Coping behaviour in pigs : consequences for welfare and performance

In this study we have investigated individual differences in coping with management-related stressors such as cross-fostering, weaning and mixing. Animals differ in the way they cope with stressors. An active coping strategy is characterized by an autonomous response, with higher heart rate, blood pressure and blood glucose levels, necessary for a fight or flight response, while a reactive (or passive) coping strategy is associated with conservation and withdrawal and characterized by a HPA response with elevated cortisol levels. The coping style is the preference of each individual for a certain coping strategy. Coping styles are determined by the personality, and the coping style and the situation determine the coping behaviour. In pigs, the backtest can be used as an instrument to measure (a dimension of) the coping style of the pigs at a young age. In this test, a piglet is put on its back and during 1 minute the number of escape attempts is recorded (mean 2-3, range 0-10). Active copers respond with many escape attempts (HR, high resisting), while reactive copers resist less (LR, low resisting). We performed backtests at 3, 10 and 17 days of age. Our study results confirmed that weaning and mixing of pigs induced acute, physiologically measurable stress responses, while moving of pigs did not. Cross-fostering and mixing of pigs resulted in lower cell-mediated immune responses at 9 weeks of age, and more active behaviour at 10-12 weeks of age. Mixing enhanced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses shortly after the stressor, but mixed animals were more susceptible for infection with Salmonella later on. Correlations between successive backtests were about 0.4. The backtest is relatively consistent in a stable environment, but our cross-fostering study showed that backtest response in young piglets could change in an extreme social environment (uniform HR or LR pens). We found no associations between backtest response and salivary cortisol rise after weaning or mixing. Backtest responses were predictive for a human approach test at 5-7 weeks of age, but not for a novel object test or an open door test, or for these group tests at 10-12 weeks of age. Possibly, these tests measure different behavioural characteristics. HR animals showed a better cell-mediated immune response after weaning and a lower risk of infection with Salmonella. HR animals also showed better performance results, with a higher daily weight gain in the fattening period, and a higher lean meat percentage and better carcass classification at slaughter. However, it cannot be concluded that one coping style is "better" than the other. HR animals showed better performance results in mixed HR/LR groups. HR animals showed better cell-mediated immunity and lower susceptibility for infection with Salmonella, but once infected they might show a lower humoral immune response. Because of the association with lean meat percentage and daily weight gain, selection for production parameters will probably favour HR animals in the current husbandry systems. The organic farming systems which offer more stimuli (group housing, straw, outdoor area), probably favour the LR sows, because they may be better equipped to cope with a less predictable environment, as other studies showed. Furthermore, in group housing systems, the most active and aggressive HR animals will be excluded in the selection process

Migration strategies revealed by satellite tracking among descendants of a population of European white stork (Ciconia ciconia) reintroduced to Belgium

Migration in the European white stork (Ciconia ciconia) has historically described a predictable annual cycle. The white stork is extensively distributed across continental Europe, which diverges to eastern and western wintering flyways. Within the western European population, some ring recovery and anecdotal information suggests that birds are giving up their traditional wintering grounds in the Sahel and are remaining in alternative sites in the Iberian Peninsula. Here we report on long-term satellite tracking of juvenile and adult stork collected between 2000 and 2011, whose natal site is in Belgium in the northern range of the western migration path. We identified three distinct migration patterns, two of which diverged from traditional expectations. Juvenile birds showed unique migration profiles both individually across migration cycles and when compared to one another, whereas adults showed consistent migrations but failed to migrate to Africa in any of the years surveyed. Stopover and wintering locations within Iberia were strongly associated with refuse sites or modified agricultural land. Overall, non-traditional migration movements appeared to be most strongly linked to artificial food sources rather than alternate drivers such as climate or habitat

Can we predict personality in fish? searching for consistency over time and across contexts

The interest in animal personality, broadly defined as consistency of individual behavioural traits over time and across contexts, has increased dramatically over the last years. Individual differences in behaviour are no longer recognised as noise around a mean but rather as adaptive variation and thus, essentially, raw material for evolution. Animal personality has been considered evolutionary conserved and has been shown to be present in all vertebrates including fish. Despite the importance of evolutionary and comparative aspects in this field, few studies have actually documented consistency across situations in fish. In addition, most studies are done with individually housed fish which may pose additional challenges when interpreting data from social species. Here, we investigate, for the first time in fish, whether individual differences in behavioural responses to a variety of challenges are consistent over time and across contexts using both individual and grouped-based tests. Twenty-four juveniles of Gilthead seabream Sparus aurata were subjected to three individual-based tests: feed intake recovery in a novel environment, novel object and restraining and to two group-based tests: risk-taking and hypoxia. Each test was repeated twice to assess consistency of behavioural responses over time. Risk taking and escape behaviours during restraining were shown to be significantly consistent over time. In addition, consistency across contexts was also observed: individuals that took longer to recover feed intake after transfer into a novel environment exhibited higher escape attempts during a restraining test and escaped faster from hypoxia conditions. These results highlight the possibility to predict behaviour in groups from individual personality traits.European Commission [265957 COPEWELL]; European Social Fund of Andalusia; Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal [SFRH/BPD/77210/2011]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using precision farming to improve animal welfare.

Animal welfare is a multidimensional phenomenon and currently its on-farm assessment requires complex, multidimensional frameworks involving farm audits which are time-consuming, infrequent and expensive. The core principle of precision agriculture is to use sensor technologies to improve the efficiency of resource use by targeting resources to where they give a benefit. Precision livestock farming (PLF) enables farm animal management to move away from the group level to monitoring and managing individual animals. A range of precision livestock monitoring and control technologies have been developed, primarily to improve livestock production efficiency. Examples include using camera systems monitoring the movement of housed broiler chickens to detect problems with feeding systems or disease and leg-mounted accelerometers enabling the detection of the early stages of lameness in dairy cows. These systems are already improving farm animal welfare by, for example, improving the detection of health issues enabling more rapid treatment, or the detection of problems with feeding systems helping to reduce the risk of hunger. Environmental monitoring and control in buildings can improve animal comfort, and automatic milking systems facilitate animal choice and improve human-animal interactions. Although these precision livestock technologies monitor some parameters relevant to farm animal welfare (e.g. feeding, health), none of the systems yet provide the broad, multidimensional integration that is required to give a complete assessment of an animal's welfare. However, data from PLF sensors could potentially be integrated into automated animal welfare assessment systems, although further research is needed to define and validate this approach

A note on the influence of starting position, time and testing and test order on the backtest in pigs

The backtest determines the coping behaviour of a piglet in a standardised stress situation, which might be a measure for the coping style of that animal. Backtest results are related to other parameters such as immune responses and production. In this study, the backtest was standardised and it was studied if time of testing or the order in which animals were tested influenced backtest results. One hundred and eight-four piglets from 18 sows were tested at 3, 10 and 17 days of age. Before testing, the sow was disturbed to ensure that all piglets were awake. This standardisation of the starting position before testing did not improve the correlations between backtest results in the successive tests. No relations were found between backtest results and time of testing or test orde

Lying Postures of Dairy Cows in Cubicles and on Pasture

Cows housed indoors with cubicles are probably more restricted in their choice of lying posture and orientation compared with cows housed on pasture. We therefore compared lying postures on pasture in Uruguay and the Netherlands with lying postures in cubicles in the Netherlands, also recording orientation on pasture in Uruguay and divider and bedding type in Dutch cubicles. We visited one farm with four herds in Uruguay, doing live observations, and 25 Dutch farms, taking pictures of cows. Observations of 205 cows on pasture in Uruguay showed more long postures, lying on their belly with their neck stretched. Two herds preferred lying towards north and south, while one herd preferred west and east. Pictures of 217 cows on pasture in the Netherlands showed more wide postures (lying on the side with three or four legs stretched out). Pictures of 527 cows in cubicles in the Netherlands showed more narrow postures (lying on the side with hind legs folded). More long postures (lying on the belly with a stretched neck) and less short postures (lying with the head folded back) were seen in cubicles with soft floors and English dividers; more narrow postures were seen in cubicles with concrete floors. Wide postures were seen more in cubicles with mattresses and free-hanging dividers. We conclude that since cows in cubicles show more narrow postures than on pasture and cannot choose their orientation, their choice in showing preferred behavior is restricted. More research is needed to study the consequences of restricted choice in lying behavior on the health and welfare of dairy cows

Lying Postures of Dairy Cows in Cubicles and on Pasture

Cows housed indoors with cubicles are probably more restricted in their choice of lying posture and orientation compared with cows housed on pasture. We therefore compared lying postures on pasture in Uruguay and the Netherlands with lying postures in cubicles in the Netherlands, also recording orientation on pasture in Uruguay and divider and bedding type in Dutch cubicles. We visited one farm with four herds in Uruguay, doing live observations, and 25 Dutch farms, taking pictures of cows. Observations of 205 cows on pasture in Uruguay showed more long postures, lying on their belly with their neck stretched. Two herds preferred lying towards north and south, while one herd preferred west and east. Pictures of 217 cows on pasture in the Netherlands showed more wide postures (lying on the side with three or four legs stretched out). Pictures of 527 cows in cubicles in the Netherlands showed more narrow postures (lying on the side with hind legs folded). More long postures (lying on the belly with a stretched neck) and less short postures (lying with the head folded back) were seen in cubicles with soft floors and English dividers; more narrow postures were seen in cubicles with concrete floors. Wide postures were seen more in cubicles with mattresses and free-hanging dividers. We conclude that since cows in cubicles show more narrow postures than on pasture and cannot choose their orientation, their choice in showing preferred behavior is restricted. More research is needed to study the consequences of restricted choice in lying behavior on the health and welfare of dairy cows