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Baumgartner, M., Frank, V., Gandorfer, J., Ramoser, A., Seiler, S., & Zeitler-Feicht, M. H. (2015). Feasible animal-based indicators for assessing equine welfare. In Krüger. K. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting. Wald: Xenophon Publishing.
Abstract: Introduction
Are horses doing well in their husbandries? For the first time the answer shall be given objectively by an integral on-farm welfare assessment system for horse husbandries. A current research project at the Technical University Munich evaluates indicators for well-being, pain and suffering in horses in order to develop a welfare assessment system (Baumgartner and Zeitler-Feicht 2013, 2014a, 2014b, 2015, Zeitler-Feicht et al. 2015). The research project is professionally supported by horse husbandry experts from academics, industries as well as leading organizations for horse owners and veterinarians. The aim of the project is to develop a welfare assessment system for all horse husbandry systems which can be applied both for sport horses and for leisure horses. It is based on national animal welfare standards (BMELV 2009) and does take sustainability into consideration. Animal-based indicators are completed with resource-based indicators if necessary. It is stipulated that indicators are valid, reliable and feasible. Welfare criteria were formulated for the two principles „good health“ and „behavioural demands“ (see figure 1 and 2). Each has to be represented by at least one indicator. The principle „behavioural demands“ aims at the possibility for horses to practise species-specific behaviour. It is gathered to what extent the housing conditions allow the horses to live out and show species-specific behaviour. Furthermore in the present studies the frequency of selected behaviours including abnormal behaviour were collected in precise timeframes. Potential indicators for assessing equine welfare on-farm were selected by study of literature and field tests. The field tests included direct observations on free-ranged horses, horses in group-housing systems and single-stabled horses. The following section presents selected indicators that are feasible for assessing equine behaviour on-farm. Feasible behavioural indicators for well-being The literature research revealed that „being together“ is linked with affiliative behaviour. It includes „resting together“, „foraging together“ and additionally „walking together“. Horses do have a strong need for social bonds. „Being-together“ amongst horses must be voluntary and not caused by bad weather conditions or lack of space. Therefore the context must be considered. For temporary direct observations the frequency in group-housing systems is sufficient (0.57 ± 0.67 per horse per 20 minutes). That´s why in our study „being-together“ is considered as a feasible indicator for well-being for horses in permanent or temporary groups. It is intended to conduct further studies on its validity. Other behaviours such as „social play“ is not only linked with positive emotional states in adult horses. Several studies showed that horses use „social play“ as a stress relief. However, it is too seldom to collect in an on-farm assessment system. Because of the lack of feasibility and validity we excluded „social play“ as an indicator for well-being. Feasible behavioural indicators for suffering Horses show „abnormal behaviour“ in distress, frustration, deprivation or conflict situations. The present studies showed a relatively high frequency in single-stabled horses (3.3 ± 6.45 per horse per 20 minutes). Hence „abnormal behaviour“ is a feasible and valid indicator for suffering. However, established stereotypes need to be excluded, because they may indicate a previous welfare status rather than the current welfare status. Horses use „agonistic behaviour“ to regulate social relations, to defend themselves or to defend resources. If husbandry or management is inadequate, „agonistic behaviour“ increases and thereby the frequency of injuries caused by social conflicts. A high frequency of „agonistic behaviour“ indicates a high aggression level in group-housed horses and therefore distress and suffering. The mean frequency of group-housed horses is sufficient for temporary observations (2.6 ± 2.26 per horse per 20 minutes). As a result „agonistic behaviour“ is a feasible and vaild indicator for suffering. Further studies need to be done on the scoring and severity. Key words Animal-based indicators Equine welfare Being-together Abnormal behaviour Agonistic behaviour References Baumgartner M. & M. H. Zeitler-Feicht (2013): Entwicklung eines Bewertungssystems zur Beurteilung der Tiergerechtheit von Pferdehaltungen als Bestandteil eines Nachhaltigkeitsmanagementsystems. KTBL Schrift: Aktuelle Arbeiten zur artgemäßen Tierhaltung 503, 226 – 227. Baumgartner M. & M. H. Zeitler-Feicht (2014a): Indikatoren für Tierwohl beim Pferd. 7. Pferde-Workshop Uelzen 2014. DGfZ-Schriftreihe Heft 64, 161 – 166. Baumgartner M. & M. H. Zeitler-Feicht (2014b): Entwicklung eines Bewertungssystems zur Beurteilung der Tiergerechtheit von Pferdehaltungen als Bestandteil eines Nachhaltigkeitsmanagementsystems. 9. Niedersächsisches Tierschutzsymposium in Oldenburg, Hrsg. Nds. Ministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz, 37 – 42. Baumgartner M. & M.H. Zeitler-Feicht (2015): Eignung ausgewählter tierbezogener Indikatoren zur Beurteilung der Tiergerechtheit von Pferdehaltungen hinsichtlich Praktikabilität. In: Tagungsband der Deutschen Veterinärmedizinischen Gesellschaft e.V. (DVG), Fachgruppen „Ethologie und Tierhaltung“ sowie „Tierschutz“, Verlag der DVG Service GmbH, Gießen, S. 182 – 192. BMELV (2009): Leitlinien zur Beurteilung von Pferdehaltungen unter Tierschutzgesichtspunkten. Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz. Sachverständigengruppe tierschutzgerechte Pferdehaltung. Zeitler-Feicht M.H., Frank V., Ramoser A., Seiler S., Girisch C., Baumgartner M. (2015): Anhand welcher Verhaltensweisen lassen sich Rückschlüsse auf das Wohlbefinden von Pferden ziehen? In: Tagungsband der Deutschen Veterinärmedizinischen Gesellschaft e.V. (DVG), Fachgruppen „Ethologie und Tierhaltung“ sowie „Tierschutz“, Verlag der DVG Service GmbH, Gießen, S. 148 – 156. |
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Baumgartner, T., Heinrichs, M., Vonlanthen, A., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E. (2008). Oxytocin Shapes the Neural Circuitry of Trust and Trust Adaptation in Humans. In Neuron (Vol. 58, pp. 639–650). Cell Press,.
Abstract: Trust and betrayal of trust are ubiquitous in human societies. Recent behavioral evidence shows that the neuropeptide oxytocin increases trust among humans, thus offering a unique chance of gaining a deeper understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying trust and the adaptation to breach of trust. We examined the neural circuitry of trusting behavior by combining the intranasal, double-blind, administration of oxytocin with fMRI. We find that subjects in the oxytocin group show no change in their trusting behavior after they learned that their trust had been breached several times while subjects receiving placebo decrease their trust. This difference in trust adaptation is associated with a specific reduction in activation in the amygdala, the midbrain regions, and the dorsal striatum in subjects receiving oxytocin, suggesting that neural systems mediating fear processing (amygdala and midbrain regions) and behavioral adaptations to feedback information (dorsal striatum) modulate oxytocin's effect on trust. These findings may help to develop deeper insights into mental disorders such as social phobia and autism, which are characterized by persistent fear or avoidance of social interactions.
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Bayley, P., Martin, S., & Anson, M. (1975). Temperature-jump circular dichroism: observation of chiroptical relaxation processes at millisecond time resolution. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 66(1), 303–308.
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Bayley, L., & Maxwell, R. (Eds.). (1997). Understanding Your Horse: How to Overcome Common Behaviour Problems. Trafalgar Square Publishing.
Abstract: Editorial Reviews
From Booklist “Problem” horses are usually horses that are trying to tell their owners that something is wrong and reacting in the only way they know how. Lesley Bayley leads the reader through Richard Maxwell's system of understanding equine psychology and for overcoming some of the natural responses that horses use in situations that frighten or confuse them. Beginning with two chapters on how horses communicate with each other (and with their owners), the authors go on to describe the effects of pain on the horse's behavior. Two chapters on establishing trust with older, difficult horses and with “starting” (breaking in) foals and young horses lead into the final sections on dealing with specific behavioral problems. The authors stress that positive reinforcement of desired behaviors will achieve the desired results, and that understanding why a horse is acting the way it does goes a long way toward getting it to develop desirable habits or toward changing undesirable conduct. This will be an extremely useful adjunct to all of the how-to books on riding and horse care. Nancy Bent Book Description A wealth of sound advice on how to “listen to” and really understand your horse, with a caring approach to techniques for training and overcoming behavioral problems. |
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Bayly, K. L., Evans, C. S., & Taylor, A. (2006). Measuring social structure: A comparison of eight dominance indices. Behav. Process., 73(1), 1–12.
Abstract: Measurement of social status is an important component of many behavioural studies. A variety of techniques have been developed and adopted, but while there have been some analyses of index properties using simulated data, the rationale for selecting a method remains poorly documented. As a first step in exploring the implications of index choice, we compared the characteristics of eight popular indices by applying each to the same data set from interactions between male fowl Gallus gallus, the system in which social hierarchies were first described. Data from eight social groups, observed over four successive breeding seasons, were analysed to determine whether different indices produced consistent dominance scores. These scores were then used in tests of the relation between social status and crowing to explore whether index choice affected the results obtained. We also examined the pattern of dominance index use over the last decade to infer whether this has likely been influenced by tradition, or by taxa of study animal. Overall agreement among methods was good when groups of birds had perfectly linear hierarchies, but results diverged when social structure was more complex, with either intransitive triads or reversals. While all regression analyses revealed a positive relationship between dominance and vocal behaviour, there were substantial differences in the amount of variance accounted for, even though the original data were identical in every case. Index selection can hence perturb estimates of the importance of dominance, relative to other factors. We also found that several methods have been adopted only by particular research teams, while the use of others has been taxonomically constrained, patterns implying that indices have not always been chosen solely upon their merits. Taken together, our results read as a cautionary tale. We suggest that selection of a dominance index requires careful consideration both of algorithm properties and of the factors affecting social status in the system of interest.
Keywords: Social status; Methods; Behaviour in groups
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Bazovska, S., Awad-Masalmeh, M., Kmety, E., & Spalekova, M. (1992). [Legionella antibodies in domestic animals]. Cesk Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol, 41(5), 268–273.
Abstract: Serological examination of 420 domestic animals for the presence of antilegionella antibodies indicates their high exposure to legionellae. On examination by the microagglutination reaction with a serum dilution of 1:64 or more the highest positive values were recorded in horses which reacted with antigens of L. pneumophila 1-14 in 36.2% and with antigens of another 19 types of legionellae in 47.8%. In pigs positive values recorded in 16.2% and in 21.1%; in cattle in 3.8% and 29.5%, in sheep in 7.5% and 11.3% and laboratory rabbits were quite negative. The importance of these findings with regard to the possible role of animals in the ecology of legionellae is obscure.
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Bean, P. (1981). Punishment: A Philosophical and Criminological Enquiry.
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Beauchamp, G. (2000). Individual Differences In Activity And Exploration Influence Leadership In Pairs Of Foraging Zebra Finches. Behaviour, 137, 301–314.
Abstract: This study investigated the role of dominance and level of activity and exploration on leadership in zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata) searching for food. In pairs of zebra finches fairly matched in size and that experienced the same level of food deprivation, the same bird consistently reached first one foraging patch over several trials. The same pattern of arrival to food occurred when resources were provided in two distant patches available concurrently, a situation that would potentially allow subordinates a greater access to resources. In further testing, the formation of new pairs with the same birds led to several changes in leadership, indicating that leadership is not an absolute feature. The member of a pair that proved to be the most active and exploratory during independent, solitary trials became the leader in nearly all pairs tested. The same pattern held true in newly rearranged pairs where individuals often experienced changes in dominance status. Dominance failed to be associated with leadership in all tests. The results suggest that in a relatively egalitarian species, level of activity and exploration may be a stronger predictor of leadership than dominance.
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Beauchamp, G., & Kacelnik, A. (1991). Effects of the knowledge of partners on learning rates in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. Anim. Behav., 41(2), 247–253.
Abstract: Many interpretations of the adaptive value of group living involve tranfer of knowledge. However, according to learning theory, being in a pair with a knowledgeable partner can have paradoxical consequences. Obtaining food by following a skilled companion may reduce the ability of naive individuals to learn about clues that signal the occurrence of food. This study examined the relation between learning and following in paris of zebra finches. Knowledgeable partners were trained to obtain food from a computer-controlled dispenser by using the information provided by a signal. For non-knowledgeable partners, the signal was irrelevant and could not be used to predict foraging opportunities. The rate of learning about the signal by naive birds that shared the experience of either knowledgeable or nonknowledgeable tutors was then examined. Naive birds learned more slowly as a result of being in a pair with a knowledgeable than a non-knowledgeable partner. Well-informed mates acted as a reliable cue to predict foraging opportunities, and thus overshadowed the independent signal. The knowledge of a partner influences learning rates in naive individuals, but in the opposite direction to that predicted by earlier accounts of learning in social contexts.
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Beaugrand, J. P. (1997). Relative importance of initial individual differences, agonistic experience, and assessment accuracy during hierarchy formation: a simulation study. Behav. Process., 41, 177–192.
Abstract: This simulation study explores some conditions leading to transitivity within dominance orders. Combinations of three parameters were varied to study their consequences upon hierarchy formation and upon the degree of linearity of resultant structures. The factors studied were: (1) the importance of initial resource holding potentials (RHPs); (2) changes brought in RHPs by successive victories and defeats; and (3) accuracy of RHP assessment made by opponents. Results show that initial differences in RHP always lead to perfectly transitive chains whose rank order reflects the importance of initial differences. Even when simulated animals make important errors while assessing each other during round robin tournaments, emerging dominance structures are perfectly linear and ranks obtained in the structure are highly correlated with initial values in RHPs. Moreover, accumulated experiences of victory and/or defeat alone always lead to perfectly linear hierarchies. Their combination with initial individual differences in RHP led to the same conclusion. Even when assessment was far from being perfect, not only perfect chains were formed but initial values in RHPs significantly influenced rank order when the contribution of victory and defeat to RHP was relatively unimportant. The higher the importance of victory and defeat to RHP as compared to that of initial RHP values, the lower was the correlation between initial RHP values and the ranks order reached by individuals in the resultant hierarchies. In general also, the lower the variation within initial RHPs, the lower was the correlation between initial RHPs and ranks in the hierarchy. At a given level of initial RHP dispersion, increasing the contribution of victory and defeat to RHP diminished the correlation between initial RHP values and obtained ranks. In addition, inaccurate assessment reduced the overall correlation, especially when dispersion of initial RHP values was low and the contribution of victory and defeat relatively unimportant. These results shed some light on the controversy about the respective roles of initial individual attributes and that of patterns of resolution in the formation of animal hierarchies. We present the emergence of social order within closed systems as those simulated here as a case of self-organization.
Keywords: Dominance; Hierarchy formation; RHP; Agonistic experience; Assessment; Self-organization; Simulation
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