mil" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: Panamanian Research Dear all, I am a 3rd year PhD student at The University of Melbourne, Australia. My research is part of a collaborative agreement between the University, the Australian Customs Service and Royal Guide Dogs Associations of Australia and our aim is to develop a breeding program for Drug Detector Dogs. At the same time we will be reviewing an already established breeding program for Guide Dogs. If anyone is undertaking research concerning Drug Detector Dogs or knows of any, or knows of reference material, I would like to hear from you. Thanks in anticipation. Kath Champness From: IN%"RJACKSON@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk" "Rachel Jackson" 15-MAY-1995 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Are my sheep thick or is it me? 15th May Greetings and salutations, I am a 2nd year Ph.D student at Edinburgh looking at the behavioural responses of sheep to food deprivation. My work has involved training sheep to perform tasks which has proved to be problematic. I have been told by a few people that my sheep are in fact stupid ( "they are Suffolks after all" has been said on more than one occaission), but I am of the opinion that the way you train them (as well as what you are training them to do) is important. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has succeeded (or failed) to train sheep as to the methods they tried and the numbers they used. Rachel Jackson IERM School of Agriculture Building West Mains Road Edinburgh EH9 3JG Scotland email:RJackson@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk From: IN%"jbrajkov@uoguelph.ca" "John Brajkovich" 15-MAY-1995 07:11:24.93 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Poultry vocalization May 15 I am studying the vocalization of hungry poultry. I would appreciate any information on poultry vocalization. I am also trying to setup up the experiment with as few factors of error as possible (like every other experiment) and so I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks John Brajkovich University of Guelph Animal and Poultry Science email: jbrajkov@uoguelph.ca From: IN%"walker@cortex.health.ufl.edu" "Curt Walker" 15-MAY-1995 07:23:34.37 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: cattails Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Dear all, Does anyone out there know of any data on how animals, especially cats, use their tails for balance during locomotion, jumping, etc.? I realize that the popular press commonly covers this issue, especially in Cat Fancy magazine, but I've sought hard data and found none. Replies appreciated. Thanks, Curt Walker Dept of Neuroscience University of Florida Gainesville, FL 32610 From: IN%"MAPPLEBY@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk" "Mike Appleby" 15-MAY-1995 07:40:30.10 To: IN%"jbrajkov@uoguelph.ca" "John Brajkovich" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: Poultry vocalization Dear John and others I have just attended the East Central Europe Regional meeting of ISAE in Slovakia. Gunther Marx was talking on Vocalization and social motivated spatial orientation of chicken, which involved 'numeric sound analysis'. We are hoping to circulate at least the abstracts from the meeting on the net, but you could probably get the full paper either from the organiser (Dr Lubor Kostal: kostal@ubgz.savba.sk ) or from Dr G. Marx, Institute for Small Animal Research, Cell/Merbitz, 061 93 Nauendorf, Germany. Mike From: IN%"mprice@ansci.ualberta.ca" 15-MAY-1995 08:17:47.61 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Training stupid sheep Rachel Jackson asked about training sheep (particularly Suffolks) to various tasks. Jennifer Aalhus, in a series of experiments (Aalhus and Price, 1990 Can. J. Anim. Sci. 70: 81 - 88; 89 - 95 and 97 - 105), trained sheep (Suffolk and Suffolk cross) to run steeplechase circuits and to walk calmly on a treadmill while wearing face masks to measure oxygen consumption. She found that in training them to the treadmill, having constant sight of a penmate was a great facilitator. In fact the pen mate was tethered just outside the treadmill, face to face with the exercising sheep and only about a foot away, separated by a plexiglas plate. Mick Price Professor, Livestock Growth and Meat Production Dept of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2P5 (403) 492 3235; Fax ~ 9130; e-mail mprice@afns.ualberta.ca From: IN%"Paul.Koene@ETHO.VH.WAU.NL" 15-MAY-1995 09:17:21.78 To: IN%"JohnBrajkovichjbrajkov@uoguelph.ca" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: ...no subject... Dear John, In Wageningen we do research on chicken vocalization in relation to frustration. Patrick Zimmerman is a PhD student working on a project Chicken vocalizations as indicator of welfare. In this project animals are food deprived and trained in Skinnerboxes. Behaviour and vocalizations are recorded and analyzed. We did also some work on vocalization in a so-called double runway (see the abstracts of Foulum ISAE conference last year). For more information contact me or Patrick on this network. Paul Yours Sincerely, Dr. Paul Koene Assistant Professor in Ethology Animal husbandry / Section Ethology Wageningen Agricultural University P.O. Box 338 6700 AH Wageningen The Netherlands phone 31 8370 82896 fax 31 8370 85006 E-mail paul.koene@etho.vh.wau.nl From: IN%"Paul.Koene@ETHO.VH.WAU.NL" 15-MAY-1995 09:30:51.80 To: IN%"jbrajkov@uoguelph.ca" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: poultry voc Dear John, In Wageningen we do reserach on chicken vocalization in relation to frustration. Patrick Zimmerman is a PhD student working on a project Chicken vocalizations as indicator of welfare. In this project animals are food deprived and trained in Skinnerboxes. Behaviour and vocalizations are recorded and analyzed. We did also some work on vocalization in a so-called double runway (see the abstracts of Foulum ISAE conference last year). For more more information contact me or Patrick on this network. Paul Yours Sincerely, Dr. Paul Koene Assistant Professor in Ethology Animal husbandry / Section Ethology Wageningen Agricultural University P.O. Box 338 6700 AH Wageningen The Netherlands phone 31 8370 82896 fax 31 8370 85006 E-mail paul.koene@etho.vh.wau.nl From: IN%"IDUNCAN@APS.UoGuelph.CA" 15-MAY-1995 09:34:17.18 To: IN%"Applied-Ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Domestic fowl vocalizations Dear John, The classic references to (domestic) fowl vocalizations are :- Collias, N.E. 1987. The vocal repertoire of the Red Junglefowl: A spectographic classification and the code of communication. Condor, 89: 510-524. Collias, N.E. and Joos, M. 1953. The spectrographic analysis of sound signals of the domestic fowl. Behaviour, 5: 175-188. Wood-Gush, D.G.M. 1971. The Behaviour of the Domestic Fowl. Heinemann Educational Books Ltd., London. Also, J.-Ch. Guyomarc'h has published extensively (mainly in French) on fowl vocalizations. Since we seem to be in the same Department, why don't you drop by my office sometime and we can discuss this; I've done a little bit of work with poultry. Yours, Ian Duncan From: IN%"m.vandermeer@pobox.ruu.nl" 16-MAY-1995 05:39:35.80 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Transgenic animals Dear all, Allow me to introduce myself. I am a biologist working at the Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Within the scope of a project in the field of Socio-economic impacts of Biotechnology for the European Commission, I am investigating the recent developments of research concerning transgenic animals in the EC. This researchproject mainly consists of a literature survey and questionnaires and will result into an English written report. The main goals of this study are: 1) To obtain insight into the current situation (numbers of institutes, animals and aims of research per country) concerning transgenic animals in the EC Member States. 2) To obtain insight into the potential effects on health and welfare by genetic engineering or indirectly by the production of transgenic animals. 3) To give options for additional welfare research and intended policy. If anyone is undertaking research in this field or knows of any, or knows of reference material, I would like to hear from you. Thanks in anticipation, Miriam van der Meer ******************************************************************************* Miriam van der Meer Phone: **31-30533818/2033 Department of Laboratory Animal Science Fax: **31-30536747 Utrecht University PO Box 80.166, 3508 TD Utrecht ( ) ( ) The Netherlands O O = o = email: m.vandermeer@pobox.ruu.nl ************************************************************************************************* From: IN%"Chris.Sherwin@bristol.ac.uk" "CM. Sherwin" 16-MAY-1995 05:52:51.69 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: sheep training Hi all RE: sheep training. I was involved in some work similar to that mentioned previously where sheep were placed on a tread-mill and wore an oxygen mask. To calm the sheep, we thought providing a pen-mate would suffice. But even more simple than that, we found a mirror worked. This was placed directly infront of the sheep about 50cm away, so the sheep was effctively walking towards itself! In another experiment, I had to catch and handle a group of 40 Merinos daily. The sheep were in a paddock which contained a small raceway and holding yard in the centre. At the start of the experiment it took 30 mins, 3people and 1 motorcycle to get all the sheep into the holding yard. After two weeks, the sheep would herd themselves into the holding yard simply at the sight of me entering the paddock! Who says they're stupid? Incidentally, sheep enter a raceway in a highly repeatable order related to their social organisation, so don't be fooled into thinking this is a suitable method for random selection. Chris Sherwin Dept. Animal Health and Husbandry University of Bristol From: IN%"Chris.Sherwin@bristol.ac.uk" "CM. Sherwin" 16-MAY-1995 06:06:35.83 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: cackling On the subject of poultry vocalisations, a question which has puzzled me for a while is - What is the function of post-lay cackling in the domestic hen? For those who might not know, domestic hens after laying very often emit a characteristic call. This is a loud and very distinctive cackle. Why do they do this? I would have thought that the last thing an animal wants to do is advertise to the world that it has just deposited one of the best possible food sources. After all, many other birds (and other animals) go to great lengths to disguise the fact that they have just given birth or have eggs. Do any other animals do this? Best wishes Chris Sherwin Division of Animal Health and Husbandry University of Bristol From: IN%"eoprice@ucdavis.edu" "Edward O. Price" 16-MAY-1995 14:23:23.79 To: IN%"applied-ethology-error@sask.usask.ca" "applied-ethology-error" CC: Subj: RE: sheep training Chris: I conduct research on the reproductive behaviors of sheep and was intrigued by your comment on the increasing ease with which you got your sheep to come into a holding yard. Did you feed them there? What was the attraction? Also, have you published or do you know of any publications that relate social rank or social organization to the order of entry into a raceway? Thanks! Ed Price Department of Animal Science UC Davis, Davis, California eoprice@ucdavis.edu ---------- >From: applied-ethology-error >To: applied-ethology >Subject: sheep training >Date: Tuesday, May 16, 1995 12:51PM > >Hi all > >RE: sheep training. > >I was involved in some work similar to that mentioned previously >where sheep were placed on a tread-mill and wore an oxygen mask. >To calm the sheep, we thought providing a pen-mate would suffice. >But even more simple than that, we found a mirror worked. This was >placed directly infront of the sheep about 50cm away, so the sheep was >effctively walking towards itself! > >In another experiment, I had to catch and handle a group of 40 Merinos >daily. The sheep were in a paddock which contained a small raceway and >holding yard in the centre. At the start of the experiment it took 30 mins, >3people >and 1 motorcycle to get all the sheep into the holding yard. After two weeks, >the >sheep would herd themselves into the holding yard simply at the sight of >me entering the paddock! Who says they're >stupid? Incidentally, sheep enter a raceway in a highly repeatable order >related to their social organisation, so don't be fooled into thinking this >is a suitable method for random selection. > >Chris Sherwin >Dept. Animal Health and Husbandry >University of Bristol > > > > From: IN%"ujhhtpo@ucl.ac.uk" "ujhhtpo" 17-MAY-1995 06:15:14.22 To: IN%"applied-ethology-xpnd@sask.usask.ca" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: vocalisations and predation Its not only chickens that are odd. As a parent I have experienced many disturbed nights. Why do human infants produce such a terrible noise? I have a vision of our ancestors when they were rather more subject to predation than today, desperately trying to smother their little darling's wails. Any ideas?? Robert Hubrecht trevor.poole@ucl.ac.uk From: IN%"ACROOK@upei.ca" "Alice Crook" 17-MAY-1995 07:40:35.70 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: introduction Hello all- I have been browsing on the network for about a month and figured it was time to introduce myself. I am the coordinator of the Animal Welfare Unit (AWU) at the Atlantic Veterinary College, PEI. The AWU was established July 1995, to be a resource centre and to promote discussion of issues of animal well-being and animal use, and to undertake research and service projects with tangible benefits for animals. The 3 projects for the first year are: 1. Fund to Support Medical and Surgical Care of Homeless Dogs and Cats ( in conjunction with the PEI Humane Society and the Moncton SPCA) 2. Reduction of Postoperative Pain in Dogs (involving a survey of current usage of postoperative analgesics , and videotaping dogs postsurgically to identify ways to best recognize and manage postoperative pain.) 3. Assisting in Rehabilitation of the Convalescing Equine Athlete (to gain information about appropriate convalescent periods in horses, based on comprehensive exercise analyses, and to advise horse owners and trainers so as to minimize reinjury). I am interested in all discussions pertaining to animal welfare. Alice Crook Alice Crook, DVM Coordinator, Animal Welfare Unit Atlantic Veterinary College University of Prince Edward Island 550 University Ave. Charlottetown, PEI C1A 4P3 902-628-4360 *** (FAX)902-566-0958 From: IN%"CROWELL-DAVIS.S@calc.vet.uga.edu" "Sharon Crowell-Davis" 17-MAY-1995 07:59:37.92 To: IN%"ujhhtpo@ucl.ac.uk" "ujhhtpo" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: vocalisations and predation Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 13:12:47 +0100 From: ujhhtpo Subject: vocalisations and predation To: applied-ethology-xpnd@sask.usask.ca Cc: applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca Its not only chickens that are odd. As a parent I have experienced many disturbed nights. Why do human infants produce such a terrible noise? I have a vision of our ancestors when they were rather more subject to predation than today, desperately trying to smother their little darling's wails. Any ideas?? Robert Hubrecht trevor.poole@ucl.ac.uk ************************************************* Robert More than that , the crying of babies can lead to child abuse, of which a prime example is in my morning paper. A man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for assaulting his 5 month old son, breaking the baby's collarbone, nose, leg and skull, although the baby survived. The abuser said, "I broke his leg because I was frustrated because he would not stop crying." However, is the modern situation comparable with our ancestors? Being left alone would obviously be dangerous for a baby living in conditions where ancestral humans were subject to predation. Is the crying a separation cry which leads to reuniting with a parent which can protect the baby? Except when colicy (which is another issue), my babies rarely cried when being held. Crying seemed to function mainly as an "I want to be held" signal, as well as an "I am hurt/I am sick/I am too tired" signal. Perhaps a good predator defense strategy? The capacity of a baby's cries to attract predators might have stimulated parents to hold it that might have otherwise left it lying on the ground nearby? Progressing to a Then and Now. Did our ancestors maintain physical contact with babies for much longer periods of time than commonly happens now? Did ancestral babies cry a lot less as a result? Many modern babies are placed in isolation in cribs or playpens and certain schools of child-rearing admonish mothers not to "spoil" them by picking them up too much. Are such schools of thought simply triggering primitive defense mechanisms? This entire topic is discussed in a number of books on child-rearing. Opposite to the "don't spoil" philosophy is the "keep your baby in almost constant physical contact" philosophy (including in one's bed rather than isolated in a crib) which considers separation from the care-giver stressful to a baby (let's please not launch into a discussion of what I mean by stressful) and likely to trigger that awful wailing. There is empirical research on this issue, which I haven't been into for several years, but a human developmental psychologist could no doubt direct you towards current publications. The gist of one in particular (though I don't recall the reference) was that, over the long term, babies whose crying was responded to by being immediately picked up cried less than babies which were left to themselves when crying (as per the "they have to learn to cope with separation" school). While the purpose of the research seems to be current issues of child welfare, child health and appropriate child-rearing practices, some of it is of great interest from a behavioral biology perspective. Sharon Crowell-Davis ****************************************************** Sharon L. Crowell-Davis, DVM, PhD Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Behaviorists College of Veterinary Medicine University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602 706-542-8343 FAX 706-542-0051 crowell-davis.s@calc.vet.uga.edu ****************************************************** From: IN%"HOEK@rulsfb.LeidenUniv.nl" 17-MAY-1995 08:03:58.40 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Behavioural problems of caged birds Hello, I subscribed to the Applied Ethology network some time ago, and I would like to introduce myself now, since I have a question for you all. I am a student at the University of Leiden (Holland), and at the moment I am busy doing a literature study on abnormal behaviour in caged birds. Little research has been done on caged birds, despite the manifestion of behavioural problems in these birds, especially in parrot-like birds (e.g. feather picking, "weaving", abnormal aggressiveness, apathy). Most of the attention goes out to domestic birds and birds in zoos, though it is not clear whether research in these fields may contribute to finding causes and solutions for the behavioural problems of caged birds. Therefore, my question is whether anyone has some information about research on behavioural problems in caged birds. The only articles I have found up till now are the ones of stereotypies in caged canaries (Sargent & Keiper, 1967; Keiper, 1969 & 1970). I am looking forward to more information on this subject. Caroline van Hoek HOEK@rulsfb.LeidenUniv.nl From: IN%"Per.Jensen@hhyg.slu.se" 17-MAY-1995 08:40:40.81 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: vocalisations and predation >Its not only chickens that are odd. As a parent I have experienced many >disturbed nights. Why do human infants produce such a terrible noise? I have a >vision > >of our ancestors when they were rather more subject to predation than today, >desperately trying to smother their little darling's wails. Any ideas?? > >Robert Hubrecht > >trevor.poole@ucl.ac.uk There's a large bulk of theory on infant signalling asking and trying to answering questions like these. Not only human babies do this (as a father of four small kids I know they don't appreciate the risk of nightly predation) - birds are very noisy when begging, in fact you can easily spot a nest just by listening for the begging calls of chicks. In non-human primates, and even in some birds, tantrums very alike those of my six-year old boy when he is not allowed to eat more chocolate, have been described. One suggestion is that this is manipulative behaviour - 'Make me happy or I will let myself be eaten by a predator, thereby ruining your parental investment!'. The mathematical theories around assume that signalling has to be costly in order to be honest and safe against cheating (but see for example Dawkins & Guilford 1991, Anim Behav, 41: 865 for an alternative view). Linda Keeling brought to my attention one possible explanation to the post-laying cackeln of poultry: it appears that hens are particularly fertile just after oviposition and the call may attract cockerels to mate with. However, I don't know if there is any substance in this. In the connection of honest signalling, we might predict that there would be some option for cheating in order for such a loud and potentially dangerous behaviour to evolve. But who would cheat in this context? If the signal says: 'I'm fertile, come and mate with me', would there be any benefit for cheating if you are not fertile? Why would the non-fertile hen want to mate? On the other hand, if there was no risk for cheating, a much less costly signal would do the job better. So I'm still puzzled by this cackeln. It's loud allright - I can hear it right now in the background from my hens in the backyard, through closed windows and well insulated walls. Per ******************************************************************* Per Jensen Professor of Ethology __/\______________9 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,\ o I Department of Animal Hygiene, \- I Section of Ethology \_______________I SKARA, SWEDEN /\ /\ E-mail: Per.Jensen@hhyg.slu.se / \ / \ ******************************************************************* From: IN%"mrenner@wcupa.edu" "Renner, Michael" 17-MAY-1995 09:21:08.36 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "'Applied Ethology List'" CC: Subj: RE: vocalisations and predation It's finals week here and I'm too buried to hunt down the reference, but I recall reading an hypothesis that human infant cries were selected to be maximally irritating to adults, presumably so that the little tykes wouldn't be ignored. Psychophysical tests may have supported this, but it's a misty memory. Does anyone in the group remember more specifically? Michael Renner MRenner@Wcupa.Edu ---------- From: applied-ethology-error To: applied-ethology-xpnd Cc: applied-ethology Subject: vocalisations and predation Date: Wednesday, May 17, 1995 1:12PM Its not only chickens that are odd. As a parent I have experienced many disturbed nights. Why do human infants produce such a terrible noise? I have a vision of our ancestors when they were rather more subject to predation than today, desperately trying to smother their little darling's wails. Any ideas?? Robert Hubrecht trevor.poole@ucl.ac.uk From: IN%"rlzasloff@ucdavis.edu" "R Zasloff" 17-MAY-1995 11:02:59.71 To: IN%"ACROOK@upei.ca" "Alice Crook" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: animal use/animal welfare In response to the introductory message from Alice Crook -- I am interested in what you are doing and am curious what is going on at your vet school with regard to alternatives in the vet med curriculum. I'm at the UC Center for Animal Alternatives at UC Davis. For the past 3 years I've been compiling information on alternatives in vet med education. I'd be interested to hear about any recent developments in this area. R. Lee Zasloff UC Davis From: IN%"APN6MAV@SOUTH-01.NOVELL.LEEDS.ac.uk" "VARLEY M.A." 18-MAY-1995 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Summer Placements Dear All I have a personable young undergraduate student here at Leeds who is in the second year of a degree programme in animal science. She is looking for a summer placement in a research institute/university department/ animal research station to further her experience. She speaks very good French in additin to English and already has considerable experience with sheep and other farm species. Any offers ????? Mike Varley Dr Mike Varley Animal Physiology and Nutrition University of Leeds, Leeds, England Tel Int + 44 113 233 3062 Fax Int + 44 113 233 3072 Fax/Teleph. Home Int + 44 1937 845541 Mobile 0860 102531 e-mail apn6mav@leeds.ac.uk From: IN%"Joergen=Kjaer%MH%Husdyr@sh1.foulum.min.dk" 18-MAY-1995 02:31:07.93 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: Behavioural problems of caged birds Hello Caroline and others, Feather pecking (fp) in caged birds, especilly psittacine (parrots etc.), are by some authors named 'psychogenic fp' and treatment has been succesful with a dopamine antagonist (Iglauer,F. & Rasmin,R., 1993. J.Small Animal Practice 34:564-566, incl 14 ref). This type of fp typically is selfmutilation. The type of fp seen in domestic fowl is often ( or always ?) one bird pecking another bird, references are numerous ex. g.: Hughes & Duncan, 1972. The influence of strain and environmental factors upon feather pecking and cannibalism in fowls. Br. Poultry Sci. 13:525-547. I assume these two types of pf have different background. At least the experimental work and publications 'never' refer to the 'other' type. I would like very much to hear any comments on this from some of you fp- experts out there... Yours, Joergen Kjaer Joergen Kjaer Dept. Small Animals Danish Inst. of Animal Science Research Centre Foulum P.O. box 39 dk-8830 Tjele Denmark Phone +45 89991558 Fax +45 89991919 email jk%mh%husdyr@sh1.foulum.min.dk From: IN%"kjohnson@numbat.murdoch.edu.au" 18-MAY-1995 03:13:39.10 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: IN%"ACROOK@upei.ca", IN%"rlzasloff@ucdavis.edu" Subj: Animal Welfare courses at universities I am pleased to see a declaration of interests in teaching Animal Welfare issuing from the wires. The veterinary school at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, began offering a course called SCIENTIFIC AND ETHICAL BASES OF ANIMAL WELFARE as an elective unit for any interested students from 1989. Since 1993 it has been a required course for 3rd year veterinary students. The unit is structured to be comprehensible to students in second or higher years regardless of their background, and a few biology, philosophy, biotechnology or psychology students always seem to enrol. To my knowledge it is the only unit specifically on this topic in Australia, though the South Australian Centre for Veterinary Studies now offers a version of the Murdoch course as part of its postgraduate degrees. The unit comprises 20 lectures (from philosophers, biologists, veterinarians, educators, as well as the RSPCA, Animal Liberation and Anti-vivisection groups) and 13 tutorials. It is assessed by 2 assignments and an end-of-semester open- book exam. The problems of teaching in this area are quite unlike any I have experienced in teaching other aspects of biology, such as, in my experience, physiology and ethology. So if anyone would like to discuss material, ideas, teaching techniques that might help the process, or avoid the many road humps en route, please contact me, or put it 'on the wire' for all of us to see. Yours in anticipation, Ken Johnson Course Coordinator Dr Ken Johnson, Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Biology, School of Veterinary Studies, Murdoch University. W.A. 6150 AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 (9) 360 2257 Fax: +61 (9) 310 4144 From: IN%"Chris.Sherwin@bristol.ac.uk" "CM. Sherwin" 18-MAY-1995 05:48:50.16 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: cackling Dear all, Several people have replied to my question about the function of post-lay cackling by the domestic hen. Thanks to you all. Most suggest that the hen is signalling she is receptive to a male. However, I still find it surprising that she would give such a loud and characteristic call in the immediate proximity of the nest. Could she not signal her receptivity a little more quietly or perhaps even in silence - plenty of other animals achieve this quite adequately. My own experience is with caged or intensively housed layers which cannot move very far from the nest. Mary Booth has indicated that free-range layers usually give the call when moving away from the nest, but still in relatively close proximity. Does anyone have further information on feral or free-ranging hens and the context in which they emit post-lay cackles? Some have suggested the call might be to signal the presence of a suitable nest site for communal nesting. Work I conducted a couple of years ago shows that hens in cages with nests dichotomise into greagarious and solitary nesters (sometimes upto 4 hens using a single nest measuring 30 x 20cm!). So this explanation is plausible, but again, does this have to be so damn loud!! John Kent suggests that the function might be to advertise to predators the fact that an egg has been laid. This is done in the hope that the fox will eat the egg rather than the hen herself and thus allow her to carry on spreading her genes. Wouldn't it be better simply to be quiet and cryptic and minimise the risk to both egg and hen? Domhnall Jennings suggests the post-lay cackle is similar to an alarm call (I agree with this) and that a similar call is given by cockerels. If so, the term "post-lay cackle" is perhaps misleading in that it suggests the function is related to the laying of an egg. I have asked permission to send the information of Dr Jennings to the bulletin board. So, I still have doubts about the suggested functions, primarily because of the loudness and characteristic quality of the call, and the proximity to the nest in which it is emitted. Surely this call must make potential predators aware of the nest and therefore reduce the adaptive value of the behaviour, unless the function of this behaviour has been totally obscured by domestication. The context in which it is given by production layers might be completely inappropriate - comments by field-ethologists (and of course all others) would be extremely welcome. Best wishes Chris Sherwin University of Bristol From: IN%"BJORN.FORKMAN@bbsrc.ac.uk" "Bjorn Forkman" 18-MAY-1995 09:25:03.56 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Sperm competition in hens Dear all, Does anyone know for how long sperm may be stored in a hen? I am running an experiment in which I am looking at how male characteristics influence the number of hatched chickens (from hens mated to that rooster). To do this I have 4 hens that are mated to one rooster consecutively. I thought it would be a nice set up if I could change the hens around after say, two weeks, and mate them with another rooster. The problem is to know for how long I have to wait before I can feel certain that the hatched chickens are the result of the new rooster. Any ideas? or even better, any references? (The hens form part of a breeding program so I can't just let them go isolated until hatching success is 0.) Cheers Bjorn bjorn.forkman@bbsrc.ac.uk From: IN%"William_R_STRICKLIN@umail.umd.edu" 18-MAY-1995 09:34:40.05 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: adaptation of hen vocalization Dear Applied ethologists: The discussion about post-laying hen vocalizations has been quite interesting. I have a couple of questions that maybe one of the "feathered" ethologists could answer for me. 1) Does post-lay vocalization occur in the Red Jungle Fowl? 2) Does the vocalization draw attention to the egg(s) or to the hen? (Seems that the vocalization could be adaptative if there is some minor risk to the hen that is offset by a considerable increase in the survival chances of the eggs.) 3) Does the amount of vocalization increase with the number of eggs in the nest? (If so, then again one could argue that one function is to distract the attention of a potential predator away from the eggs.) W. Ray Stricklin University of Maryland From: IN%"rlzasloff@ucdavis.edu" "R Zasloff" 18-MAY-1995 10:59:51.22 To: IN%"kjohnson@numbat.murdoch.edu.au" "Ken Johnson" CC: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca", IN%"ACROOK@upei.ca", IN%"rlzasloff@ucdavis.edu" Subj: RE: Animal Welfare courses at universities On Thu, 18 May 1995, Ken Johnson wrote: > I am pleased to see a declaration of interests in teaching Animal Welfare > issuing from the wires. > > The veterinary school at Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, > began offering a course called SCIENTIFIC AND ETHICAL BASES OF ANIMAL > WELFARE as an elective unit for any interested students from 1989. Since > 1993 it has been a required course for 3rd year veterinary students. The > unit is structured to be comprehensible to students in second or higher > years regardless of their background, and a few biology, philosophy, > biotechnology or psychology students always seem to enrol. > > To my knowledge it is the only unit specifically on this topic in > Australia, though the South Australian Centre for Veterinary Studies now > offers a version of the Murdoch course as part of its postgraduate degrees. > > The unit comprises 20 lectures (from philosophers, biologists, > veterinarians, educators, as well as the RSPCA, Animal Liberation and > Anti-vivisection groups) and 13 tutorials. It is assessed by 2 assignments > and an end-of-semester open- book exam. > > The problems of teaching in this area are quite unlike any I have > experienced in teaching other aspects of biology, such as, in my > experience, physiology and ethology. So if anyone would like to discuss > material, ideas, teaching techniques that might help the process, or avoid > the many road humps en route, please contact me, or put it 'on the wire' > for all of us to see. > > Yours in anticipation, > > Ken Johnson > Course Coordinator > > Dr Ken Johnson, > Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Biology, > School of Veterinary Studies, > Murdoch University. > W.A. 6150 > AUSTRALIA > > Phone: +61 (9) 360 2257 > Fax: +61 (9) 310 4144 > > > Ken, Thank you for the information about the animal welfare course at Perth. I would be interested to know more about the particular problems of teaching this course. I'm also interested to know if any alternatives have been incorporated into the vet med curriculum, especially in the area of surgery. Here at UC Davis, and at many other vet schools in the U.S. and Canada, there has been a push in recent years (primarily coming from the students) to reduce the numbers of live animals used in surgical labs. As a result, many faculty members have developed some great tools for enhancing psychomotor skills and teaching instrumentation, suturing, etc. Some examples are interactive computer programs, plastinated specimens, soft tissue models, knot-tying boards, interactive video-discs, inanimate physiological models and so forth. Also, students here and at other schools have the option of learning basic procedures using cadavers instead of live animals. In addition, some schools including Davis have set up spay/neuter programs with local animal shelters. The animals are brought to the school, the students perform the surgery, provide post-operative care, then return them to the shelter (or adopt the animals themselves). Everyone loves this because the students get to do real surgery on animals that need it, provide aftercare which they obviously would not get to do with terminal surgeries, and most of the animals get adopted. If you happen to know Suzanne Pope (I think she's in South Australia) I sent her quite a bit of information recently. I believe she's been gathering a lot of this kind of information and might be a good person to connect with. R. Lee Zasloff From: IN%"William_R_STRICKLIN@umail.umd.edu" 18-MAY-1995 11:12:08.78 To: IN%"William_R_STRICKLIN@umail.umd.edu" "ws31" CC: Subj: RE: hen vocalization Mike requested that I forward his comments to the network. Ray Stricklin ----------- Begin Forwarded Message ------------ > Does the vocalization draw attention to the egg(s) or to the hen? My feeling is that in feral birds, the post-laying call is given on the way back from the nest to the flock, and given that the nest is cryptic would give very little risk of showing potential predators where the nest is. McBride suggested that the cock comes out from the flock to meet the returning hen and mates with her then, but I don't know if he had much evidence for that. I also don't know of much evidence about fertility; in fact there is some evidence that fertility may be low just after laying as well as just before, associated with contractions in the oviduct. However, I heard of a study at the University of Ottawa which found that some other species of bird (maybe swallows, but I can't remember) also tended to mate after laying and that fertility was indeed higher then. None of this really explains why hens make such a loud noise rather than just approaching the cock when they get back to him a few minutes later, but if it is an advantage to summon him for mating, the call would have to be loud. Certainly the fact that the call is given in commercial conditions from just outside the nest or even from within it is odd. I suspect that it may be because hens stay longer on the nest in these conditions. I don't know why they do that either. Perhaps it is related to the fact that nest boxes seem to be supernormal stimuli for nest site selection - perhaps this also delays them leaving. Chris Sherwin mentions that the post lay cackle sounds like an alarm call to us. It is sometimes implied that hens can tell the difference, while we can't, but I have often seen - and heard - a hen house fall still and silent in response to a post laying call. It seemed that only when other birds SAW the bird by the nest box calling, and hence got the visual information that she wasn't doing an alarm call, did they go back to what they were doing before. It would be good to test this experimentally. Mike Appleby ------------ End Forwarded Message ------------- From: IN%"MATTHEWSL@ruakura.cri.nz" 18-MAY-1995 16:45:50.44 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Beak trimming Hello All In New Zealand, we are currently updating our Code of Conduct for the keeping of Layer Hens. I am interested in hearing about the latest research on two topics in particular: 1. Beak trimming - is it still regarded as necessary for hens kept in groups of 3 to 6 in cages. Is it more important to beak trim in order to reduce cannibalism during the rearing phase? Is anyone running commercial operations with non-beak trimmed hens in cages? If so, what are the light levels and what are the benefits? disadvantages? 2. Space allowance - is there any work underway (or recently completed) on the effects of space allowance (controlling for group size) on welfare and production in caged hens. I'd be grateful for any information. Regards Lindsay Matthews ********************************* ********************************* Email: "MatthewsL@agresearch.cri.nz" Fax: +64 7 838 5727 Phone: +64 7 838 5569 Snail mail address: Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Centre AgResearch Ruakura Private Bag 3123 HAMILTON New Zealand ********************************** From: IN%"VUZV1@earn.cvut.cz" "Marek Spinka" 19-MAY-1995 03:06:54.06 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Applied Ethology" CC: Subj: Applied ethology in Novosibirsk Dear Andre, Thank you for your message about Dr. Lankin. I have just send him the information about ISAE, possibilities for publication in English, applied-ethology network etc. I hope he will soon become a member of the ISAE. I also suggested to Dr Lankin that it might be useful to strenghten communication between the Russian ethologists themselves. In fact, 4 people from the same institute as Dr. Lankin are already members of the ISAE and they participated in the last congress in Foulum. Their results were indeed interesting. Many people, though, had problems discussing with the Russian colleagues because of language problems. I would suggest that the most effective way to pull down the barrier between the Russian ethology and the world community is to encourage and help our Russian colleagues to publish their result in English in the wide-spread journals like Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Animal Behaviour, Ethology, Behaviour etc. All the best, Marek Spinka (ISAE regional secretary for Central and Eastern Europe) Group of Ethology Research Institute of Animal Production CZ - 104 00 Prague Uhrineves Czechia Phone: +42 2 750 387 Fax: +42 2 750 690 E-mail: vuzv1@csearn.bitnet OR vuzv1@earn.cvut.cz From: IN%"K.PLAXTON@elsevier.nl" 19-MAY-1995 03:26:41.39 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: APPLAN Contents Vols. 42/4 and 43/1 Applied Animal Behaviour Science Vol. 42, No. 4 March 1995 CONTENTS Behavior of grazing cattle exposed to small populations of stable flies (Stomoxys calcitrans L.) C.T. Dougherty, F.W. Knapp, P.B. Burrus, D.C. Willis, and P.L. Cornelius (Lexington, KY, USA) . . . . . . . . . . .231 Behavioral response to humans in individually handled weanling pigs H. Tanida, A. Miura, T. Tanaka and T. Yoshimoto (Kanagawa-ken, Japan) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249 Ontogeny of response to humans in handled and non-handled female domestic chicks R.B. Jones (Roslin, UK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261 Visual recognition of key nest site stimuli by laying hens in cages B.O. Hughes, J.C. Petherick, M.F. Brown and D. Waddington (Roslin, UK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .271 Nesting behaviour of hens: Effects of experience on motivation J.J. Cooper and M.C. Appleby (Edinburgh, UK) . . . .283 ********* Applied Animal Behaviour Science Vol. 43, No. 1 April 1995 CONTENTS Choice of sheep and cattle between vegetative and reproductive cocksfoot patches B. Dumont, M. Petit and P. D'hour (St Genes Champanelle, France) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Correlates and consequences of allopecking in White Leghorn chickens M.L. Leonard, A.G. Horn and R.W. Fairfull (Ottawa, Ont., Canada) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 The effect of caloric restriction on the behavior of pen-housed dogs: Transition from unrestricted to restricted diet S.L. Crowell-Davis, K. Barry (Athens, GA, USA), J.M. Ballam and D.P. Laflamme (St. Louis, MO, USA) . . . . . . . . .27 The effect of caloric restriction on the behavior of pen-housed dogs: Transition from restriction to maintenance diets and long-term effects S.L. Crowell-Davis, K. Barry (Athens, GA, USA), J.M. Ballam and D.P. Laflamme (St. Louis, MO, USA) . . . . . . . . .43 ***************************** Ken Plaxton Elsevier Science B.V. P.O. Box 181 1000 AD Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31 20 485 3332 Fax: +31 20 485 3325 E-mail: k.plaxton@elsevier.nl ***************************** From: IN%"MAPPLEBY@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk" "Mike Appleby" 19-MAY-1995 03:53:36.21 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: ISAE Meeting in Stara Lesna - Abstracts 1 1st Regional East Central European ISAE Meeting Stara Lesna, Slovakia, May 5 1995 PROGRAM INVITED REVIEW PAPERS Appleby, M.C. (U.K.) Behaviour, housing and welfare of farm animals: costs and benefits Savory, C.J. (U.K.) Do abnormal behaviours of captive birds reflect specific deficits in foraging? von Borell, E. (Germany) How do farm animals communicate? FREE PAPERS Marx, G. (Germany) Vocalization and social motivated spatial orientation of chicken Baranyiova, E. & Holub, A. (Czech Republic) Behaviour of indivi- dually reared piglets Illmann, G., Spinka, M. & Stetkova, Z. (Czech Republic) Influence of nursings without milk ejection on piglets' milk intake and weight gain Spinka, M., Illmann, G. & Stetkova, Z. (Czech Republic) The role of intervals between nursings in milk transfer in the domestic pig Keszthelyi, T. (Hungary) ETO-FARM Link, M. (Germany) Effects of indoor and hut housing systems on clinical and physiological indicators of pregnant and farrowing sows Hrouz, J. & Hajnys, T. (Czech Republic) Changes in the behaviour of animals in relation to breeding level Ivanov, I. D. & Djorbineva, M. (Bulgaria) Types of higher nervous activity in machine milked ewes and influence of types over functional parameters of the udder and grazing behaviour Kostal, L. & Savory, C.J. (Slovakia, U.K.) GABAergic modulation of behaviour in restricted-fed broiler breeders Sterc, J., Novakova, V. & Babicky, A. (Czech Republic) Alimentary mother/litter interrelationship in rats POSTERS Hubinsky, V., Debrecwni, O. & Bulla, J. (Slovakia) Ethological-physiological characteristics of identical twins of calf Ivanov, I.D. & Djorbineva, M. (Bulgaria) Influence of the type of higher nervous activity over grazing behaviour in milking ewes Jezierski, T. & Jaworski, Z. (Poland) Effects of handling on hear rate and behaviour in young Konik horses reared under stable and free roaming conditions Kopovski, J. (Poland) Fearfulness in three lines of laying hens and relation to egg production Maletinska, J. & Spinka, M. (Czech Republic) Some causes of cross--suckling in piglets group-housed with their mothers Novacky, M. & Liday, I. (Slovakia) Problems of significance of behaviour indicators in the habituation process of pigs (Sus scrofa f. domestica) Prieger, K., Kantor, J. & Keszthelyi, T. (Hungary) Effects of different keeping technologies on the behaviour of chickens of various genotypes Tancin, V., Broucek, J., Uhrincat, M., Mihina, S. & Harcek, L. (Slovakia) Maintenance and feeding behaviour of the dairy calves fed by nursing cows Uhrincat, M., Broucek, J., Tancin, V., Mihina, S. & Kovalcik, K. (Slovakia) Effect of different drinking intervals on maintenance and feeding behaviour of calves Uhrincat, M., Tancin, V., Kovalcikova, M., Broucek, J. & Mihina, S. (Slovakia) The distance of breast-fence arms and manger bottom height - requirements of various age categories of heiferes Wnuk, A., Konecka, A.M., Jezierski, T. & Gebler, E. (Poland) Cage type, nest quality and visits of rabbit does in the nest in relation to pup mortality and behaviour ABSTRACTS INVITED REVIEW PAPERS BEHAVIOUR, HOUSING AND WELFARE OF FARM ANIMALS: COSTS AND BENEFITS M.C. Appleby Institute of Ecology and Resource Management University of Edinburgh West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK It has been increasingly recognised in recent years that an understanding of the behaviour of farm animals is important for many aspects of production (for example, reliable detection of oestrus in dairy cattle, arrangement of efficient handling facilities and design of feeders which minimise spillage of food). Study of behaviour is also important in assessing animal welfare, for two main reasons. First, there are welfare problems associated with behaviour itself: restriction of certain behaviour patterns (such as nesting in hens and sows) causes frustration and the presence of others (aggression, cannibalism) is harmful. Second, behaviour can be symptomatic of other problems, such as disease. In many cases production and welfare are related; thus reduction of aggression and cannibalism is important both for economic and humanitarian reasons. However, in other cases study of behaviour indicates that improvements in production bring disadvantages for welfare (for example, increased growth rate of broilers and pigs has led to hunger of broiler breeders and sows under food restriction). Perhaps the most important difference between a production viewpoint and a welfare viewpoint is that the former concentrates on the group of animals whereas the latter emphasises the individual (thus increasing stocking density often decreases growth rate o f individual pigs but increases the profit from the pig farm). The cost of improving welfare can in some cases be partially offset by increased income from specialist products (free range meat, free range eggs), but the market for these is limited, and more so in some countries than others. Overall the balance between the priorities of production and welfare will be determined by interactions between economics and legislation. Economics can therefore not be divorced from environmental design, which suggests that cost-benefit analysis will be increasingly important. It is limited by lack of a common currency between response and cost, and therefore can not produce quantitative decisions on environmental design. However, it can provide the framework for relevant factors to be identified and considered in a structured way. This argues that in the future we will need to know much more about the very complex relationships b etween environmental design, behaviour and welfare. DO ABNORMAL BEHAVIOURS OF CAPTIVE BIRDS REFLECT SPECIFIC DEFICITS IN FORAGING? C.J. Savory Roslin Institute (Edinburgh), Roslin, Midlothian, UK Foraging in any species consists of a series of appetitive and consumatory processes, and Hogan (1971) showed that integration of these in young chicks depends on experience of post-ingestional consequences. In other work with chicks, Sterritt and Smith (1965) concluded that feedback from pecking and from delivery of food into the crop are both reinforcing, but only in interaction with each other. In seems possible that all components of foraging, including walking, ground scratching and oro-pharyngneal stimulation, may represent separate potential sources of reinforcement. In natural environments, where foraging may take up much time, levels at which different components are expressed presumably depend on factors such as diet, food availability, nutrient density etc. However, in captivity some components are likely to be suppressed relative to these levels, because of confinement, free access to concentrated food, or chronic food restriction. It is suggested that under these conditions, compon ents of foraging that are suppressed are likely to be expressed in apparently inappropriate ways, but in appropriate contexts, in response to specific deficits in reinforcement. This assumes a homeostatic basis to reinforcing processes. This hypothesis is considered here in relation to abnormal behaviours shown by ad libitum-fed and restricted-fed captive birds. AD LIBITUM-FED BIRDS Contra-freeloading When given a choice between working for food and freely available food, pigeons and domestic fowls have been found to work for at least part of their daily food consumption. New evidence shows how food particle size and nutrient density are related to levels of feeding activity, contra-freeloading, and other forms of oral behaviourr. Variation in feeding efficiency Typically, feeding efficiency (g food eaten/min feeding) is lower in laying strains of fowl than in broilers, and varies with food form, time of day, and environmental complexity. Times spent feeding by laying hens in different environments are negatively correlated with ground pecking and scratching behaviour. Object pecking Object pecking (and "exploratory" pecking at food) in cages substitute for ground pecking in pens. Caged hens with access to food for only part of the day showed stereotyped spot-pecking after the feeding period. It may reflect continued expression of foraging. Feather pecking Hens in pens with intermittent access to food showed ground pecking after feeding periods when litter was present, and feather pecking after feeding when it was not. This supports the proposal that feather pecking represents redirected ground pecking. Route-tracing Stereotyped pacing in hens is specific to the pre-laying context, but that seen in caged birds may reflect a more general effect of confinement. RESTRICTED-FED BIRDS The level of chronic food restriction imposed, and associated reduction in body weight, are correlated positively with levels of both general activity and expression of abnormal behaviour, and hence, presumably, with feeding motivational state and arousal. Operant conditioning Schedule-induced polydipsia, autoshaping, complex stereotyped sequences, and other forms of "misbehaviour" have all been described in restricted-fed birds with various forms of operant feeding. The types of behaviour seen appear to be context specific in relation to food presentations. Contra-freeloading has also been demonstrated in hungry pigeons, but only after they had eaten substantial amounts of free food in test sessions. Simple feeding schedules Restricted-fed broiler breeders show increasing anticipatory pacing before their single daily meal and declining oral behaviour afterwards, some of which is stereotyped, and which is presumed to reflect persistence of unfulfilled foraging. Drinking, pecking at any non-food object (including litter) and preening can all substitute with each other as dominant post-feeding activities (hence distinction of "stereotypies" in this context may be misleading). During a period of mild food restriction in a l ayer strain, object pecking substituted immediately and completely for time that would have been spent feeding. Despite the characteristic changes in broiler breeder behaviour before and after feeding, described above, feeding motivational state appears to remain consistently high at all times of day, judging from results of operant feeding tests. This apparent discrepancy may be accounted for by a distinction between motivational state and arousal. A growing body of evidence is consistent with the notion of a primary role for homeostasis of arousal (Delius, 1970) underlying the changes in behaviour of restri cted-fed animals before and after feeding time. References Delius, J.D., 1970. Irrelevant behaviour, information processing and arousal homeostasis. Psychol. Forsch. 33:165-188. Hogan, J.A., 1971. The development of a hunger system in young chicks. Behaviour 39:128-201. Sterritt, G.M. and Smith, M.P., 1965. Reinforcement effects of specific components of feeding in young Leghorn chicks. J. Comp. Psychol. 59:171-175. HOW DO FARM ANIMALS COMMUNICATE? E. von Borell Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, University of Halle, Halle, Germany 1. Introduction All animals communicate by some combination of visual, auditory, olfactory means and through physical contact. Such combination has critical roles in survival of individuals and the species since they have functions related to protection, reproduction, maternal behaviour and learning. Understanding communication between animals and recognising their emotional state is a vital part of animal husbandry. Sensory abilities, meaning and significance of the signals animals are sending are often not very w ell investigated and understood. Visual signals are probably best perceived and understood by humans, but many of the olfactory messages cannot be detected and interpreted. Humans are aware of vocal communications by animals, but the meaning of most calls remain to be decoded. The following paper briefly discusses some basic principles of the sensory system and aspects of farm animal communication. 2. Sensation, Perception and Emotion The five sensory systems that interpret stimuli from outside the body are vision, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. The general process of perceiving can be divided into two distinct phases called sensation and perception. Sensation refers to the process of detecting the presence of simple stimuli and perception refers to the higher-order process of integrating, recognising, and interpreting complex patterns of sensations. The perception of sensory stimuli is species-specific and depends on previous individual experience. As an example, potentially threatening individuals (such as humans) elicit emotional responses in pigs depending on their previous positive or negative experience. The emotional response consists of three components: behavioural, autonomic and hormonal. The behavioural component consists of muscular movements that are appropriate to the situation that elicits them (escape attempts and vocalisations). Autonomic responses facilitate the behaviours and provide mobilisation of en ergy for immediate movements (increase in heart rate). Hormonal responses reinforce the autonomic response (steroid hormones support glucose availability for the muscles). In terms of communication, emotions are often demonstrated to others by means of postural changes and facial expressions. Charles Darwin (1872) already suggested that emotional expressions are innate and unlearned. More recent research tend to confirm Darwin's hypothesis that at least facial expressions of emotions are innate. Other means of communicating emotions, such as body movements and vocalisations are at least partly learned. Emotional responses to (threatening) stimuli are organised by a structure in the brain called amygdala, consisting of several groups of nuclei located within the temporal lobes. Thus, stimulation of the amygdala leads to emotional responses, and it's destruction disrupts them. Whether or not domestic animal species show emotional responses to environmental stimuli or to other animals depend on t heir cognitive abilities. Duncan and Petherick (1991) therefore suggested that animal welfare is dependent solely on the cognitive needs of the animals concerned. 3. Sensory Capabilities and Communication Effective communication is a two-way process. Thus communication between animals depends on their sensory abilities to perceive messages. The following chapter summarises some species characteristics related to sensory capability and communication: In general, farm animals hear, see and smell in a different way as humans do. Pigs and ruminants are able to hear higher frequencies and their visual field ranges from 300-360 degrees. All domestic animals have been shown to possess colour vision. Literature on farm animal behaviour is full of descriptions and interpretations on body movements and postures relative to social behaviour and communication. Less is known about the significance of olfactory cues and very little research has been done on auditor y signals and their function in animal communication. a) Pigs Auditory signals and vocalizations are well developed in pigs. Because pigs can not move their ears as well as other animals, localisations of sound are made by moving the head. Acoustical signals are important in the overall social organisation of pigs. Twenty different calls have been identified, of which six are easily recognisable to humans (Hafez and Signoret, 1969). The most common auditory signals are grunts, barks and squeals. Hearing in pigs ranges from 42 Hz to 40.5 kHz, with a region of b est sensitivity from 250 Hz to 16 kHz. The pig's vision is highly developed although visual signals do not appear to be as important as auditory and olfactory signals. The light wavelengths to which pigs are most sensitive range from 465 to 689 nm. Visual cues are used by boars to assess the reproductive state of the female. It is suggested that the tail position (tightly curled) is a good index of general well-being. Olfactory stimuli serve to identify pigs individually. Ventral body surface is a preferred site of sniffing. Pigs can form a dominance hierarchy while blindfolded, providing evidence of the importance of olfactory stimuli. b) Cattle Hearing tends to be less important in cattle than vision, but it is of importance in inter- and intra-species communication. Schloeth (1961) describes eleven different calls in cattle. The low amplitude "mm" is a common call given by the cow to her calf. A "mmh" call is given when a cow is isolated. A hungry cow will give a high-intensity "menh" call. Vision is the dominant sense use by cattle. Cattle can discriminate colour well, especially at long wavelengths (yellow, orange and red). Olfactory cues are very important for sexual activity. Cattle distinguish conspecifics by odour of the urine. Male urine is more easily distinguished than female urine. Specific oestrus odours are released from the body surface, particularly from the genital region. c) Sheep and Goats Sheep and goats use vocalisation as a means of communication, especially if they become separated from the flock. The ewe learns the specific frequency of the lamb's "baa" and likewise the lamb learns the mother's. A high positive correlation exists between vocalisations and activity in lambs. Sheep and goats use vision primarily as their means of communication. Sheep are gregarious and like to stay together, so they look up to see if they are still with the group. Totally blind sheep are abnormal in some behaviours. Stamping in sheep is a visual signal for aggression. Colour vision is similar to cattle. Sheep and goats are able to distinguish conspecifics by means of olfaction. Olfactory cues are very significant for the recognition of the young by the mother. d) Chickens Chickens do not have an ear lobe, but they have a well-developed ear. Calls range from 250 Hz (the broody hen "cluck") to about 6 kHz (distress call). Hearing in general ranges from 60 Hz to 12 kHz. The visual field is about 300o with a binocular field of 26o. Their acuity (sharpness) is good and they have good distance vision. Chickens can discriminate between squares, triangles, red and black dots. They prefer to peck at round rather than flat objects. The sense of smell is considered to be poorly developed. It is suggested that blood ca be smelled. Chickens are known for their sensitivity to detect minor water temperature differences. 4. Conclusions Understanding the sensory capabilities and means of communication is critical for the care and welfare of farm animal husbandry. The meaning and significance of the signals animals are sending are often not very well investigated and understood. Communication between humans and animals are becoming more important as social communication between animals is often disrupted in modern husbandry practices. Olfactory and visual systems are probably the most important factors in an animal's recognition of other animals and humans. The existence of this ability in animals underscores the importance of interactions with other animals and/or humans. Since sensory recognition involves learning and memory and since these are based in neural areas of the brain normally associated with emotional responses, it is logical to conclude that cognitive processes are involved. 5. Literature Literature on the subject can be requested from the author. From: IN%"MAPPLEBY@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk" "Mike Appleby" 19-MAY-1995 03:58:14.55 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: ISAE meeting at Stara Lesna - abstracts 2 1st Regional East Central European ISAE Meeting Stara Lesna, Slovakia, May 5 1995 FREE PAPERS VOCALIZATION AND SOCIAL MOTIVATED SPATIAL ORIENTATION OF CHICKEN Gunther Marx Institute for Small Animal Research Celle/Merbitz, Federal Agricultural Research Centre Braunschweig-Vflkenrode (FAL), Germany Introduction Objective evaluation of behavioural reactions in farm animal is of major importance for welfare research. With the introduction of a numeric analysis of sound signals in chicken we have the ability to quantify this behaviour. Therefore we use the distress call (COLLIAS & JOOS, 1953) as a model for an examination of environmental influence on animal behaviour. The chicken is a social animal and especially the chick need social contact for a normal development. So we have focused our interest on social requirements as refected in the calls of chick. One important function of the distress call is the reestablishment of social contact after its loss. This is expressed by the German word "Verlassenheitslaut". In our laboratory we use three behavioural tests combined with numeric sound analysis for the components of social behaviour: The social reinstatement test is a modified open field test following the method created by MILLS & FAURE (1983) as a test of social proximity behaviour in quail. The step isolation test is an open field test of groups with succestive reduction of group size. The individual isolation test an open field test with total visual and auditory isolation of a single animal. Materials and Methods In the Social-Reinstatement-Test each animal has to find its way to a hidden group of animals. The test compartment is a modified open field with a group of animals as a goal. On the start point, the animal can not hear the vocalization of the group. In this part of test the animals show the typical open-field-behaviour. For orientation, we take the time until the crossing of the line to the compartment with acoustic stimuli (ta) and time of to reach the group (tg). Then we estimate the social rea ctions of animal by the degree of turn to the group within the next 5 minutes (for a comprehensive description see MARX & LEPPELT, 1995). For the Step-Isolation-Test a variable number of animals were moved from their home unit to a sound attenuated chamber. In the test chamber the chicks were acoustically and visually isolated from the rest of the housing group. During a 4 minutes period, all calls were recorded, after which the group was successively reduced in size removing one chick at a time. The 4-minute call recording procedures with the subsequent removing of animals was repeated until a single chick remained. This procedure al lowed us to determine the variation of vocalization of the distress calls with the number of animals in the Step-Isolation-Test. A considerable social stress was included at the beginning of the test in that way that size of the isolated group was reduced by approximately 50 % in the number of animals. Throughout testing, vocalizations were recorded by a tape recorder. For individual isolation test each animal was taken carefully from their home box and placed in a sound proof test box. The animal in the test box can not see or hear its companions. Distress vocalization from each chicken was recorded by a tape recorder (REVOX BR99). The call sonagrams of samples were calculated on a signal analyser MOSIP 3000 (MEDAV). The numeric sound analysis was made from this sonagram on a PC by a program described by MARX (1993). Results and Discussion Long time structure of vocalization In this experiment we tested 33 meat type chicken on day 6 or 7 of life in the individual isolation teat (IIT) and on day 8 or 9 in the social reinstatement test. We measured the duration of inter call intervals (ICI) in the first 80 sec of vocalization during the IIT. The distribution of ICI is typical for a behaviour with a bout structure. We can use an ICI of about 0,5 sec as inter bout interval. The bout lenght varies in a wide range (1 to 120 calls/bout). The highest frequencies have the shorter bouts. 71,1 % of the bouts are shorter than 10 calls per bout. But the majority of calls were emitted in long bouts (52,95 % of calls in bouts with 20 and more calls). Only 2,53 % of the calls were emitted as single calls. The formation of bouts varies between animals. So we have determinated the median of bout lenght (MBL) and the number of first long bout with 10 or more calls per bout (FLB) for each animal. The parameters of long time structure of distress vocalization - median of bout lengh, latency of first call (to), the number of calls in 80 sec (n) and first long bout - were compared with body condition and reaction in the Social-Reinstatement-Test (MARX & LEPPELT, 1995) as shown in Table 1. Table 1: Means of bout parameters for animals assigned to groups by body weight and the degree of turn to group behaviour or orientation speed in the social reinstatement test body weight turn to group orientation speed unit < mean > mean < 0.5 > 0.5 < 5 min > 5 min t0 2.53 3.37 4.82 2.08 4.16 1.25 sec MBL 22.5 5.17 20.0 9.03 14.82 9.77 calls n 161.28 150.0 160.84 154.13 151.45 159.92 calls FBL 4.64 8.0 5.54 6.33 6.4 6.85 bouts Animals with lower body weight showed significantly more calls in longer bouts. Chicks with a fast orientation reaction in the Social- -Reinstatement-Test have a shorter latency until the first call. Comparisons of call features revealed differences between single call short bouts and long bouts. Single call are in general shorter and have a lower energy (p<0,05). This is a sign for lower distress (MARX & LAUBE, 1994). The calls in short or long bouts were not different. The differences in call parameters between most of the animals were significant. But they have the same direction in calls from short bouts as in calls from long bouts. Call structure and Social-Reinstatement-Test In the second experiment we used 20 meat type chicken from buildings with two different management procedures: Building A - approx. 23000 animals, 24 h-light cycle Building B - approx. 18000 animals, natural day and night We recorded the distress vocalization during tha Social- -Reinstatement-Test. The orientation speed of animals was not influenced management, but the degree of turn to group (DTG) differed significantly (Stable A: DTG=0,370, Stable B: DTG=0,531; p<0,05) The animals in stable B showed in general more behavioural activities as those in Building A. The analysis of distress calls also revealed longer duration and a higher energy of calls as in Building B. This may be a sign for a higher state of excitement by animals in the SRT. For a better understanding of the behavioural responses animals we divided the animals in two groups according to orientation speed (slow, fast) or turn to group reaction (high, low). The emotional call parameters (call duration and coefficient of energy concentration) showed significant differences between the stables only in the groups with slow orientation or high social reaction (degree of turn to group). These data are arranged in Table 2. Table 2: Means of call parameters from animals assigned to groups by orientation speed and degree of the turn to group behaviour in the Social-Reinstatement-Test. (SD in parantesis) orientation speed turn to group fast slow high low tg < 5 min tg > 5 min DTM > 0.5 DTM < 0.5 building A B A B A B A B CD 159.1 159.0 150.6 182.9 152.3 157.3 153.8 160.7 [msec] (16.98) (21.57) (23.53) (31.64) (8.02) (24.23) (22.55) (18.8) TSA 20.82 31.6 4.89 9.12 24.52 51.52 10.84 11.68 [AV] (25.64) (40.4) (3.23) (3.7) (29.38) (48.41) (14.78) (12.48) CEC 41.02 42.3 38.31 42.26 39.61 43.8 40.45 40.8 [%] (6.54) (5.58) (4.63) (5.93) (7.68) (6.42) (5.15) (4.19) PFmax 4220 4468 4210 4165 4215 4287 4212 4670 [Hz] (342) (260) (226) (123) (405) (155) (232) (196) CD - call duration; TSA - total sum amplitudes; AV - amplitude value; CEC - coefficient of energy concentration; PF - pitch frequency Conclusion The numeric sound analysis of distress calls can provide new information above the state of excitement in chicks. The bout structure is also an important feature of distress vocalization. The icteractions between body condition, orientation behaviour and vocalization in isolation show the sensitivity of the control system of vocalization. The analysis of short and long time structure can be provide more information about animal environment interactions. References COLLIAS, N.E.; JOOS, M. (1953): The spectrogrphic analysis of sound signals of the domestic fowl. Behaviou 5, S. 175-188 MARX, G. (1993): Entwicklung einer Methode zur numerischen Lautsignalanalyse - mit Beispielen zur Ontogenese und Aktualgenese des Verlassenheitslautes bei Hbhnerkbken. Diss. Martin-Luther-Universitdt Halle-Wittenberg, Landbauforschung Vflkenrode Sonderheft 149 MARX, G.; LAUBE, R.-B. (1994): MeSbarkeit von Indikatoren fbr Emotionen in LautduSerungen, Aktuelle Arbeiten zur artgemdSen Tierhaltung 1993, S. 192-201 MARX, G.; LEPPELT, J. (1995): Orientation and social reinstatement of chicken (in preparation) MILLS, A.D.; FAURE, J.-M. (1991): Divergent selection for duration of tonic immobility and social reinstatement behavior in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) chicks. J. Comp. Psychol. 105 (1), 25-38 LEPPELT, J.; SPILKE, J.; MARX, G. (1995): Social effects on distress vocalisation in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus dom.) (in preparation) BEHAVIOUR OF INDIVIDUALLY REARED PIGLETS E. Baranyiova 1 & A. Holub 1 Department of Biochemistry, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic At birth, the continuous nutrient supply abruptly ceases, and newborn piglets begin their postnatal life with minimum energy stores available. A rapid formation of the biological unit mother-litter aimed at their nutritional needs is therefore crucial for piglet survival. This bond is behavioural in character with a sequence of events leading to milk ejection by the sow and milk ingestion by the litter. The highly organized unit is destroyed when piglets are transferred to solitary nutrition, as it is with early weaning (Holub 1994). We used this method of weaning (Holub 1964) to study some of the food intake control mechanisms in individual piglets from day 1 of postnatal life (BaranyiovA & Holub 1989, BaranyiovA 1991). Along with change in character of food consumption their feeding behaviour changed. We therefore studied in more detail the transitory phase from an initial short maternal nutrition to solitary feeding of piglets. Food intake and behaviour of piglets separated from their mothers and littermates between 12 and 24 h of birth were recorded. The piglets ( group A n=30, group B n=15) were kept individually in cages (40 x 40 x 40 cm) in a thermoneutral environment. The floors of the cages were heated to 38 oC. After the piglets were 7 d of age, the temperature of the heating pads was gradually decreased. The arrangement of cages for group A made a visual, auditory and olfactory contact between piglets possible wh ereas for group B, visual contact was eliminated. The piglets were bottle-fed a milk diet Selasan (group A) or Purina (group B) warmed to 38-40 oC, offered to them 9 times a day from 6 to 22 h. They were able to suckle the diet, except for an 8 h pause at night, at 2 h intervals to satiety. They were weighed daily before the first feeding, and their diet intake was measured by weighing the bottles before and after feedings. In group B, observations and videorecordings were made. On the day of weaning, the piglets in group A required 2.6+ 0.25, and in group B 3.5+0.3 "feeding sessions" to begin active suckling. The diet intake in group A gradually increased from 5.6+1.8 at 14 h to 35.0+1.9 g at 22 h, in group B from 1.0+0.4 to 26.6+3.40 g. On day two, the diet intake began to be more evenly distributed over the 9 feedings, and oscillated between 34.8+2.7 and 48+4 2.4 g in group A, and between 29.7+5.4 and 45.0+3.6 g in group B. The diet portions were consumed in 26.0+2.2 s on day 2 (i.e. 1.61+0.15 g of the diet was consumed per second), in 24.5+4.5 to 48.5+4.5 s on day 3. A prominent feature of the feeding behaviour in piglets is nosing. Having lost their source of nutrition as the nosing object when reared individually, they gradually began to show this behaviour again after a lapse of 4-5 days in that they were nosing against the cage walls in anticipation of feeding. It was most prominent and coordinated between days 8 and 14-15. Only exceptionally did they show n osing after feeding. It is concluded that different nutritional environment and partial isolation from social experience crucial for survival under natural conditions affect also the behaviour of piglets. Nevertheless, the mechanisms involved in meeting the nutritional needs of piglets, also the behavioural ones, are highly flexible, and enable them not only to survive but to thrive and grow rapidly. Holub, A.: Vet. Med. Czech, 39, 1994:117-132 Holub, A.: Zivoc. vyr., 9, 1964:539-544 Baranyiova, E., Holub, A.: Physiol. bohemoslov., 38,1989:267-274 Baranyiova, E.: Acta vet. Brno, 60, 1991:127-136 INFLUENCE OF NURSINGS WITHOUT MILK EJECTION ON PIGLETS MILK INTAKE AND WEIGHT GAIN Gudrun Illmann, Marek Spinka and Zuzana Stetkova Research Institute of Animal Production, Prague-Uhrineves, Czechia In domestic pigs, up to 30% nursings occur without milk ejection (non-nutritive nursings). Little is known about the causes and significance of such nursings. The aim of this study was to investigate whether non-nutritive nursings, when included into a regular rhythm of nursings with milk letdown, affect udder massage, milk intake and body weight gain in early lactation. On days 7 or 8 post partum, seven sows were manipulated to nurse every 70 min (group MIN70) for a period of 24 hours, and preliminary five sows were enforced into the same 70-min interval with non-nutritive nursings 15 min after each milk ejection (group MIN70+15). The piglets had a possibility to massage the udder for 10 minutes during both nutritive and non-nutritive nursings. Milk intake was estimated by the weigh-suckle-weigh method. First results show that the total duration of udder massage was considerably longer in group MIN70+15 (medians 281 vs. 143 min, Mann-Whitney U-test, p=0.005). In both groups some sows used to interrupt the nursing early after milk let-down while others allowed a long udder massage. In both groups litters massaged the udder for at least 10 minutes from 70% to 100% (median 100%) of all nursings with milk ejection which were not interrupted by the mother. In group MIN70+15 the sow allowed udder massage by piglets in 91% (median) during non-nutritive nursings. The piglets massaged the udder in 72% during such nursings. This indicates a high motivation for massaging by piglets in both g roups and by mothers during non-nutritive nursing. However, during the whole 24-hour- period the weight gain was the same in both groups (140 g vs. 144 g, t-test, n.s.). Both groups have nearly the same decrease in weight gain during the 24-hour manipulation of nursing rhythm in comparison with the weight gain during a unmanipulated period 24 h one day before (group MIN70+15 decreased 28% and group MIN70 decreased 32%, ttest, n.s.). Our results suggest different explanations. First, the effect of m assage during non- nutritive nursings occurs later. Second, the massage during non-nutritive nursings has no influence on milk production. Than the question remains, why do piglets massage so long during non-nutritive nursings? THE ROLE OF INTERVALS BETWEEN NURSINGS IN MILK TRANSFER IN THE DOMESTIC PIG M. Spinka 1, G. Illmann 1, Z. Stetkova 1 & B. Algers 2 1 Research Institute of Animal Production, Prague - Uhrineves, Czechia 2 Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden Domestic sows nurse about 20 times a day in early lactation, but the typical inter-nursing interval differs among individuals and often changes significantly within the same sow. The role of inter-nursing intervals (INI) in determining milk production was studied in 2 experiments. First, nursing intervals and milk intake were recorded for 6 hours on each of the 3 first days p.p. in 12 litters. Seven out of 12 sows decreased or increased their INI by 20% to 50% either between Days 1 and 2 or between Days 2 and 3. The change in INI was negatively correlated with the change in milk production (Spearman rS=-0.85, p<0.001 for Days 1 and 2; rS=-0.68, p<0.05 for Days 2 and 3). The second experiment was performed on 7-days-old litters. Eight sows were manipulated to nurse their litters every 35 minutes for a period of 24 hours (group MIN35) and 8 sows were enforced into a 70-min nursing interval (group MIN70). Milk intake was estimated by the weigh-suckle-weigh method. Piglets from MIN70 litters ingested on the average 39% more milk at each nursing (27.2 g vs. 19.6 g, t-test, p<0.01). However, during the whole 24-hour-period, MIN35 piglets ingested 25% more milk (694 g vs. 553 g, t-test, p<0.05) and gained 44% more weight (196 g vs. 136 g, t-test, p<0.01). In this experiment, we also analyzed differences between the 2 group in udder massage after milk ejection. In both groups, some sows used to interrupt the nursing early after milk ejection while others allowed a long udder massage. MIN70 litters massaged the udder for at least 10 minutes in 84% of all nursings which were not interrupted by the mother, whereas the MIN35 litters used this opportunity in only 35% of n ursings (Mann-Whitney Utest, p=0.01). We propose that spontaneous changes of the nursing rhythm in early lactation may profoundly affect milk intake, weight gain and udder massaging behaviour. ETO-FARM T. Keszthelyi Faculty of Agricultural Engineering Gfdfllf University of Agricultural Sciences, Hungary ETO-FARM JAkotpuszta-Bercel was established according to the provisions of the Committee of the European Convention for the Protection of Animals, with special regard to ethology, thus setting a model for Hungarian and other European specialists, particularly young colleagues. It is primarily a milking sheep farm with 1000 milking sheep and it is: - specialized for quality products and based on traditional farming; in the milk processing plant of the farm ewe-cheese of very good quality will be produced thus widening the range of marketable Hungarian food products; - farming according to the ecological conditions: - maintaining the so called "puszta" farming culture; - model for sustainable animal Husbandry, animal welfare on the basis of European standards; - model for the farmers of the region, Hungary and Eastern Europe; - training farm for students of European universities; - practical training base also for the students of secondary and agricultural technical schools; - planned to carry out applied research; - supporting the native "cigAja" sheep (1000). EFFECTS OF INDOOR AND HUT HOUSING SYSTEMS ON CLINICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF PREGNANT AND FARROWING SOWS M. Link 1, B. Oldigs 2, E. Kallweit 1, D. Smidt 1 1 Institut fbr Tierzucht und Tierverhalten, Bundesfor- schungsanstalt fbr Landwirtschaft (FAL) Braunschweig - Vflkenrode 2 Institut fbr Tierzucht und Tierhaltung, Christian- Albrechts-Universitdt in Kiel, Germany In Germany public interest in animal welfare has increased and the animal protection law was tightend. At the same time the improvement of housing systems for sows has been one of the most important tasks for applied ethology during the last years. The st udy presented investigated the effects of three different outdoor and indoor housing systems on sows over a period of 12 months. The following clinical and physiological indicators were used: Clinical Condition Rate of Illness Breeding Performance Red and white Blood picture Bloodgas Status Products of metabolism in the Blood Antibodies and Contents of the milk Serum Electrolytes Serum Enzymes It was shown, that the sows of the outdoor housing system were more often covered with dirt, they had a higher incidence of skin-lesions and lameness than the sows of the indoor housing system. On the other hand the animals of the outdoor system had less itches and flaking skin and they show less grazed udders. The indoor kept sows showed an eosinopenia caused by stress. In the outdoor housing system the oxygene saturation in the blood of the sows was lower. The activity of the alcaline phosphatase was lower and the concentration of the creatine kinase was higher compared to the animals in the indoor housing systems. The content of iron in the serum of sows was higher in the outdoor system, whereas the concentration of Creatinine was lower than in the indoor kept sows. The higher rate of sows covered with dirt in the outdoor system was caused by natural behaviour patterns like wallowing and digging in the pasture. This can be rated positively in terms of animal welfare. Although the dirt should not consist of manure and urine, because of natural behaviour reasons as well as hygienic aspects. The result of the clinical examination shows skin lesions in all three housing systems. A higher number of scratches in the outdoor housing system confronts with more grazed udders caused by the interior of the housing system. The skin lesions were caused by inadequate housing systems which the animals could not adapt to. The physiological indicators show, that the metabolism of the animals is affected by the housing system. The low number of eosinophilic granulocytes in the sow blood of the indoor housing systems are a sign for a stress of some kind. The stress syndrome causes an eosinopenia in the blood. In the outdoor housing system the activity of the animals, the social interactions and the influence of the outdoor climate lead to a higher utilisation of oxygene, which appears in a lower saturation of the venous blood with oxygene than in the indoor housing systems. The higher activity of the alkaline phosphatase in the outdoor housing system shows, that the skeletal metabolism is increased by regular activity and exercise. The low concentration of the creatinkinase indicates, that regular exercise prevents overstrengthening muscular stress, causing cell destruction. None of the housing systems tested in this study has shown unlimited positive results. Summarizing, the system in which the animals were kept in groups outdoors were better for the animals than the indoor housing systems with individual kept sows. The low input of cost and energy as well as the flexibility of outdoor housing of pigs in huts makes this system interesting from the view of business management. In addition, in Germany the acceptance of outdoor housing of pigs by the consumers, makes it profitable in certain programs for quality meat. CHANGES IN THE BEHAVIOUR OF ANIMALS IN RELATION TO BREEDING LEVEL J. Hrouz 1 & T. Hajnys 2 1 Department of General Animal Husbandry, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry, Brno 2 East Bohemian Zoological Garden, Dver KrAlovw n/L., Czech Republic Manifestations of animal behaviour represent obviously the most plastic component of the phenotype which represents not only the compaction of animal and the major part of its physiological functions but also reflects in the most rapid way its health condition. In animals, behavioral changes are usually very closely associated with their domestication. Genetically conditioned changes in individual activities as well as the adaptation of animals in the course of domestication were correlated with changes in their body morphology and in their physiological functions. In the course of evolution, individual populations adapted themselves under given environmental conditions to produce the optimum forms of survival and it can be concluded that preferred were those individuals which were adapted at best. Within the process of domestication, when the criteria of selection were defined by Man, the differences between wild and domestic animals became wider and wider. The process of domestication may be defined as a selection pressure directed against those genotypes which are sensitive to stress factors. This results in a marked reduction in both defensive and escaping reactions of cultural breeds of animals. Changes in both locomotion activities and swiftness of animals are also usual. The difference between wild and domestic animals of the same species consists also in the magnitude of threshold stimuli of the same reaction. The authors define domestication as a process in the course of which t he populations of wild animals adapt themselves to the presence of Man and conditions of confinement and when the genotype of animals becomes to be combined with environmental effects. Individual capacities animals to adapt their behaviour and physiological functions then define the degree of their domestication. The authors mention five categories of behavioral changes which are conditioned by the process of domestication: - changes of quantitative nature (reduction of distrust threshold in relation to Man) - dissociation of related forms of behaviour - limitation of specific stimuli of perception - persistency of manifestation of juvenile behaviour in adult age - changes in behaviour as conditioned by morphology of animals Genetic mechanisms influencing the behaviour of animals under conditions of domestication pressure were studied by Newman (1994). This author followed interactions genotype-environment and paid attention also to transgenous animals. NovackX and Liday (1994) mentioned that such traits as emotionality, adaptability and stress resistance may be genetically conditioned. They pointed out the sensitivity of young hens to photo- stimulation which, in their opinion, were associated with the degree of domestication. They found out that in young hens of a broiler line of domestic fowl the response to photostimulation was reduced, the onset of sexual maturity was delayed and the production of eggs was decreased. These authors explain these phenomena on the basis of reduced flow of light and decreased activities on the axis hypothalamus, hypophysis, ovarial glands. At the same time it is also possible to observe changes in the behaviour of flock as related to reproduction. Boivin et al. (1994) evaluated effects of cattle genotypes on the sensitivity of animals and their perception. They emphasized the importance of the first three months of the age of calves for the formation of their good relationship to Man. Behaviour is considered to be that component of genotype which enters the process of evolution not only as its result (consequence) but also as one of its moving forces. Our considerations are based on the relationship existing between the organism and its environment and, especially, on th e fact that the behaviour of animals does not form only a given species but that it is important also for the formation and a further development of the whole ecosystem. Changes in the behaviour of animals in dependence on the degree of selection (i.e. on the intensity of the process of domestication) demonstrate the evolution which takes place in this field of research and may also indicate the requirements of animals to their environment and welfare formation. Boivin, X. et al.: Applied Animal Behav.Sci., 39 (1994) 115-122 Newman, S.: J.Anim.Sci., 72 (1994)1641-1653 Novacky, M., Liday, I.: Zivoc. vyr., 39 (1994)6O5-612 From: IN%"MAPPLEBY@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk" "Mike Appleby" 19-MAY-1995 04:04:08.52 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: ISAE at Stara Lesna - abstracts 4 1st Regional East Central European ISAE Meeting Stara Lesna, Slovakia, May 5 1995 POSTERS CONTINUED THE DISTANCE OF BREAST-FENCE ARMS AND MANGER BOTTOM HEIGHT - REQUIREMENTS OF VARIOUS AGE CATEGORIES OF HEIFERS M. Uhrincat, V. Tancin, M. Kovalcikova, J. Broucek & S. Mihina Research Institute of Animal Production Nitra, Slovakia Parameters of manger and breast-fence with regard to the needs of heifers at the age of 6 to 12 months were studied. The obtained data with the hitherto valid norm which determines the height of manger bottom to be 10 cm over the level of standing, and spacing of breast-fencing arms 17 cm for animals at the age of 7 - 15 months were compared. Special equip- ment-standing for one animal was constructed for these observation. The height of manger bottom, width of feed place and width of manger (spacing between the back wall and the manger edge from the side of cow) as well as the spacing between the breast-fencing arms were adjustable there. The experiments were performed with the feed place width 120 cm, manger width 100 cm, manger edge height from the side of cow 50 cm and with the bottom heights 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 cm over the standing level. The spacing 17 cm of the breast-fencing arms was the basis of our measurments. We narrowed the spacing by 2 cm in addition, however, we broadened it during the further observations by 2 cm till some of the animals passed the breast-fence with its shoulder joint. There were 7 animals in the experiment. We changed all combinations of the bottom height and fencing arm spacings with heifers at the age 180 + 10 days in the course of 30 days. The same observations were performed at the age of 9 and 12 months. We processed the measured values by means of 2-way variance analysis and pair test. The spacing of breast-fencing arms 19 cm appeared to be excessive for 6 months old heifers, 23 cm for 9 months old heifers and 25 cm for 12 months old heifers. We consider the spacing of 17 cm for 6 and 9 months old heifers, and 21 cm for 12 months old heifers to be suitable. There were no significant differences in the relation to the maximum reach into manger between the spacing of breast-fencing arms in any of the age categories. However, the height of manger bottom influences the reach very much. The differences in reach at various manger bottom heights s how it is more suitable to use the spacing of breastfencing at which the change of bottom height influences the reach only little. We consider the bottom height 15 cm over the level of standing to be the optimum one. CAGE TYPE, NEST QUALITY AND VISITS OF RABBIT DOES IN THE NEST IN RELATION TO PUP MORTALITY AND BEHAVIOUR A. Wnuk, A.M. Konecka, T. Jezierski & E. Gebler Institute of Genetics & Animal Breeding, Jastrzebiec, 05-551 Mrokow, Poland High pup mortality in rabbits kept in large scale production units may be caused by unsuitable environment and by poor maternal behaviour of rabbit does. In this experiment the nest quality and behaviour of White New Zealand rabbit does and pups (70 litters) were compared in two types of commercial wire cages: (A) with wooden nest box attached to the cage, or (B) with nest box created by dividing the wire cage by a partition. The mortality rate up to the weaning was significantly lower in A than in B cages (9.8 and 16.8 % respectively, P<0.02). There were 11, 52 and 37 % nests of poor, medium and good quality in A cages and 16, 29, and 55 % nests of poor, medium and good quality respectively in B cages. The quality of nest significantly influenced the mortality rate; the highest mortality was recorded in the case of poor nests in B cages. Does kept in B cages were seen significantly more frequent in nest boxes both before and after parturition as compared with A cages. Pups born in A cages lef t the nest boxes from the age of 15 days significantly more often than those born in B cages. Pups born in nest of good quality were found significantly less outside the nest box. The mean temperature of pup skin and inside the nests was significantly lower in B type of cages. In conclusion, the maternal behaviour of rabbit does differed quantitatively depending on the type of cage. The cages with wooden nest boxes offered better enviromnemt for rearing pups. From: IN%"MAPPLEBY@srv0.bio.ed.ac.uk" "Mike Appleby" 19-MAY-1995 04:08:43.96 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: ISAE at Stara Lesna - abstracts 3 1st Regional East Central European ISAE Meeting Stara Lesna, Slovakia, May 5 1995 FREE PAPERS CONTINUED TYPES OF HIGHER NERVOUS ACTIVITY IN MACHINE MILKED EWES AND INFLUENCE OF TYPES OVER FUNCTIONAL PARAMETERS OF THE UDDER AND GRAZING BEHAVIOUR I.D. Ivanov & M. Djorbineva Institute of Cattle and Sheep Production, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria The purpose of investigation was to fix which of behavioral reactions during the machine milking are most expedient for determination types of higher nervous activity and what is the influence of types over functional parameters of the udder and grazing behaviour. Machine milking behaviour of 46 Local Stara Zagora Ewes was examined during the process of production. The animals were of the same bread, age, date of lambing ( 10 days), number of lambs and type of the udder. Six behavioral reactions were observed during machine milking: taking position into the milking parlour, feed reaction, activity towards the neighbours, feed reaction towards forage offered by hand, reaction towards positioning teat cups, persistence of taking place into the milking parlour. Individual observations and examination marks in relation to each of reaction was carried out. Ewes were classified into four types by means of examination marks and differences between reactions: 1. Sanguinic type, 2. Choleric, 3. Phlegmatic and 4. Melancholic. Functional parameters of the udder were measured with a "Vimer - 1" and chronometer. Parameters of the udder were calculated by following formulas: 1. Total milk (Mt) = Machine milking (Mm) + Machine stearing (Ms). 2. Total milk time (T t) = Machine milk time (Tm) + Machine stearing time (Ts). 3. Discharge of milk (Dm) = Mm/Tm. 4. Discharge of milk first 30 s (D 30) = Milk first 30 s (M 30)/30. Grazing behaviour was studied during 7 serial days using the same animals and observing moving to the pasture, grazing and home-coming. It was distinguished 4 positions in the flock: 1. A front line 2. In the middle of the flock 3. Out of the way 4. At the rear of the flock. Conclusions: A. The main behavioral reactions to determine types of higher nervous activity are: 1. Feed reaction towards forage offered by hand 2. Activity towards neighbours 3. Feed reaction 4. Reaction towards positioning teat cups. B. The most considerable measure to distinguish types are two functional parameters - Dm and D30. C. Functional parameters of Local Stara Zagora Ewes are highly influenced by the types. D. Sanguinic type ewes move and graze on the pasture - 75 % a front line, Melancho lic and Phlegmatic - 62-64 % at the rear of the flock. GABAERGIC MODULATION OF BEHAVIOUR IN RESTRICTED-FED BROILER BREEDERS L. Kostal 1 & C.J. Savory 2 1 Institute of Animal Biochemistry and Genetics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Ivanka pri Dunaji, Slovakia 2 Roslin Institute, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9PS, UK >From earlier work, we concluded that the dopaminergic system probably plays a crucial role in control of stereotyped oral behaviours induced by chronic food restriction in broiler breeder fowls. As there is growing evidence of interactions between GABAergic and dopaminergic pathways (Scheel-Krbger 1986), the aim of the two experiments reported here was to study effects of treatment with preferential antagonists and agonists of GABA-A and GABA-B receptors on the oral stereotypies of broiler breeders. In each experiment, 8 immature female birds were caged individually and fed daily according to a commercial food restriction programme. They received 8 intravenous injection treatments (2 drugs at 3 doses and 2 saline controls) on 8 days over 3 weeks, each bird receiving different treatment on each day according to a Latin square design. Feeding time was 0900h, injections were 1 h after feeding, and behaviour was recorded on video for 3h after injection. Measurements were made from the videorecordi ngs in alternate 15-min periods by noting each bird's behaviour every minute, according to one of six categories: sitting, standing, pacing, preening, object pecking, or drinker directed activity. The last two activities were stereotyped in form. The most pronounced behavioural effects of the GABAergic compounds were the effects of muscimol on motor functions. High dose of muscimol caused increase in sitting and standing, while medium dose caused delayed increase in pacing. Similar biphasic action of muscimol on locomotor activity - excitation at low and depression/sedation at high doses - was described in mice (Scheel-Krbger et al., 1978, Tirelli et al., 1991). Within the range of doses used GABAergic agents did not affected significantly the environmentally induced stereotyped behaviour in broiler breeders. While apomorphine induced stereotyped behaviour in fowls (Nistico, 1980) was stimulated by bicuculline and tetanus toxin, given into the paleostriatum augmentatum or into the lateral ventricle, systemically administered GABA receptor antagonists reported here caused only some increases in object pecking (low dose of bicuculline and high dose of 5-amino valeric acid), none of which reached the level of statistical significance. Similarly, while apomorphine-induced stereotyped behaviour in chicks was suppressed by intracerebroventricular treatment with ethanol- amine-O-sulphate, an inhibitor of GABA-transaminase activity (Nistico, 1980), there was only slight (nonsignificant) suppression of object pecking in the first hour after the high dose of muscimol recorded in restricted-fed broiler breeders. Nistico, G. Pharmacol. Res. Communications 12:507-514, 1980. Scheel-Krbger, J. et al. Life Sci. 22:75-84, 1978. Scheel-Krbger, J. Acta Neurol. Scandinavica, Suppl. 107, 73:9-49, 1986. Tirelli, E. et al. Brain. Res. Dev. Brain. Res. 61:207-215, 1991. ALIMENTARY MOTHER/LITTER INTERRELATIONSHIP IN RATS J. Sterc 1, V. Novakova 1 & A. Babicky 1 Institute of Animal Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Kosice, Slovak Republic It is indispensable for survival, growth and maturation of of the mammalian young to live under the care of a lactating female. During a definite period the maternal milk is the sole and unique source of food, water, ions, hormones and antibodies. By means of direct isotope methods it has been revealed that this important period of common life corresponds to 28 days in laboratory rats under standard conditions of breeding. According to the type of nutrition these 28 days could be divided in to two phases: 1) the suckling phase, within which the rat pups consume mother's milk only; the quantity of milk intake increases until the day 15 at which point it reaches maximum values; 2) the weaning phase, when the milk consumption begins to decrease step by step after day 15 and spontaneously stops on about day 28; at the age of 17 days the young begin to take in solid food and 2 days later to drink water as well; relatively to the decrement of maternal milk consumption the amount of diet and water ingestion increases. The time dimension of this mother/litter interrelationship is considerably stable: as to the possibility of influencing its duration in a nutritional way, such efficiency was observed following suboptimal nutrition of the mother and of the offsprings caused by protein insufficiency. The undernourished young spontaneously displayed a delayed weaning on the 35th day of life. An auxiliary effect on milk fat utilization was exerted by the coprophagy of special maternal faeces having a high content of bile acids produced by the lactating female between the 15th and the 28th day of life of the young. The consumption of these faeces by the young started at the age of 16th days; the quantity of this consumption gradually increased and abruptly attained the highest values on day 25. This day perfectly agrees with the age when the maturation of the intestinal wall is being accomplished. Then, the coprophagy tended to decrease and fully ceased on the day of weaning. In the und erfed young, on the one hand, the coprophagy was higher by one order of quantity, on the other hand, it was prolonged until the day 35. Alimentary mother/litter interrelation including the auxiliary mechanisms of food utilization are determined not only by the age of the young, but also by the course of their maturation. Here it is relevant that any intervention into the natural dynamics of the nutritional relation in question raises in fact the 'time of weaning' problem; if there namely a premature weaning would occur, then negative consequences ought to be expected in the development of phenotype in the young, as it has earlier been demonstrated. POSTERS ETHOLOGICAL-PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF IDENTICAL TWINS OF CALF V. Hubinsky, O. Debreceni & J. Bulla The purpose of this work was to reconsider the level of the agreement of the ethological and physiological indexes in experimental situations at identical pairs of calfs. There were included 7 identical pairs of calf to the experiment which were obtained by transfer of bisectional embryos. The comparation of ethological characteristics was based on 60 min test of the habituation and on 24-hours etograms in three repetitions. The selected biochemical indexes were watched at experimental burdens as imobilization, analimentation and alimentation. The imobilization was lasting 4 hours, the analimentation 48 hours and after it was following the repeated alimentation. The leavings were taken in 10 - 60 minutes temporal intervals according to the elaborated method. There were taken als o the leaving at the standstill in the stable for finding out the values of watching indexes and the influence of circadiann rhythm on thier dynamics in the blood. The proclamed results were based on the comparation of the agreement of the individuals inside the identical pairs and among the pairs each other. Conclusions: 1 The identical calfs twins which were obtained by bisection of the early embryos correspond statistically by in habitual charakteristics. More significant agreement is at movement activity as at vocal demostrations in point of view of the length of the habitual phase and of the decomponing of the movement activity during the day. 2 The level of the agreement of the individual identical pairs at the movement activity and at the vocal demonstrations is different during the 60 min test. It follows from that reality that it is a test of the neuroreflexion which is very unstable to the environmental factors. 3 There was found out the highest agreement of the identical twin in the concentration of glucose and cortisol among watched biochemical indexes, which dynamics is most connected with the direct reaction of the organism to the environmental conditions. High agreement of the identical turns in inborn constitual type follows from that. 4 In the concentration of the T3 and T4 were found out differences between the watched pairs and also between the individual calfs. The global tendency of the changes of the concentration of lipids, T3 and T4 approximately the same owing to the charged situations after the imobilization, analimentation and repeated alimentation is approximately the same but there are expressive differences at the individual level of reaction of the identical twins. INFLUENCE OF THE TYPE OF HIGHER NERVOUS ACTIVITY OVER GRAZING BEHAVIOUR IN MILKING EWES I.D. Ivanov & M. Djorbineva Institute of Cattle and Sheep Breeding, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria Machine milking behaviour of 46 Local Stara Zagora Ewes from the experimental farm of Institute of Cattle and Sheep Breeding were examined during the process of production over the milking period of 1992. The animals were of the same breed, age, date of lambing ( 10 days), number of lambs and type of udder. Six behavioural reactions were observed during machine milking: taking position into the milking parlour, feed reaction, activity towards the neighbours, feed reaction towards forage offered by hand, reaction towards positioning the teat cups, persistency of taking place into the milking parlour. Individual observation and examination marks in relation to each reaction were carried out. Ewes were classified into four types of higher nervous activity by means of examination marks and differences between reactions: 1. Sanguinic type, 2. Choleric, 3. Phlegmatic and 4. Melancholic. Grazing behaviour was studied during 7 serial days using the same animals and observing moving to the pasture, gra zing and home-coming. It was distinguished 4 positions in the flock: 1. a front line (near by the shepherd), 2. in the middle of the flock, 3. out of the way, 4. at the rear of the flock. Conclusions: Behavioural reactions observed are reliable to determine the type of higher nervous activity. A large proportion of ewes are melancholic type - 34.8 %, following by Choleric - 26.1 %, Sanguinic - 21.7 % and Phlegmatic - 17.4 %. Grazing behaviour in the ewes is influenced by the type of higher nervous activity. Sanguinic type ewes move and graze on the pasture - 75 % a front line (near by the shepherd). Melancholic - 62-74 % and Phlegmatic - 49-64 % at the rear of the flock. Results in C holeric are intermediate. EFFECTS OF HANDLING ON HEART RATE AND BEHAVIOUR IN YOUNG KONIK HORSES REARED UNDER STABLE AND FREE ROAMING CONDITIONS T. Jezierski 1 & Z. Jaworski 2 1 Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Jastrzebiec, 05-551 Mrokow, Poland 2 Research Station for Ecological Agriculture and Conservation Breeding of Animals, Popielno, 12-222 Wejsuny, Poland Twenty nine foals of the primitive breed Konik Polski born either in the stable group or in a free-roaming group which was kept in a forest reserve, were used for this experiment. The experimental group of foals (E) received more intensive contact with humans during the daily handling, whereas the control group (C) had a routine contact with humans only. The handling procedure began from the age of 2 wks onwards in the stable foals and from the age of 8 mo in the foals born in the reserve after they had been weaned and reared further in the stable. Ethological tests were conducted at the age of 6, 12, and 18 mo in the stable foals and at the age of 12 and 18 mo in foals born in the reserve. Behavioural reactions of foals were classified in a 5-point scale and the heart rate was recorded telemetrically during catching in box, catching on paddock, leading away, elevation legs for hoof control and approaching of an alien person. The E horses were much easier to handle and demonstrated lower heart rate during the tests. The effect of the intensive contact with humans was more pronounced in young horses born in the reserve. The horses born in the reserve reacted more fearful than stable horses at the age of 12 mo but this difference disappeared at the age of 18 mo. In E foals at the age of 6 mo none of the handling manipulations influenced the heart rate but the C foals demonstrated elevated heart rate shortly after catching in box. The horses at the age of 12 and 18 mo reacted with the ele vation of heart rate specially during catching on paddock and leading away. It was concluded that previous intensive contact with humans significantly influences all behavioural and emotional reactions of young horses during handling. FEARFULNESS IN THREE LINES OF LAYING HENS AND RELATION TO EGG PRODUCTION J. Kopowski Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Jastrzebiec, 05-551 Mrokow, Poland The fright reaction in laying hens kept in battery cages is an undesirable trait which may be connected with a behavioural phenomenon called "hysteria" in caged poultry. In this experiment the fearfulness in three lines of hens; Sussex (SS, n=41), Rhode Island Red (RR, n=45) and crossbred Sussex x Rhode Island Red (SR, n=42) was compared and relation between fearfulness and egg yield, egg weight, egg shell hardiness and quality, was investigated. The fearfulness was estimated in a test in which the reaction of hens to an unknown object held in the front of cage was classified into 3 categories: (A)-pecking at the object = "boldness", (B)-no reaction = "indifference" and (C)-trying to escape/avoid = "shyness". The test consisted of ten trials conducted within one month. 51 % of hens demonstrated consistently one type of reaction in all 10 trials. Hens demonstrating prevalently A, B or C reaction were classified as "bold","indifferent" and "shy" respectively. There were 34, 16 and 17 % "bold" individuals among SS, RR and SR hens respectively, 49, 73 and 59 % "indifferent" and 17, 11 and 24 % "shy" individuals among SS, RR and SR hens respectively. The hens classified as "bold" tended to lay more eggs and those classified as "indifferent" laid less eggs (P=0.07). There were no signifficant differences in egg shell hardiness and egg weight depending on the behavioural category. From the SR hens which demonstrated more "shyness" less eggs (21 %) with irregular white streaks on shell were coll ected as compared to SS hens (48 %) and RR hens (47 %). This undesirable egg shell feature is presumably evoked when the egg is rolling upon the wire cage floor immediately after being laid and may be connected with the behaviour of hen. This problem is being investigated using a greater number of hens. SOME CAUSES OF CROSS-SUCKLING IN PIGLETS GROUP-HOUSED WITH THEIR MOTHERS J. Maletinska 1 & M. Spinka 2 1 Department of Cattle-Breeding and Genetics, Czech University of Agricultural Sciences, Prague 6- Suchdol, Czechia 2 Group of Ethology, Research Institute of Animal Production, Prague Uhrineves, Czechia The technology of group housing system enables sows and piglets to behave more naturally than traditional restrictive systems. However, when sows with piglets are housed together, piglets will occasionally suckle alien mothers. The goal of this study was to investigate some of the causes of this behaviour. For this purpose, we analyzed the importance of several behavioral aspects of nursing for the occurrence of crosssuckling. The observations were carried out in one group-housing stable. Five groups of 3 to 4 sows with their piglets were observed. The average litter size was 8-9 piglets, the age of the litters was from 20 to 30 days. We chose groups of sows with similar litter ages. We observed four nursings per sow. We recorded the starting time of each nursing, the number of own piglets present at the udder, the number of alien piglets at the udder, and whether the suckling was with or without milk ejection. The proportion of own piglets which missed the own mother's nursing was positively correlated with litter size (Spearman rank correlation coefficient, rs=0.612, n=19, p=0.0094). The sow's litter size was not in significant correlation with the sum of alien piglets cross-suckling at her udder (rs=0.31, n=19, p=0.19). Piglets from large litters were more frequently present at the udder of alien sows (rs=0.465, n=19, p=0.048). Parity of the sow had no influence on the number of cross-sucklers at her ud der (rs=0.33, n=19, p=0.16). The occupancy of sow's teats by own piglets was in negative, but nonsignificant correlation with the sum of alien piglets suckling her teats (rs=-0.39, n=15, p=0.098). Out of the 174 piglets 58% sucked only the own mother, 31% sucked two or more sows. Only 8% of piglets sucked solely one alien mother. 3% of piglets did not suck any sow during the observations. In conclusion, the results indicate that piglets from large litters are contributing most to the cross-suckling in a group housing system for lactating sows. PROBLEMS OF SIGNIFICANCE OF BEHAVIOUR INDICATORS IN THE HABITUATION PROCESS OF PIGS (Sus scrofa f. domestica) M. Novacky 1 & I. Liday 2 1 Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Bratislava 2 Agricultural College, Nitra, Slovakia The analysis of significance of behaviour indicators in the habituation process of pigs (Sus scrofa f. domestica) has pointed out several problems. These problems concern the quantitative representation and intensity of individual activities in the course of single uninterrupted or repeated habituation tests, used for the assessment of the CNS excitability level. As the most significant activities in a novel environment of an experimental chamber, in 30-minute habituation tests, have been shown the motor activity and vocal (acoustic) manifestations, which has been significantly proved in great number of experiments by determining the stability of these indicators. The other observed activities like sniffing, defecation, floor biting, orientation to the exit from the experimental chamber, as well as non-active states have seemingly not shown sufficiently significant correlation values, in view of determining the individual characteristics in the CNS excitability and in the speed of habituation. For these reasons they have not been paid any attention in the experiments. The evaluation of all the behaviour indicators observed in the exploration process has disclosed the existence of specific individual manifestations of excitability, or temperament. It has been found that the excitation level of the animal may be manifested in high frequency of motor activity, vocal manifestations, sniffing, of elimination activities. Since it has been proved that individuals with higher frequency of snif fing and elimination have lower frequency of motor activity and vocal manifestations, their classification for the categories of high and low excitability just on the basis of occurrence and many experimental animals have thus not been objective as high excitable. Our results point out the existence of the so-called "extrovert" (motor activities and vocal manifestations) and "introvert" (sniffing and elimination) types of pigs. By our opinion, these specific problems should be paid special attenti on in the selection of animals. EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT KEEPING TECHNOLOGIES ON THE BEHAVIOUR OF CHICKENS OF VARIOUS GENOTYPES K. Prieger, J. Kantor & T. Keszthelyi Faculty of Agricultural Engineering Gfdfllf University of Agricultural Sciences, Hungary Characteristics and time-distribution of eating-pluming and motional activity behaviour were observed in identical populations under three different keeping conditions, namely extensive, semi-intensive (approaching the natural mode of living) and intensive ones. It can be stated, that under keeping conditions, approaching the natural ones, the greater part of the population is spending time on nourishment acquisition before noon, under intensive keeping condition, however, the time, spent on eating is more uniformly distributed in the course of the day, till the feeling of fullness is attained. As to pluming and motional activity, salient differences, owing to keeping conditions were not evident. According to our observations, under keeping conditions, approaching the natural ones, it is advisable to administer the feed in the morning, when the stock is let out, since during the later sections of the day, animals are scratching about only and pick up their feeding stuffs from the environment. In case of intensive keeping, placement of the feeders should be carefully considered, in order to make them easily and shortly available for the animals. It is recommended to assure - as far as possible - the opportunity to pluming and scratching about too. MAINTENANCE AND FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF THE DAIRY CALVES FED BY NURSING COWS V. Tancin, J. Broucek, M. Uhrincat, S. Mihina & L. Harcek Research Institute of Animal Production, Nitra, Slovakia Aim of this study was to quantify changes of behaviour of the calves fed by nursing cows. Twelve calves were used in a 14-week experiment. Calves were fed by their own mothers starting at the day of birth until the beginning of the experiment. They were kept in a loose housing with straw bedding together with nursing cows. The number of calves for one cow was assessed on the basis of their milk efficiency. Each calf was to drink 5 kg of milk. Calves ate concentrate mixture and hay in free choice, but they could also eat feed from the cow manger. Ethological observations were carried out on 15th, 22nd, 36th, 56th and 80th days of age of the calves. The total length of lying time in a barn was steadily decreasing from the first to the fourth observation. Differences were significant. The length of standing time in a barn had been almost constant during the first three ethological observa- tions, and significantly increased during the fourth observation. Significant differences were found in a total length of eating the feeds. Eating of concentrate, bedding and bulk feeds from the manger of cows was longest during the last fifth observation after weaning. The most time when eating hay was spent during the fourth observation at the age of 56 days. The highest length of sucking was at the age of 15 days (146 min) and it decreased to 75 and 70 min in the next observations. Before weaning at the age of 56 days the length of sucking time was slightly increased to 92 min. The highest length of time of drinking water was recorded during the second observation at the age of 22 days. The total length of rumination time was significantly increased from the third observation at the age of 36 days and the highest length was recorded at the age of 56 days. The highest total length of lying and the lowest total length of standing occured during the fifth observation at the age of 80 days. EFFECT OF DIFFERENT DRINKING INTERVALS ON MAINTENANCE AND FEEDING BEHAVIOUR OF CALVES M. Uhrincat, J. Broucek, V. Tancin, S. Mihina & K. Kovalcik Research Institute of Animal Production, Nitra, Slovakia The aim of this study was to determine an optimum drinking interval. We used 24 holstein calves from 10 days of age. All animals were kept in loose housing pens with deep bedding. They were given 6 kg of milk replacer daily. The calves from the experimental groups received milk replacer from the computer-controlled drinking feeder (Ffrster Comp). There were 4 h drinking intervals in the first group (six times a day) and 6 h intervals in the second group (four times a day). Twelve hour cycle was used. Significant differences were found in the length of lying while ruminating; however, this parameter was higher in the calves fed in 6 h intervals four times a day during all observations. This tendency was also proved when assessing the length of ruminating. The calves from the first group spent longer time eating the concentrate within the first 24 h period (1st day of experiment). On the tenth day this condition was balanced. During the last observation (twenty-second day of experiment) the calves from the second group that were given milk in 6 h intervals spent significantly more time eating than calves from the first group. The length of eating hay was in calves from the second group significantly higher. We found that the length of standing in the first group of calves that drank 6 times a day was longer than that of the second group that drank 4 times a day. The frequency of stays with drinking when the calves left the drinking box immediately were almost always significantly higher in the first group. The same tendency was in the frequency of drinking at the feeder when the calves waited subsequently. In comparing the groups with a different interval, the frequency of stay in a drinking box without getting the portion is an important index involving a possible disturbance of the calves and impairment of their welfare. In both groups, the lowest levels were recorded within the first 24 h when the calves were diverted towards the drinking box. In the next periods the levels o f this index increased; however, in the calves with a 4 h interval the frequency was higher during all observations. From: IN%"MARYB@lab0.vet.ed.ac.uk" "Mary Booth" 19-MAY-1995 09:01:05.78 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: cackling chickens ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Subject: cackling chickens Date sent: Fri, 19 May 1995 14:01:20 Dear All, I'm not particularly well feathered but have come across some references which may shed light on the current topic. I also have a hypothesis... Collias, N. and Joos, M. (1953). The spectrographic analysis of sound signals of the domestic fowl. Behaviour,5, 175-188 (Source = Fraser & Broom, Farm Animal Behaviour and Welfare, third edition) Collias, N.E., and E.C. Collias, 1967. A field study of the Red Jungle Fowl in north-central India. Condor 69:360-386 McBride, G., I.P. Parker and F. Foenander, 1969. The social organisation and behaviour of the feral domestic fowl. Anim. Behav. Monogr. 2: 127-181 Collias, N.E., E.C. Collias, D. Hunsaker and L. Minning, 1966. Locality fixation, mobility and social organisation within an unconfined population of Red Jungle Fowl. Anim. Behav. 14:550-559 The source of these last 3 = Craig, James V. (1981) Domestic Animal Behavior. Pub. Prentice-Hall. Neither of the source books mention post-lay cackling however Craig, on pages 56-57 discusses the way that hens recognise each other by a combination of visual and auditory signals. Visual appearance is most important with subordinate hens attacking dominant hens as strangers after their appearance had been changed even slightly. The head and neck areas seem most important in this respect. The discussion on auditory recognition was confined to new hatched chicks recognising mothers. The other concept discussed by Craig was that of broadcasting messages, either vocally to eg defend a territory (Cockrel crowing) or chemically (eg moth pheromones) or to alert to danger eg alarm calls which have already been introduced to this particular debate. Mike Appleby reported hearing hen houses fall silent when a post-lay cackle was shouted and that other hens only resumed feeding when they had seen, and presumably identified, the individual making the noise. I propose that, a species originating in dense jungle where visability is impaired, and which has a strict hierarchical social structure in which members are identified visually and strangers are viciously attacked, would have some behavioural strategy to allow members returning to the group after physical / auditory isolation to advance and be recognised. In order to fullfil this function the signal would have to attract the immediate attention of all members of the group (hence similar to an alarm call) but be different enough not to initiate a flight response. The loudness of the call, its similarity to an alarm call, the reaction of nearby hens and the fact that the call is given when moving away from the nest (and presumable returing to the flock) can thus be explained. Benefits in terms of increasing the survival of the egg or the hen may follow, but I feel that the immediate benefit is to the laying hen. I look forward to some constructive criticism... Mary Booth MaryB@vet.lab0.ed.ac.uk in very dense jungle where visability is limitedand which has a strict social hierarchy, to the point of viciously attacking strangers, it doesn't seem too far fetched to suggest that the adult members of the group could also oduces the concept of "broadcasting" information From: IN%"GONYOU@sask.usask.ca" 19-MAY-1995 10:28:53.26 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: Welfare of animals treated with growth promotants I lost the address of the original request, so am sending this to the network. I was asked to write a chapter on this topic for a book of lean meat production. I found very little traditional "welfare" research had been done. For example, the work Jeff mentioned is one of the few studies involving behaviour. There have been some problems with this type of research. Initial studies reported higher levels of problems such as poor joints and mortality. However, those studies were conducted with early forms of the compounds being considered. Later studies, after better delivery systems and dosages were determined, tended to have fewer side effects. Should we judge the products based on preliminary results or the final product? Secondly, many problems such as health or mortality may be important at low levels of incidence (for example, less than 5%). However, most studies were designed to detect differences in growth, and did not have sufficient numbers to detect mortality differences. In general, I was dissapointed by the fact that regulations have not been updated to include our current consepts of animal welfare. Having said that, the results that we do have for some compounds, used correctly, seem to be consistent with good welfare. For example, the results discussed by Jeff would not suggest poor welfare in their animals. The chapter has been published as follows: Gonyou, H.W. 1994. The welfare implications of physiologically modified animals. In: H.D. Hafs and R.G. Zimbleman (Ed.), Low Fat Meat: Human Implications. Academic Press, Inc., NJ. pp191-202. If your library does not have a copy of this book, please contact me for a reprint. Harold Gonyou From: IN%"jhills@metz.une.edu.au" "James Hills" 21-MAY-1995 19:12:42.47 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: IN%"jhills@metz.une.edu.au" Subj: introduction To any interested fellow workers I have recently taken on a PhD project in the area of `behaviour and nutrition interactions in ruminants'. This study will be carried out in NSW Australia, in conjunction with the university of New England Armidale Animal Science Department and the Cattle and Beef Industry Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). At this stage it appears that the focus of my research will involve initially looking at the feeding behaviour of feedlot cattle and the way social structure, dominance and other interactive behaviours influence individual and group diurnal patterns of feeding. Also the extent to which individual animals select feed components within mixed loose feeds and the mechanisms that may be involved to influence this selectivity are also of interest to me. This will possibly lead to experimental work associated with the sensory perception of cattle. ie how cattle perceive their surrounding and what impact this has on preference and selectivity of dietary components. I'd love to hear from others who may be interested in similar aspects of cattle behaviour studies, and any who know of work that may have an impact on these areas of study. James Hills ----------------------------- Department of Animal Science University of New England Armidale Australia 2350 email: jhills@metz.une.edu.au -----------------------------