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Williams, J. L., Friend, T. H., Toscano, M. J., Collins, M. N., Sisto-Burt, A., & Nevill, C. H. (2002). The effects of early training sessions on the reactions of foals at 1, 2, and 3 months of age. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 77(2), 105–114.
Abstract: An early training procedure commonly termed “foal imprint training” is widely promoted in the horse industry. However, there have been no published scientific investigations of its efficacy. This study determined the effects of a training procedure on foals and their reaction to stimuli used in the early training procedure, and to a novel stimulus, at 1, 2 and 3 months of age. Twenty-five foals received a standard training procedure at 2, 12, 24, and 48 h after birth. After the training procedure, the foals received minimal additional handling that included veterinary treatments and occasional relocation. Twenty-two foals born over the same time period served as controls. All 47 (25 trained, 22 control) foals were tested at 1 month of age. Only 20 were available for testing at 2 months of age, and nine were available at 3 months. Percentage change from baseline heart rate, time required to complete exposure to each stimulus (foals that were more reactive took longer) and the behavior of each foal during the introduction of each stimulus were recorded. Overall, the control foals tended to receive lower (better) behavioral scores at 1 and 2 months of age. Foals that underwent the training procedure tended to require less time to complete exposure to the stimulus and had lower heart rates during exposure to the stimuli at 1 and 2 months of age. By 3 months of age, there were no significant differences between trained and control foals for any measures. Early training was not efficacious in this study.
Keywords: Equine; Imprint training; Imprinting; Learning; Training; Handling; Foal
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Pollard, J. C., & Littlejohn, R. P. (1996). The effects of pen size on the behaviour of farmed red deer stags confined in yards. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 47(3-4), 247–253.
Abstract: To determine whether pen size affected the behaviour and welfare of farmed red deer confined temporarily in yards, four groups of ten 2-year-old stags were confined for 40 min or 2 days in each of spring and summer, in either large (5 m × 4 m ) or small (2.5 m × 4) pens. In the small pens, wall pacing and vertical/horizontal head movements at the walls were more frequently observed (P < 0.05) and were carried out by a greater percentage of the deer (P < 0.001), and distances between individuals were smaller (P < 0.01), than observations in the large pens. Aggressive activities varied seasonally, with head-butting and chasing being seen most frequently in the spring (P < 0.05) and biting and kicking being seen most frequently in the summer (P < 0.05), and the overall frequency of aggressive activities was low in summer. In spring, in small pens there were fewer threats to head-butt, head butts by moving animals, and less stepping activity than in large pens (P < 0.05). In summer, in small pens there were more threats to butt and more stepping activity than in the large pens (P < 0.05). In both seasons, aggressive activities were correlated with wall pacing (r = 0.58 and 0.55, respectively). It was concluded that the effect of pen size on the frequency and nature of aggressive and other activities varied seasonally. In order minimise aggression and stepping activity, small pens were favoured in spring and large pens were favoured in summer. However, in both seasons there were greater inter-individual distances and reduced pacing and head movements at the walls in large pens. This latter finding may indicate that the large pens were less aversive to the deer, regardless of season.
Keywords: Red deer; Handling; Density; Aggression; Farming
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De Pasquale, A., Ingala, A., Innella, G., Luigiano, G., Malara, L., & Panzera, M. (2008). The influence of the enriched environment on the reactivity of the precociously handled foals (Equus caballus L.). In IESM 2008.
Abstract: In a preliminary study, we evaluated the effect of precocious handling (at birth, 10, 30 and 60 days) and enriched environment on foal. Two experimental groups were created:
- 3 foals not handled and stabled in semi-enriched environment (Group A). - 6 foals handled and stabled in an enriched environment (Group B). All nine foals were tested with a novel object test (umbrella) at three months of age, to assess the Heart Rate (HR) values measured by a telemetric heart rate monitor (Polar Horse Trainer), during opening, touching and closing of the umbrella. The statistical analysis carried out by means of the Mann-Whitney test showed lower HR values of the foals of group B (P<0.05). Furthermore we have investigated 10 foals born between 2006 and 2008 to study the influence of enriched environment and precocious handling on behavioural responsiveness. The foals were housed on a farm which ensured an enriched environment and made social intra and interspecific interactions easier, alias autoshaping. They were submitted to: - Handling within 24 hours from birth. - Handling and reactivity test (arena test) executed at 10, 30 and 60 days. The temporal correlation was studied among ages and baseline HR values, using the Spearman"s test, to assess the beginning of neurovegetative HR control. In fact statistically significant differences were obtained (r = -0.431; P<0,02). Temporal values of obtained HR baseline, using the Wilcoxon test, showed lower values at 60 days. The comparison was significant among mean and max baseline HR values of 30 vs 60 and 10 vs 60 (P<0.05), while no differences were observed during the reactivity test. This shows that adequate conditions of management associated to a precocious and continuous handling allow the foals to maintain their natural investigative behaviour disappearing fear and flight reactions. |
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Griffin, B. (2002). The use of fecal markers to facilitate sample collection in group-housed cats. Contemp Top Lab Anim Sci, 41(2), 51–56.
Abstract: The provision of proper social housing is a priority when designing an experiment using domestic cats as laboratory animals. When animals are group-housed, studies requiring analysis of stool samples from individual subjects pose difficulty in sample collection and identification. In this study, commercially available concentrated food colorings (known as bakers pastes) were used as fecal markers in group-housed cats. Cats readily consumed 0.5 ml of bakers paste food coloring once daily in canned cat food. Colorings served as fecal markers by imparting a distinct color to each cat s feces, allowing identification in the litter box. In addition, colored glitter (1/8 teaspoon in canned food) was fed to cats and found to be a reliable fecal marker. Long-term feeding of colorings and glitter was found to be safe and effective at yielding readily identifiable stools.
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Slater, C., & Dymond, S. (2011). Using differential reinforcement to improve equine welfare: Shaping appropriate truck loading and feet handling. Behav. Process., 86(3), 329–339.
Abstract: Inappropriate behavior during common handling procedures with horses is often subject to aversive treatment. The present study replicated and extended previous findings using differential reinforcement to shape appropriate equine handling behavior. In Study 1, a multiple baseline across subjects design was used with four horses to determine first the effects of shaping target-touch responses and then successive approximations of full truck loading under continuous and intermittent schedules of reinforcement. Full loading responses were shaped and maintained in all four horses and occurrences of inappropriate behaviors reduced to zero. Generalization of the loading response was also observed to both a novel trainer and trailer. In Study 2, a changing criterion design was used to increase the duration of feet handling with one horse. The horse's responding reached the terminal duration criterion of 1 min and showed consistent generalization and one-week maintenance. Overall, the results of both studies support the use of applied equine training systems based on positive reinforcement for increasing appropriate behavior during common handling procedures.
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Sondergaard, E., & Halekoh, U. (2003). Young horses' reactions to humans in relation to handling and social environment. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 84(4), 265–280.
Abstract: Forty Danish warmblood colts in two replicates were used to investigate the effect of housing and handling in the rearing period on the reactions to humans. The horses entered the experiment after weaning and were housed either individually (n=16) or in groups of three (n=24). Half of the horses from each housing group were handled three times per week for a period of 10 min. Approach tests were performed in the home environment when the horses were 6, 9, 12, 18, 21, and 24 months old, and an Arena and Human Encounter test was performed in a novel environment when the horses were 12 and 24 months old, respectively. In the home environment, single-housed horses approached sooner and were more easily approached by a human than group-housed horses where no effect of handling was observed. Horses approached sooner and were more easily approached with increasing age. In the Arena and Human Encounter test, single-housed horses expressed less restless behaviour, more explorative behaviour, and less vocalisation than group-housed horses. Handled horses showed lower increase in heart rate during the test than non-handled horses. There was no difference between the number of times single or group-housed horses touched an unfamiliar person in the Arena and Human Encounter test but handled horses approached sooner than non-handled horses. It is concluded that the social environment affected the way horses reacted to humans when tested in the home environment but not in a novel environment. In contrast, handling affected the reactions to humans when tested in the novel environment but not in the home environment. However, handled horses also reacted less to the novel environment in general, thus indicating that handling is a mean of avoiding potential dangerous situations.
Keywords: Horses; Human-animal relationship; Social environment; Handling
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