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This study investigates how the lying down behaviour is affected during the first weeks after tethering. Forty-eight dairy heifers in four trials were brought in from pasture and housed individually in straw-bedded pens prior to the experiment. During the experimental period of 24 days, the heifers were either tethered in stalls with concrete floor during all 24 days, the last 10 days, the last 3 days, or stayed in the pens for the whole period (control). At the end of the experimental period, the behaviour of all heifers was video-recorded during 24 h. The number of investigations of the lying surface per lying down was largest (PPPPP<0.001). Heifers tethered for 3 days appeared to have the greatest problems and loose heifers appeared to have fewest problems with lying down. The results suggest that heifers have problems lying down in tie-stalls, especially shortly after tethering, and that full adaptation to tethering does not occur within the time investigated

Adaptation. --- Behaviour. --- Control. --- Experiment. --- Floor. --- Heifers. --- Investigation. --- Lying down. --- Lying. --- Pasture. --- Pen. --- Time.

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The behavioural priorities of farm animals may be quantified by demand functions generated by use of operant conditioning techniques. However, there are several aspects of this method that still need to be investigated in more detail. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of operant response type on the demand function for food in mink. The responses examined were pressing a lever and pulling a chain. The experiment was conducted with eight mature female mink. During each of two periods, the mink were tested in four replicates of successively increasing fixed ratio (FR)values (4, 8, 16, 25, 60, 80 and 100). The rewards were available for 24 h per day and each reward consisted of 0.5 of food. Half of the animals worked on the lever in the first period and on the chain in the second period, the other half of the animals vice versa. The mink were weighed regularly throughout the experiment. The behaviour of the mink was video recorded continuously for 24 h on the days when they were working on FIR levels 4, 40 and 100. The number of rewards and thereby the amount of food earned decreased as the FR-values increased for all animals. The demand curve for food obtained by chain pulling was steeper than the demand curve obtained by lever pressing (P < 0.001). The results show that the response type can influence the slope of demand functions. One reason for the difference in slopes of the demand curves could be that the unit price paid on the chain and on the lever at a given FR-value was not the same, even though the minimum force required was 35-40 g for both types of response. The slope of the demand curve for food in mink was much steeper than previously found in mice, rats, pigs and hens. This is most likely due to the combination of high FR-values and small rewards in relation to the foraging strategy in mink. High levels of stereotypies were related to high workloads on the chain. The mink had a more restricted food intake and a higher level of s

Animal. --- Animals. --- Assess animal priorities. --- Behavior. --- Behaviour. --- Boxes. --- Conditioning. --- Demand function. --- Demand functions. --- Demand. --- Economic techniques. --- Environment. --- Experiment. --- Farm animals. --- Farm mink. --- Female. --- Food intake. --- Food. --- Foraging. --- Frustration. --- Function. --- Hen. --- Hunger. --- Increase. --- Level. --- Method. --- Mice. --- Mink. --- Need. --- Operant conditioning. --- Operant. --- Periods. --- Pig. --- Pigs. --- Priorities. --- Rat. --- Rats. --- Response. --- Responses. --- Reward. --- Stereotypies. --- Stereotypy. --- Strategies. --- Strategy. --- Time. --- Video. --- Welfare.

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Absence. --- Conditioning. --- Demand function. --- Demand. --- Design. --- Environment. --- Experiment. --- Food. --- Function. --- Growing pigs. --- Growing-pigs. --- Isolation. --- Level. --- Motivation. --- Need. --- Needs. --- Operant conditioning. --- Pen. --- Pig. --- Pigs. --- Resources. --- Reward. --- Size. --- Social environment. --- Social isolation. --- Social-isolation. --- Social. --- Straw. --- Test. --- Time. --- Treatment. --- Work.