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Effects of different cage sizes and nest settings on laying hen nesting behavior and the proportion of dirty eggs in furnished cages
Contributor(s):: Sun, Hanqing, Zhao, Peng, Su, Yingying, Zhao, Qian, Li, Xiang, Bao, Jun
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The Impacts of Colony Cages on the Welfare of Chickens Farmed for Meat
Contributor(s):: Mace, Jenny L., Knight, Andrew
There is growing interest in keeping meat chickens in modern colony cages (CCs) rather than conventional litter-floor barns. Suggested welfare improvements for chickens in such systems include reduced bodily lesions due to lower contact with flooring contaminated with faeces and urine, due to...
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The Potential of Understory Production Systems to Improve Laying Hen Welfare
| Contributor(s):: Yan, Shaocong, Yang, Chenyujing, Zhu, Lei, Xue, Yongji
The welfare of laying hens in cage systems is of increasing concern. Represented by the European Union’s ‘End the Cage Age’ initiative, more and more countries have advocated cage-free farming. China, an important country for poultry farming and consumption in the world, is...
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Titrating the preferences of altered lighting against temperature in female CD-1 laboratory mice, Mus musculus
| Contributor(s):: Davis, Haley J., Barabas, Amanda J., Gaskill, Brianna N.
Aspects of the laboratory are aversive to mice, such as being housed under bright lights and at temperatures below their thermal comfort, causing stress and poor welfare. While murine thermal preferences are well understood, light preferences in mice are under studied. To address this gap,...
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Prevalence and severity of tail lesions as a possible welfare indicator for rabbit does
| Contributor(s):: Bill, J., Rauterberg, S. L., Stracke, J., Kemper, N., Fels, M.
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The effect of cage size on stress levels in captive green anole (Anolis carolinensis)
| Contributor(s):: Borgmans, G., Palme, R., Sannen, A., Vervaecke, H., Van Damme, R.
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Effects of housing conditions on behaviour and physiology in the Finnraccoon (Nyctereutes procyonoides ussuriensis)
| Contributor(s):: Koistinen, T., Moisander-Jylha, M., Korhonen, H. T.
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Four- and six-hour urinary albumin excretion is a valuable alternative to 24-h urinary albumin excretion in male db/db mice
| Contributor(s):: Norgaard, S. A., Sand, F. W., Sorensen, D. B., Sondergaard, H.
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Evidence of competition for nest sites by laying hens in large furnished cages
| Contributor(s):: Hunniford, Michelle E., Torrey, Stephanie, Bédécarrats, Gregoy, Duncan, Ian J. H., Widowski, Tina M.
Furnished cages are designed to accommodate behaviour considered important to laying hens, particularly nesting behaviour. Few researchers have studied the degree of competition for nest sites or the extent to which the amount of nest space affects nesting behaviour in large furnished cages. We...
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Astroturf as a dustbathing substrate for laying hens
| Contributor(s):: Alvino, Gina M., Tucker, Cassandra B., Archer, Gregory S., Mench, Joy A.
Furnished cages for laying hens often contain an Astroturf (AT) pad which may be sprinkled with feed to promote foraging and dustbathing. We evaluated AT and AT plus feed (ATF) to determine if hens use these substrates for dustbathing. Hens (N=30) without prior exposure to substrate were housed...
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Reducing the incidence of net cage biting and the expression of escape-related behaviors in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) with feeding and cage enrichment
| Contributor(s):: Zimmermann, Emily W., Purchase, Craig F., Fleming, Ian A.
The escape of fish from aquaculture is a persistent economic problem for farmers as well as an environmental problem that threatens wild fish population as a consequence of potential negative ecological and genetic interactions. Farmed Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) cause significant damage by...
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Behaviour and use of space in fattening rabbits as influenced by cage size and enrichment
| Contributor(s):: Buijs, Stephanie, Keeling, Linda J., Tuyttens, Frank A. M.
In the few previous studies on the effects of space allowance on fattening rabbit behaviour, space allowance was confounded with group size. This is the first study of fattening rabbit behaviour in which space allowance was varied whilst group size was stable (8 animals per pen), although this...
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The inescapable problem of lab animal restraint | Garet Lahvis | TEDxMtHood
| Contributor(s):: Garet Lahvis
Garet Lahvis is a pioneer in academic research on the mental experiences of laboratory mice and is an internationally recognized scientific expert on empathy. Using sophisticated behavioral experiments, his laboratory discovered that mice enjoy living with other mice and they can also...
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Laying hens' preferences for nest surface type are affected by enclosure
| Contributor(s):: Hunniford, M. E., Mason, G. J., Widowski, T. M.
The nest surfaces preferred by hens are inconsistent with those typically provided in commercial settings. However, little research has explored hens' preferences for commercially available nest surfaces. Our objective was to compare hens' preferences for two such surfaces - red smooth...
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How tall should a mink cage be? Using animals’ preferences for different ceiling heights to improve cage design
| Contributor(s):: Díez-León, María, Quinton, Margaret, Mason, Georgia
Regulations and guidelines assume that taller cages are better for mink, because they permit more diverse postures (e.g. standing upright) and freedom to move. New Canadian Codes of Practice therefore stipulate cage ceiling heights of at least 38cm, while in Europe cages must be 46cm or taller....
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Nest alternatives: Adding a wire partition to the scratch area affects nest use and nesting behaviour of laying hens in furnished cages
| Contributor(s):: Hunniford, Michelle E., Widowski, Tina M.
Furnished cages (FC) are designed to accommodate highly motivated behaviour patterns like nesting; however, how hens perceive the resources provided in FCs is not fully understood. Our previous research of hens in FCs with a curtained nest (plastic mesh floor) and a scratch area (smooth plastic...
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Blue foxes’ (Vulpes lagopus) motivation to gain access and interact with various resources
| Contributor(s):: Koistinen, Tarja, Korhonen, Hannu T., Hämäläinen, Elina, Mononen, Jaakko
We analysed the willingness of blue foxes (Vulpes lagopus) to work for and utilise five resources: a platform, wooden block, sand floor, nest box and empty space. Ten juvenile blue fox males were housed singly in apparatus consisting of three cages connected with one-way doors through the walls...
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Keel impacts and associated behaviors in laying hens
| Contributor(s):: Baker, Sydney L., Robison, Cara I., Karcher, Darrin M., Toscano, Michael J., Makagon, Maja M.
Factors contributing to the development of keel bone damage are not well understood. This study aimed to identify behaviors and cage structures associated with acceleration events experienced by individual hens at their keels as the birds navigated their enriched colony cage environments....
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Cage size affects comfort, safety and the experienced security of working dogs in cars
| Contributor(s):: Skånberg, Lena, Gauffin, Oskar, Norling, Yezica, Lindsjö, Johan, Keeling, Linda J.
Working dogs often spend a large amount of their time in cars. It has been hypothesized that a larger compartment in the car would be more comfortable for the dog, but that a smaller space could be safer, especially while driving. This presents a potential conflict. In this study, working dogs of...
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Curtained nests facilitate settled nesting behaviour of laying hens in furnished cages
| Contributor(s):: Hunniford, M. E., Widowski, T. M.
Egg location can be used to determine the nests that hens prefer, but it does not indicate whether the design of that nest satisfies a hen's nesting motivation. Hens that are satisfied with the nest resources exhibit characteristic settled nesting behaviour including less activity and longer...
