Perception de l'humain et processus émotionnels et cognitifs chez le porcelet : impact de l'expérience avec l'humain

L’humain, faisant partie de l’environnement des animaux domestiques, peut avoir un impact profond sur leur bien-être. Au cours de cette thèse, le regard a été porté sur la période post-sevrage chez le porc, une période peu étudiée dans le contexte de relation homme-animal qui pourtant est associée au développement des comportements sociaux. La première partie était consacrée à la compréhension de processus impliqués dans la perception de l’humain par le porcelet sevré, à savoir la mémoire, la reconnaissance et la généralisation. Les résultats ont montré que les porcelets peuvent former une mémoire de l’individu humain qui persiste au moins 5 semaines. Ainsi, les porcelets adaptent leurs comportements selon la nature des contacts (brusques ou doux) reçus par l’humain. L’ajout de récompenses alimentaires ou de stress physiques n’amplifie pas les réponses comportementales. L’humain inconnu n’est pas perçu positivement. De plus, la familiarisation à la présence passive de l’humain n’élimine pas la peur face à l’approche de l’humain, suggérant que les porcelets ont une mémoire spécifique au contexte. Il a été montré que les porcelets sont capables de discriminer et reconnaître les humains familiers sur la base de l’expérience, bien que leurs réactions dépendent de nombreux facteurs, incluant la constance de l’expérience et le contexte de test. En outre, ils sont capables de généraliser leurs réactions face à des inconnus et de former une mémoire globale de l’être humain. Dans une seconde partie, l’impact de l’expérience avec l’humain sur l’état émotionnel et les capacités cognitives du porcelet sevré a été investigué. Les résultats montrent que la manière dont l’humain se comporte avec les porcelets a un réel impact sur l’état émotionnel des jeunes animaux. Les porcelets recevant des contacts positifs par l’humain développent un bon état émotionnel et sont plus optimistes. En outre, la peur de l’humain est corrélée avec la motivation à explorer, un trait de tempérament aidant les animaux dans une tâche d’apprentissage. L’ensemble de ce travail montre que la nature des contacts donnés par l’humain joue un rôle dans la perception de l’homme, influence l’état émotionnel des porcelets et est aussi liée à la motivation du porcelet à apprendre et s’adapter à son environnement. Mots-clefs : porcelet sevré, relation homme-animal, bien-être / mal-être, perception de l’humain, reconnaissance/généralisation, état émotionnel, biais cognitif, apprentissage.Humans are part of the environment of domestic animals and their impact on animal welfare is largely underestimated. This thesis focused on the human-animal relationship during the post-weaning period in pigs. This period has not been much studied in a context of human-animal relationship, although it is known to be associated with the development of social abilities. The first part of this thesis aimed at understanding some processes involved in the development of the perception of humans by weaned piglets, namely memory, recognition and generalisation. Results showed that weaned piglets are able to form a memory of a familiar human which persists at least 5 weeks. Moreover, piglets adapt their behaviour according to the movements (rough or gentle) of humans towards them. However, the addition of food rewards or physical stress does not amplify their behavioural responses. An unfamiliar handler is not perceived positively. In addition, familiarisation to a passive human is not sufficient to remove the fear of an approaching human, suggesting that piglets form a context-specific memory. Thereafter, it has been shown that piglets can discriminate and recognise familiar humans based on experience, although their reactions depend on numerous factors, including the consistency of the experience and the context of testing. It does not preclude that piglets are able to generalise their behavioural responses to unfamiliar humans and to form a general memory of humans. The second part of the thesis aimed at investigating the impact of the experience with humans on emotional states and cognitive abilities of weaned piglets. It has been demonstrated that the way humans behave with piglets modulates their emotional states. Piglets receiving positive interactions with humans develop a positive emotional state and are more optimistic. Fear of humans appears to be correlated with motivation to explore, a temperament trait helping animals in a learning task. Overall, it has been demonstrated that the nature of the contact given by humans plays a major role in the development of the perception of humans, but also influences emotional states and is linked with motivation of this young domestic animal to learn and adapt to its environment. Key words: weaned piglet, human-animal relationship, welfare, perception of humans, recognition/generalisation, emotional state, cognitive bias, learning

MILK PAYMENT SYSTEM AS A TOOL FOR THE APPLICATION OF THE EU RULES ON HYGIENE FOODSTUFFS: DIFFERENCES RELATED TO PRODUCTION LEVEL, PROVINCE AND SEASON OF PRODUCTION

The aim of the study was to evaluate a sheep milk payment of the milk produced in Tuscany in 2006 based on fat and protein levels. Data were collected twice a month in each of the 371 farms considered. Following the Tuscany Region recommendations three different levels of payment has been created. A neutral zone where the price of the milk remained invariant and other two levels, one positive (base milk price plus bonus) and one negative (base milk price minus bonus), both calculated by statistical procedures. The results showed that the period of the year markedly influenced the price paid and thus the payment grid has to be produced accordingly to these variations. Nonetheless the application of a payment system as the one proposed here needs a strong adjustment of the farms to the new quality requirements

The role of genetic selection on agonistic behavior and welfare of gestating sows housed in large semi-static groups

Confinement of gestating sows is becoming banished in favor of group-housing in countries worldwide, forcing breeding companies to develop genetic lines adapted for social living. This study aimed at assessing the influence of two genetic lines selected for high performance (HP1, HP2, derived from Landrace × Yorkshire) on welfare and reproductive performance of sows housed in large semi-static groups (20 groups of 46–91 animals) across several parities. To address this, agonistic behaviors were recorded on d0, d2, d27, and d29 post-mixing while body lesions were scored on d1, d26, and d84. Sows’ individual and reproductive performances were also recorded. HP2 sows were more aggressive than HP1 sows since they fought (p = 0.028) and bullied (p = 0.0009) pen-mates more frequently on d0–d2. HP2 sows had more total body lesions throughout gestation than HP1 sows at higher parities (p < 0.0001). Regarding reproductive performance, HP2 sows lost less piglets (p < 0.0001) and tended to wean more piglets (p = 0.067) than HP1 sows. In conclusion, while HP2 sows were the most aggressive, HP1 sows had piglets with lower survivability, which raises ethical issues in both cases and points to the need of considering social aspects when developing genetic lines for group-housing

546 Meat quality of Suffolk and Bergamasca lambs slaughtered at 90 days of age

Twenty lambs, 10 Suffolk (S) e 10 Bergamasca (B) born from single (SI) and twin type of birth (TW), were employed. Lambs fed the same diet. Chemical-physical analysis were performed on raw Longissimus lumborum (LL). B showed the lowest cooked loss on cooked LL, the highest value of a* and b* on raw meat. As regard fatty acid composition, LL of B showed the highest saturated fatty acids and the lowest value of polyunsaturated acids. Twin subjects showed raw meat with the lowest value of ether extract and with a healthy fatty acid composition

Game of life with non-regular space with boundaries: glider case

The purpose of this article is to present the work done on the implementation of rules for gliders in a game of life with a non-regular network with boundaries. First of all, we will recall the basic principle of the game of life by mentioning some structures that appear regularly and are very important as gliders. We will improve the accuracy of the collision rules between gliders. Then, we will introduce non-regular space by adding a new state for cells in boundaries. Thus it will be necessary to give the rules relating to this new cellular automaton. We will finally deal with logic gates by giving which we obtained this modified game of life

Social environment as a cause of litter loss in laboratory mouse: A behavioural study

Perinatal mortality is a widespread problem in laboratory mouse breeding and is often manifested by the loss of the entire litter within the first days of life. High mortality is an animal health and welfare concern that violates the 3R principles of reduction and refinement. High pup mortality is often considered “normal” in mouse breeding and the underlying causes are poorly understood. This study investigated the role of the social environment on pup survival and parental behaviour in C57BL/6 mice. Before parturition, multiparous females were allocated to three treatments: single-housing (SH, n=54) or group-housing in trios of two females and a male, with group-housing further divided into trios with (GH1, n=20) or without (GH0, n=35) the presence of another litter. Mouse behaviour was recorded from 24h before to 24h after parturition. Mouse breeding performance (offspring survival and weight) was analysed using logistic and generalized linear models, and behaviours using logistic and multivariable linear models. We confirmed previous findings of high mortality rates for all treatments, but the highest rates were found in GH1 where half of the litters were lost entirely. Social environment had an impact on breeding performance. On the one hand, the presence of adult cagemates in GH0 did not affect litter survival nor pup body weight at 20 days. Adult cagemates shared the work of breeding by performing nest building before and after litter birth, and parental care after birth. GH0 and GH1 dams were less frequently seen performing nest building before and after parturition than SH dams. GH0 and GH1 dams were also less frequently seen inside the nest and performing parental behaviour after parturition than were SH dams. On the other hand, the risks for litter and pup loss were dramatically increased by 2.3 and 1.8 times, respectively, in GH1 compared to GH0. Parturition lasted longer in GH1 than in GH0 treatment. While dam behaviour did not differ between GH1 and GH0, GH1 adult cagemates spent less time performing parental care than did GH0 cagemates. Plausible reasons for the higher mortality in the presence of another litter are insufficient parental care, competition for milk access, poor nest quality, and crushing of newborns by older pups in the nest. This study indicates that being born in a cage where there is already an older litter, so-called reproductive asynchrony, is a major risk factor for litter loss.The authors would like to thank Paula Sofia Vilares Gouveia and Sara Capas Peneda who participated in the behavioural analyses, and all the staff at the Biological Support Unit of the Babraham Institute for their interest and support in the project and the care of the animals. This work was financed by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior in the framework of the project PTDC/CVT-WEL/1202/2014 (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-016591)

All the pups we cannot see: Cannibalism masks perinatal death in laboratory mouse breeding but infanticide is rare

Perinatal mortality is a major issue in laboratory mouse breeding. We compared a counting method using daily checks (DAILY_CHECK) with a method combining daily checks with detailed video analyses to detect cannibalisms (VIDEO_TRACK) for estimating the number of C57BL/6 pups that were born, that died and that were weaned in 193 litters from trios with (TRIOOVERLAP) or without (TRIO-NO_OVERLAP) the presence of another litter. Linear mixed models were used at litter level. To understand whether cannibalism was associated with active killing (infanticide), we analysed VIDEO_TRACK recordings of 109 litters from TRIO-OVERLAP, TRIONO_OVERLAP or SOLO (single dams). We used Kaplan-Meier method and logistic regression at pup level. For DAILY_CHECK, the mean litter size was 35% smaller than for VIDEO_TRACK (p < 0.0001) and the number of dead pups was twice lower (p < 0.0001). The risk of pup loss was higher for TRIO-OVERLAP than TRIO-NO_OVERLAP (p < 0.0001). A high number of pup losses occurred between birth and the first cage check. Analyses of VIDEO_TRACK data indicated that pups were clearly dead at the start of most of the cannibalism events and infanticide was rare. As most pups die and disappear before the first cage check, many breeding facilities are likely to be unaware of their real rates of mouse pup mortality.Funding: This work was financed by FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior in the framework of the project PTDC/CVT-WEL/1202/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016591). This work was financed by FEDER?Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020?Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT?Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia/Minist?rio da Ci?ncia, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior in the framework of the project PTDC/CVT-WEL/1202/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016591). The authors would like to thank the staff at the Biological Support Unit of the Babraham Institute, and more particularly Marc Wiltshire, Mike Regan, Paul Symonds and Urszula Karpinska, for their interest and support in the project and the care of the animals

In vita performance and slaughter characteristics of Suffolk and Bergamasca lambs at 90 days of age

The objective of the present study was to compare in vita performance and carcass characteristics of Bergamasca and Suffolk lambs of 90 days of age. Bergamasca (15) and Suffolk (15) male lambs, originated from single and twin births equally represented, were weighed twice a month. Lambs were slaughtered to evaluate post-mortem characteristics and EUROP conformation score. Suffolk and Bergamasca lambs of 90 days of age produced carcasses with good quality; Suffolk had more compact carcasses than Bergamasca lambs whereas they showed higher percentage of intermuscular fat deposit. The results suggested that the two breeds raised with the forage-based feeding system could produce carcasses of good quality

DAIRY FARM PLANNING FOR THE RECEIPE OF EU RULES ON THE HYGIENE OF FODDSTUFFS

A shift promoted by Regione Toscana have arranged productive dairy farm guidelines for the application of Reg. CE 852/2004. The document defines risk assessment management and obligation. For guidelines drafting we used: dairy production system flowchart, chemical, physical, microbiological risk, and check list. Milk dairy production was divided into four stages: animal health and welfare, nutrition and watering regime, environment, milking hygiene and milk storage