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Article
Activity rhythms and position preferences of domestic chicks which can see a moving object.
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Year: 1980

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Article
Why do hens sham dustbathe when they have litter?
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Year: 2002

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Hens in cages perform sham dustbathing, that is they go through the behavioural sequence of dustbathing, but on the wire-floor. Such sham dustbathing is found in conventional cages and even in furnished cages which include a dustbath. Consequently, sham dustbathing behaviour cannot be explained only by the absence of litter. Three suggested explanations for sham dustbathing were tested in this study. The first hypothesis was that sham dustbathing satisfies the hens' motivation for dustbathing behaviour. This hypothesis was investigated by allowing litter-deprived hens to dustbathe, sham dustbathe or simply see dust but not dustbathe, and then measuring dustbathing behaviour when the hens were subsequently given access to litter. No reduction in dustbathing was found after sham dustbathing. The second hypothesis was that sham dustbathing may be the result of social facilitation combined with the fact that the dustbath in furnished cages rarely allows more than one hen to dustbathe at a time. If other hens observing a hen dustbathing in the dustbath become more motivated to dustbathe themselves, they may have to sham dustbathe on the floor. We tested this hypothesis by exposing litter-deprived hens to three different stimuli; hens dustbathing in litter, hens on litter but not dustbathing, and hens without litter and not dustbathing. There was no difference in the amount of sham dustbathing performed by the test hens in the different stimulus situations. Thus, neither the satisfaction from sham dustbathing nor the effect of social facilitation seem to explain why hens sham dustbathe in the presence of a dustbath. If the hens are prevented from dustbathing as chicks, or as pullets when first moved to the furnished laying cages, they may persist in sham dustbathing even if a dustbath is made available to them. The third hypothesis, therefore, was that there is an effect of habit or early experience. To test this hypothesis, hens were deprived of litter until they had


Article
Influence of environmental enrichment on aggressive behaviour and dominance relationships in growing pigs.
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Year: 1999

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This study examined the effects of environmental enrichment on aggressive behaviour and dominance relationships in growing pigs. Three hundred and twenty pigs were reared from birth to 15 weeks of age in either barren or enriched environments. The barren environments were defined by common intensive housing conditions (ie with slatted floors and in terms of recommended space allowances), while the enriched environments incorporated extra space and substrates for manipulation. Aggressive behaviour was observed in a social confrontation test during the suckling period and dominance relationships were assessed from a food competition test at 12 weeks of age. Animals were weighed at regular intervals throughout the experiment. Environmental enrichment reduced the expression of aggressive behaviour. Pigs from enriched rearing environments fought significantly less with unfamiliar animals than those from barren environments when tested under standard conditions (mean of 1.46 vs 2.75 fights per 30min test for enriched vs barren environments, SEM 0.20 P < 0.001). The nature of dominance relationships also appeared to differ between barren and enriched environments. In barren environments, dominance among pen mates was correlated with (r = 0.33, P < 0.01), whereas in enriched environments it was correlated with body weight (r = 0.24, P < 0.01). Correlations between behaviour in the social confrontation and food competition tests suggested that dominance characteristics were established early in life and remained stable through the growing period

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