Search Results (12)

There is a scarcity of relevant information in the international literature regarding the welfare of dairy ewes during the milking process and the potential impact on the quality of the produced milk. Hence, there is a scope to further study potential interactions between the milking process and animal welfare in dairy sheep flocks. The specific objectives of this study were (i) the evaluation of the frequency of reactions potentially associated with the reduced welfare of dairy sheep during the milking process, (ii) the identification of predictors associated with the presence of these reactions, and (iii) the evaluation of associations with the quality of milk produced on a farm. The study was conducted in 52 dairy sheep farms in Greece. The farms were visited, and the milking process was observed and monitored, and the reactions of ewes during the milking process were recorded; samples from the bulk-tank milk were collected for somatic cell and total bacterial counting. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed. The median duration of milking per row was 7.9 min, and the median duration of the milking process was 105 min. The reaction observed less often from ewes was vocalisation (in 9.6% of farms), and the one observed more frequently was ‘spot stepping’ (in 98.1% of farms). In total, eight different predictors were identified for the displaying of the various reactions observed and recorded; of these, two were related to the milking parlour and six were related to the milking process. Moreover, three different predictors were identified for the milk quality parameters; of these, one was related to the milking parlour and two were related to the milking process. Finally, a mild correlation was seen between the proportion of ewes that attempted to remove the milking cluster, and the somatic cell counts in the bulk-tank milk (p = 0.023). The results confirmed that incorrect practices during machine-milking can be stress factors for dairy sheep. In light of the present findings, procedures by milkers should be carefully carried out, which will contribute to minimising the nervousness and aggravation of ewes during milking. Stress factors can adversely affect the quality of milk produced on the farm. The findings underline that maintenance of animal welfare is linked to high product quality. This connection can further extend to consumer perceptions: the ethical treatment of dairy sheep is considered as an important facet of the overall food quality and sustainable production. Full article

Bottlenose dolphins’ broadband click vocalisations are well-studied in the literature concerning their echolocation function. Their potential use for communication among conspecifics has long been speculated but has yet to be conclusively established. In this study, we first categorised dolphins’ click production based on their amplitude contour and then analysed the distribution of individual clicks and click sequences against their duration and length. The results show that the repertoire and composition of clicks and click sequences adhere to the three essential linguistic laws of efficient communication: Zipf’s rank–frequency law, the law of brevity, and the Menzerath–Altmann law. Conforming to the rank–frequency law suggests that clicks may form a linguistic code subject to selective pressures for unification, on the one hand, and diversification, on the other. Conforming to the other two laws also implies that dolphins use clicks according to the compression criterion or minimisation of code length without losing information. Such conformity of dolphin clicks might indicate that these linguistic laws are more general, which produces an exciting research perspective on animal communication. Full article

Flying squirrels are nocturnal, gliding relatives of tree and ground squirrels (order Sciuridae). Despite 49 species existing, literature on Asiatic flying squirrels is scarce, thus they are overlooked in conservation action plans. Recently, three species of giant flying squirrel (Aeromys tephromelas, Petaurista petaurista and Aeromys thomasi) were observed during a nocturnal mammal survey at the Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC), an Eco centre at the edge of the Kabili-Sepilok forest reserve in Sepilok, Sabah (Malaysia, Borneo). The survey (February–March 2023) incorporated the use of red LED spotlighting, thermal imaging and bioacoustic recording during systematic along-line point counts. This is the first report on flying squirrel ecology in Sabah and the first focused publication on the ‘giant’ black flying squirrel (A. tephromelas), categorised by the IUCN as Data Deficient. The most notable result was the first documentation of a black flying squirrel vocalisation event (106 calls at a frequency range of 0.75–2.69 kHz and mean duration of 1.4 s). Although call function was not determined, this result sheds light on a previously unknown part of their ecology. These results stress the urgency for further research on the black flying squirrel to evaluate their current extinction risk, considering deforestation is prevalent across most of their distribution. Full article

Emotions in animals may be expressed by arousal and understanding this often relies upon the monitoring of their behaviour. Under human care, animals’ arousal states may be linked to husbandry decisions, whereby animals may display arousal responses to scheduled events such as feeding and human interaction. Here, we investigate vocal correlates of arousal associated with public presentations of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) in human care by comparing vocal production rates and characteristics between high and low arousal contexts. Elevated arousal during the day compared with overnight was characterised by increased signature and non-signature whistle production. High intensity broadband crack vocalisations were produced less than whistles during the day and did not correlate with increased arousal around presentation times. Three of ten dolphins increased signature whistle production before and/or after presentation sessions, indicating elevated arousal and variation in individual responses. Many individuals elevated minimum frequency and suppressed maximum frequency of signature whistles in a way that correlated with higher arousal contexts, indicating that these may therefore be good indicators of changes in arousal state. Overall, our study demonstrates that passive acoustic monitoring can provide a useful indication of arousal linked to husbandry decisions, and that individual variation in vocal responses, likely linked to personality, is important to consider. Full article

To investigate the effects of valley topography on the acoustic transmission of avian vocalisations, we carried out playback experiments in Daqinggou valley, Inner Mongolia, China. During the experiments, we recorded the vocalisations of five avian species, the large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos Wagler, 1827), common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus Linnaeus, 1758), Eurasian magpie (Pica pica Linnaeus, 1758), Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus Linnaeus, 1758), and meadow bunting (Emberiza cioides Brand, 1843), at transmission distances of 30 m and 50 m in the upper and lower parts of the valley and analysed the intensity, the fundamental frequency (F0), and the first three formant frequencies (F1/F2/F3) of the sounds. We also investigated bird species diversity in the upper and lower valley. We found that: (1) at the distance of 30 m, there were significant differences in F0/F1/F2/F3 in Eurasian magpies, significant differences in F1/F2/F3 in the meadow bunting and Eurasian tree sparrow, and partially significant differences in sound frequency between the upper and lower valley in the other two species; (2) at the distance of 50 m, there were significant differences in F0/F1/F2/F3 in two avian species (large-billed crow and common cuckoo) between the upper and lower valley and partially significant differences in sound frequency between the upper and lower valley in the other three species; (2) there were significant differences in the acoustic intensities of crow, cuckoo, magpie, and bunting calls between the upper and lower valley. (3) Species number and richness were significantly higher in the upper valley than in the lower valley. We suggested that the structure of valley habitats may lead to the breakdown of acoustic signals and communication in birds to varying degrees. The effect of valley topography on acoustic communication could be one reason for animal species avoiding deep valleys. Full article

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is widely used as an initial step towards an assessment of environmental status. In the present study, underwater ambient sound recordings from two monitoring locations in marine-protected areas (MPAs) of the Gulf of Riga were analysed. Both locations belong to the natural habitat of pinnipeds whose vocalisations were detected and analysed. An increase of vocal activity during the mating period in the late winter was revealed, including percussive signallings of grey seals. The ambient sound spectra showed that in the current shallow sea conditions ship traffic noise contributed more in the higher frequency bands. Thus, a 500 Hz one-third octave band was chosen as an indicator frequency band for anthropogenic noise in the monitoring area. It was shown that changes in the soundscape occurring during the freezing period create favourable conditions for ship noise propagation at larger distances. Based on the monitoring data, the environmental risks related to the anthropogenic sound around the monitoring sites were considered as low. However, further analysis showed that for a small percentage of time the ship traffic can cause auditory masking for the ringed seals. Full article

Inconsistency between the environments of indoor pullet rearing and adult outdoor housing may increase the fearfulness in free-range hens. Rearing enrichments and/or range use may reduce adult fearfulness. Hy-Line Brown^® chicks (n = 1700) were reared inside across 16 weeks with three enrichment treatments: weekly changing novel objects, custom-designed perching/navigation structures, or no additional enrichments. Pullets were transferred to a free-range system at 16 weeks of age, with range access provided from 25 weeks. At 62 weeks, 135 hens were selected from the three rearing treatments and two ranging groups (indoor: no ranging and outdoor: daily ranging) based on individual radio-frequency identification tracking. Individual behavioural tests of tonic immobility, emergence, open field, and novel object (pen level) were carried out on hens. Spectrograms of vocalisations were analysed for the open field test, as well as computer vision tracking of hen locomotion. The results showed few effects of rearing treatments, with outdoor rangers less fearful than indoor hens. The latency to step in the open field test negatively correlated with hen feather coverage. These results show that individual variation in ranging behaviours is present even following rearing enrichment treatments, and subsequent range use might be an indicator of bird fearfulness. Full article

Confinement can be stressful for some dogs and this can lead to behavioural issues and poor welfare. A key component of the stress response is behavioural arousal, characterised by increased alertness and sensory sensitivity. This makes behavioural observations a useful tool to assess stress, as they provide insight into an animal’s internal state. Auditory enrichment has been shown to reduce arousal-related behaviour in dogs, but it is not clear if specific characteristics of a music track, such as tempo and/or pitch, produce these effects. The aim of this study was to compare behavioural responses of dogs to music tracks played with different characteristics (high pitch, low pitch, fast tempo, and slow tempo), as well as white noise and a control. Pitch and tempo modifications were applied to ten piano music songs and the six treatments (four different treatment-song combinations, white noise, and control) were presented daily, for ten minutes each, to ten dogs over ten days. Behavioural changes seemed to be driven by low-pitch tracks, which increased the level of alertness of the dogs. These findings could be related to the Morton’s motivations-structural rules: harsh, low frequency vocalisations signal aggressive motivations in mammals. Dogs may have perceived low-pitch tracks as more unsettling and were therefore more active and alert when listening to them. Full article

The poultry meat industry is one of the most efficient biological systems to transform cereal protein into high quality protein for human consumption at a low cost. However, to supply the increasing demand of white meat, intensive production is required whiche generates stress for the animals, which can be a major source of welfare problems. In this study, a comparative acoustic analysis of two entire production cycles of an intensive broiler Ross 308 poultry farm in the Mediterranean area has been performed. The following step to consolidate the analysis is to stablise a clear comparison among the performance of the indicators ($L_{eq}$, $L_{eq}$ variation, Peak Frequency (PF) and PF variation) in the conditions of two different recording campaigns corresponding to summer and winter entire production cycles. The acoustic maps of PF, $L_{eq}$ and the related variations should be validated in an inter-campaign comparison, which may also arise the possibility of changes due to the season of the year. Full article

This experiment assessed the efficacy of the cauterisation procedure with or without pain relief (injectable meloxicam) in mitigating the acute stress response to tail docking. Male piglets (n = 432) were allocated to the following treatments at 2-d post-farrowing: (1) no handling, (2) sham handling, (3) tail docked using clippers, (4) tail docked using a cauteriser, (5) meloxicam + clipper, and (6) meloxicam + cauteriser. Meloxicam treatments used Metacam^® at 5 mg/mL injected i.m. 1 h prior to tail docking. Blood samples were collected at 15 and 30 min post-treatment and analysed for total plasma cortisol. Behaviours indicative of pain such as escape attempts, vocalisations and standing with head lowered were measured. The duration of vocalisations and frequency of escape attempts during treatment were greater in all tail docking treatments compared to the sham treatment. Piglets in the clipper treatment had higher (p < 0.05) cortisol concentrations at 30 min but not 15 min after treatment and stood for longer (p < 0.001) with head lowered in the first 60 min after treatment than those in the cauterisation treatment. Meloxicam reduced (p < 0.05) both the cortisol response at 30 min after tail docking with the clipper as well as the behavioural response in the first 60 min after tail docking with the clipper. In comparison to the sham treatment, cortisol concentrations at 15 min were higher in the two tail docking treatments whereas the tail docking treatments with meloxicam were similar to the sham handling treatment. In comparison to the sham handling treatment, cortisol concentrations at 30 min post-docking were higher (p < 0.05) only in the clipper treatment. While cauterisation appears to be less aversive than the clipper procedure, the administration of meloxicam did not mitigate the behavioural response during tail docking using either procedure, but reduced standing with head lowered in the first hour after docking for both methods. The commercial viability of administration of meloxicam requires consideration before it is recommended for use compared to cauterisation alone, as it requires additional handling of piglets and costs. Full article

Poultry meat is the world’s primary source of animal protein due to low cost and is widely eaten at a global level. However, intensive production is required to supply the demand although it generates stress to animals and welfare problems, which have to be reduced or eradicated for the better health of birds. In this study, bird welfare is measured by certain indicators: CO₂, temperature, humidity, weight, deaths, food, and water intake. Additionally, we approach an acoustic analysis of bird vocalisations as a possible metric to add to the aforementioned parameters. For this purpose, an acoustic recording and analysis of an entire production cycle of an intensive broiler Ross 308 poultry farm in the Mediterranean area was performed. The acoustic dataset generated was processed to obtain the Equivalent Level ($L_{eq}$), the mean Peak Frequency (PF), and the PF variation, every 30 min. This acoustical analysis aims to evaluate the relation between traditional indicators (death, weight, and CO₂) as well as acoustical metrics (equivalent level impact ($L_{eq}$) and Peak Frequency) of a complete intensive production cycle. As a result, relation between CO₂ and humidity versus $L_{eq}$ was found, as well as decreases in vocalisation when the intake of food and water was large. Full article

The loss of a companion animal is recognised as being associated with experiences of grief by the owner, but it is unclear how other animals in the household may be affected by such a loss. Our aim was to investigate companion animals’ behavioural responses to the loss of a companion through owner-report. A questionnaire was distributed via, and advertised within, publications produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) across Australia and New Zealand, and through a selection of veterinary clinics within New Zealand. A total of 279 viable surveys were returned pertaining to 159 dogs and 152 cats. The two most common classes of behavioural changes reported for both dogs and cats were affectionate behaviours (74% of dogs and 78% of cats) and territorial behaviours (60% of dogs and 63% of cats). Both dogs and cats were reported to demand more attention from their owners and/or display affiliative behaviour, as well as spend time seeking out the deceased’s favourite spot. Dogs were reported to reduce the volume (35%) and speed (31%) of food consumption and increase the amount of time spent sleeping (34%). Cats were reported to increase the frequency (43%) and volume (32%) of vocalisations following the death of a companion. The median duration of reported behavioural changes in both species was less than 6 months. There was consensus that the behaviour of companion animals changed in response to the loss of an animal companion. These behavioural changes suggest the loss had an impact on the remaining animal. Full article