Animals, Volume 9, Issue 1

Two experiments were conducted using Dorper × thin-tailed Han crossbred ewes. In experiment 1, eighteen ewes were randomly assigned to two dietary treatments (a basal diet, or the same basal diet supplemented with 2.0 g tea saponin (TS)/head/da...

To understand the animal welfare impact of virtual fencing stimuli (audio cue ‘beep’ and electrical stimulus) on naïve sheep, it is necessary to assess stress responses during the animal’s first encounters with these stimuli. E...

This observational study was conducted to characterize the thermal micro- climate that broilers experienced in commercial poultry transporters under various weather conditions and typical management practices in the South Central USA. We continuously...

We evaluated the effects of live yeast on ruminal bacterial diversity and metabolome of beef steer. Eight rumen-cannulated Holstein steers were assigned randomly to one of two treatment sequences in a study with two 25-d experimental periods and a cr...

Reptiles are held at wildlife parks and zoos for display and conservation breeding programs and are increasingly being kept as pets. Reliable indicators of welfare for reptiles need to be identified. Current guidelines for the captive management of r...

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Maternal nutrition plays a vital role in fetal development, early development of neonates, and lactation and regulates the lifetime productivity of offspring. During pregnancy, maternal nutrition alters expression of the fetal genome and the developm...

Sulfur amino acids are typically the first-limiting amino acids (AA) used in protein metabolism in poultry. Therefore, we hypothesized that their utilization in the pre-hatch period would affect embryonic development, IGF-I and TLR4 gene expression,...

Hierarchy formation in domestic sows results in aggression and stress, which might be ameliorated through nutritional satiety. The effect on aggression in group housed, gestating sows provided a standard or high volume of a “standard” die...

The Hennovation project, an EU H2020 funded thematic network, aimed to explore the potential value of practice-led multi-actor innovation networks within the laying hen industry. The project proposed that husbandry solutions can be practice-led and e...

Reducing oxidative stress is an important goal in post-weaning piglets; previous studies have reported that verbascoside decreases oxidative stress in piglets. The effect of verbascoside on gut morphology and α-transducin and α-gustducin...

A long-term study (112 days) was conducted to examine the effect of feeding encapsulated nitrate (NO₃⁻), microencapsulated blend of essential oils (EO), and their combination on growth performance, feeding behavior, and enteric methane (CH₄) em...

Several animal welfare issues persist in practice despite extensive research which has been linked to the unwillingness of stakeholders to make changes. For example, most farmers do not perceive pig aggression to be a problem that requires action des...

Tail posture (i.e., hanging or curled) has been suggested to be an indicator of tail biting, and hanging tails predisposed to damage. The aim of this study was to investigate if tail posture was feasible as a tail damage indicator in a commercial set...

This paper argues for a more compassionate conservation by positioning animals as subjects in research and scholarship. Compassionate conservation is a multidisciplinary field of study that broadly attends to the ethical dimensions of conservation by...

We tested whether dogs and 14–16-month-old infants are able to integrate intersensory information when presented with conspecific and heterospecific faces and vocalisations. The looking behaviour of dogs and infants was recorded with a non-inva...

We explore how herd composition and management factors correlate with frequencies of social interactions in horse groups. Since the welfare of horses correlates with low aggression levels and social contact opportunities, information of this kind is...

The keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) are structural components of cashmere fibres. The gene encoding the high-sulphur (HS)-KAP24-1 (KRTAP24-1) has been identified in humans and sheep, but it has not been described in goats. In this study, we report...

Garlic (Allium sativum) is claimed to have numerous beneficial properties to the health of humans and animals. It is commonly used for example to treat respiratory diseases and infections in horses’ lungs. However, in addition to its possible p...

Anticipatory behaviour to an oncoming food reward can be triggered via classical conditioning, implies the activation of neural networks, and may serve to study the emotional state of animals. The aim of this study was to investigate how the anticipa...

Basic and applied laboratory research, whenever intrusive or invasive, presents substantial ethical challenges for ethical committees, be it with human beings or with non-human animals. In this paper we discuss the use of non-human primates (NHPs), m...

This study aimed to compare age-dependent changes in the relative expression of genes encoding myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoforms and selected lipid metabolism-related genes in the longissimus dorsi muscle of wild pigs (WPs) and domestic pigs (DPs)....

The present study characterizes, for sheep, the occurrence and timing of the onset of estrus behavior and ovulation and the yields obtained (ovulation rate, progesterone secretion, and fertility) after Controlled Internal Drug Release (CIDR) insertio...

When sows are mixed into groups, hierarchies form and resulting aggression and stress can affect production and welfare. This study determined the effect of providing point-source materials on aggressive and play behaviors in gestating sows. Large wh...

Grazing cattle can both negatively and positively impact riparian zones, dependent on controlled grazing management. Virtual fencing technology, using collar devices that operate via GPS can provide audio cues and electrical stimuli to temporarily ex...

Aggression between pigs remains an important animal welfare issue despite several solutions existing. Uptake of livestock welfare research relies on various stakeholders being willing to recommend or adopt changes to farm structure or management (e.g...

The effects of rutin on growth performance, hematological and biochemical profiles, antioxidant capacity, economics and the relative expression of selected antioxidants and lipid-related genes were studied in broiler chickens over 42 days. A total of...

This article, written by veterinarians whose caseloads include brachycephalic dogs, argues that there is now widespread evidence documenting a link between extreme brachycephalic phenotypes and chronic disease, which compromises canine welfare. This...

The effect of Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation products (SCFP) on improving growth and health of calves could be attributed to the ability of SCFP to modulate the microbiota in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). However, the changes in microbial...

The objective of this study was to develop an encapsulated iron supplement for oral ingestion and to determine its effect on the iron nutrition status of suckling pigs. Encapsulated and non-encapsulated iron supplement was prepared. Seventy-two neona...

Surgical desexing of cats is typically carried out after six months of age (Mature Age Desexing, MAD); between 4–6 months (Traditional Age Desexing, TAD); or before four months (Early Age Desexing, EAD). We complemented existing surveys of vete...