Broilers select an adequate diet when they are given a cycle of 8h free access to whole grain wheat followed by 8h access to a pelleted balancer feed (Foote and Rose 1991). This study had 3 feeding trials. Their objectives were to investigate whether the sequential feeding regimen allowed dietary self-selection by broilers and to compare the productive performance of the broilers with other feeding regimens.

The first trial used 144 broilers in 24 cages. Three balancer feeds were formulated by removing part of the wheat component of a complete feed formulation. Either 35%, 50% or 65% of the wheat was removed from the original formulation. A fourth sequential feeding treatment used the 50% balancer but with another sample of whole wheat as the alternate feed.

The farrowing crate is one of the most confining forms of animal accommodation found in intensive animal rearing systems and so is subject to criticism from welfare lobby groups. To determine how the welfare of the sow might be affected by the crate, we need to gain an understanding of pre-farrowing behaviour, and the factors that affect its expression. Free-ranging domestic sows will leave the herd on the day before farrowing and walk up to 6.5 km, build a nest and farrow in it (Jensen, 1986). Crated sows are known to become very restless in the day or so before farrowing, and as farrowing approaches they bite at the crate and paw and root at the floor and fittings (e.g. Jones, 1966). It is possible that this behaviour is an expression of the motivation to perform locomotion and nest-building as shown by sows in the wild. To investigate this, three experiments were designed to investigate pre-farrowing behaviour in domestic sows and the influence of straw (a nest-building substrate) on its expression.

There is continuing public concern about the welfare of poultry kept in battery cages. However, current alternative systems would be unsuitable to fill the gap if cages were to be banned. Many welfare problems have been encountered with alternative systems. These include feather pecking, cannibalism, poor foot condition, bone breakage, poor production, high feed intake and floor egg laying. In 4 studies, between 1988 and 1992, the effect of the Gleadthorpe design of perchery on the performance, behaviour and welfare of laying hens was evaluated.

The perchery consisted of 2 perch units constructed on wooden slatted platforms over a droppings pit. A block of 5 tier high nestboxes was provided along each side of the perchery. The nestboxes were of a rear roll-away type and contained “Astroturf” nest pads. Litter areas were available between the 2 perch units and between the perch units and the blocks of nest boxes.

The ascites syndrome is a cardiopulmonary condition which affects young just-growing broiler chickens. It is identified by the accumulation of serous fluid in the abdominal cavity and birds die from chronic passive congestion and right ventricular heart failure. Many reports refer to its incidence among broilers maintained at altitudes greater than 3000 m. It is thought that hypoxia caused by decreased partial pressure of atmospheric oxygen (p02 results in a syndrome of cor pulmonale analogous to high mountain disease in cattle and is a major cause of ascites. From the mid 1980's, however, there have been more frequent reports that refer to the occurrence of spontaneous outbreaks of ascites in flocks maintained at moderate altitudes or even at sea level. At sea level, the increased frequency of this syndrome has still to be determined.

Because the pathology of this syndrome is characterised by marked ascites, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary congestion and oedema and hepatopathy, much of this talk will concentrate on morphological changes, both spontaneous and induced, that have been identified in altitude - and sea level-reared broiler chicks. Histo/ultracytochemical techniques have been used to investigate the possible role of tissue oxygen underutilisation in the broiler ascites syndrome at low altitude.

The skeletal disorders causing the most severe welfare problems in different classes of poultry are bone growth disorders in young birds and bone fragility in older laying hens.

Angular and rotational deformities of leg bones are widespread in young birds, especially in broilers but also in turkeys. Dyschondroplasia is a widely observed defect in the growth plates of leg bones. It occurs most noticeably in the growth plate of the proximal tibia, the fastest growing bone in the young broiler, and is frequently referred to as tibial dyschondroplasia (TD). Resulting from a failure of growth plate chondrocytes to differentiate fully, it leads to a build up of a mass of prehypertrophic chondrocytes. The lesions develop between the ages of 2 and 5 weeks and can regress thereafter.

The importance of TD in causing bone deformity was assessed by carrying out sequential radiography of the proximal tibias of a group of 20 broilers growing up to 16 weeks of age. At this time the tibias were dissected and the angulation of the proximal end (tibial plateau angle, TP°) was measured. The severities and durations of the TD lesions, assessed by radiography, were found to be highly correlated with the TP°. Birds with abnormally large TP° were obviously lame. These observations confirm that TD can lead to distortion of bone growth and that this can contribute to lameness in broilers (Lynch et al., 1992).

The Slaughter of Animals (Humane Conditions) Regulation 1990 requires head restraint for stunning slaughter cattle as of July 1992. This change has been brought about in order to improve captive bolt shooting accuracy and stunning effectiveness. As the target area to aim for on the head for effective stunning is relatively small it is hoped that restricting the head movements will increase shooting accuracy, stunning effectiveness and improve welfare. However, concern has been raised about the possible stress effects of using a restraint. A new system has been developed in Bristol (Department of Meat Animal Science) and is designed to immobilise the head by two pneumatically operated vertical bars for a short time sufficient to enable the operator to aim the the gun at the target area.

Religious slaughter methods which preclude the use of preslaughter stunning have been subject to controversy for many years. Three fundamental questions have been raised and need clarification: Does the preceeding handling of the animal cause undue stress, is the sticking wound during cutting and afterwards painful, and how long does it take before permanent insensibility is reached. This study has attempted to answer the first question about the stress of handling cattle and sheep prior to religious slaughter.

Eight slaughter sheep previously fitted with jugular vein catheters for blood sampling were used. The first sample was taken in the holding pen and animals were transported to the University's slaughterhall (approx. 500m). The legs of sheep were tied together for restraint on arrival. A second sample was taken immediately prior to religious slaughter which was performed within 2 minutes. A third sample was taken from the exsanguinated blood from the wound made with a gash stick

The Farm Animal Welfare Council made a recommendation in its report on the welfare of livestock at the time of slaughter in 1984 that noise levels in slaughterhouses should be reduced. There were specific recommendations for using materials such as plastics for reducing the noise in the construction of gates, shackle lines, conveyors etc. This recommendation was based on the assumption that excessive noise such as found in a slaughterhouse environment would cause stress. However, it is not clear whether in fact animals show a stress response to slaughterhouse noise.

This experiment was conducted under commercial conditions to establish the response of various blood parameters to handling in the period immediately prior to slaughter under a variety of conditions.

Pigs from four farms were slaughtered at two abattoirs, each with two slaughter handling systems. Pigs at abattoir one were electrically stunned (low voltage, 110v) either in a floor pen (FPl) holding five pigs or in a single pig conveyor restrainer (RR). Pigs were driven in groups of 25 thrQugh a straight race 1.5m wide to FPl. The race system leading to RR consisted of a collection pen holding 25 pigs. This pen was stepped in two places and led to a 10m single file race which fed the restrainer. Abattoir two also had a floor pen system (FP2) with low voltage (11Ov) stunning, and a CO2 dip-lift system (CO2). FP2 was fed by a single file race 7m long with a 90° curve within the first 2m. The CO2 stunner was fed by a circular collection pen 3m in diameter, with a rotating gate moving pigs into a double race 3m long which supplied the dip-lift unit.

Piglets are born with 8 very sharp ‘needle-teeth’ - 4 incisors and 4 canines. These pointed teeth grow outwards, two on either side in each jaw, leaving an open space in the front of the mouth. In intensively run units, the tips of these teeth are usually removed soon after birth, using a pair of side cutter pliers. This is said to reduce the severity of piglet face wounding, caused by natural competition for space at the udder and during play. Reducing injury by clipping teeth is also said to limit the sites of entry for micro-organisms. Blunt clippers and clipping teeth too close to the gum can shatter teeth, providing places of entry for microbes and leaving sharp edges which can lead to deep wounds in tongues and lips. The aim of this trial was to determine whether grinding teeth is a preferable alternative to clipping teeth

The welfare of domestic food animals has been defined by their state as regards their attempts to cope with their environment(Broom, 1986). Attempts made by the animals to cope can be successful or unsuccessful; unsuccessful attempts are defined as poor welfare. The assessment of animal welfare may be made, for example, ethological, endocrinological and immunological methods. Poor welfare has been associated with increased disease susceptibility; furthermore stress can cause immunosupression (reviewed by Kelley, 1980). Therefore, immune responses should indicate the welfare of an animal. An experiment was designed to assess immune responses as indicators of welfare of calves kept in different husbandry conditions.

The trade between European community (EC) countries involving the transportation of live calves has, with the advent of 1993, considerably increased. In the UK alone, thousands of calves are transported on lorries and ferries and exported to other EC countries each year. An increase in the incidence of ‘shipping fever’, the general classification in American feedlots for bacterial or viral respiratory infections in cattle, has been observed following transportation. Further observations have shown an increased disease susceptibility following transportation and research has suggested that this is due to immunosuppression. An experiment was designed to investigate the effects of transportation and other normal husbandry variables on their ability to mount antibody responses to a specific antigen in suckler calves.

The fact that laying hens prefer to lay in a nest is not evidence in itself that a suitable nest-site is necessary for the hens’ well-being. Stronger evidence would be found if hens were prepared to pay some cost to use a nest-site. The objective of this study is to quantify the strength of individual hens’ nesting motivation in terms of meaningful measures such as overcoming aversive obstacles, work or time.

To investigate the motivation to gain access to a nestbox, hens were floor housed in groups of four in a pen containing food and water. Access to a nesting pen containing two nestboxes, could be restricted using a number of obstacles such as a narrow gap, a water bath and a swing door. Between trials hens were singly housed in wire-floored cages containing a perch and a nestbox. Results indicate that hens made less entries of longer duration to the nesting pen (Means + s.e in Figures 1 and 3) on treatment days with an obstacle than on control days without an obstacle. There was little disruption of use of the nest box (Figures 2 and 4). Hens that were due to lay made more visits on both control (C Egg) and treatment (T Egg) days (Figure 1), which may indicate greater motivation to explore the whole pen before oviposition.

Most birds,both domestic chicks and adult chickens,belong to the group of animals which have a relatively well developed mechanism for visual perception and discrimination (Hurnik et al , 1971). Furthermore, this ability extends to a differentiation between certain areas of the colour spectrum. According to Bell and Freeman (1971) fowls can more easily be trained to distinguish colours than to distinguish intensity.

The present study was designed to investigate whether a response in the initial and long-term preference of broilers could be achieved by using different colour light after being reared in red, blue, green and white light.

Previous studies indicate that milk yield can be increased by the provision of supplementary light when natural daylength declines to between 8 and 10 hours per day. However, the response has been shown to be variable and the mechanism by which milk production is stimulated remains to be determined. One theory is that photoperiod could directly influence the hedonistic response of cows to their environment and hence improve welfare by reducing stress. Increasing production by manipulating photoperiod is more acceptable to the consumer than the administration of exogenous hormones, although the commercial benefits require further investigation. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of providing supplementary light for dairy cows during the spring months when natural daylength is increasing, most previous studies having compared light supplemented cows with those in declining daylength.

The use of cubicle mats for dairy cows has been promoted on the basis that they encourage cubicle occupancy, thus improving hygiene, and reduce the incidence and severity of udder and leg injuries. It has also been suggested that cows are less stressed so that fertility and production performance is improved, thus increasing profitability. This experiment was carried out to study the effect of synthetic cubicle mats (Cow Comfort, Wigan) on dairy cattle behaviour, health and productivity.

The first study used 33 cows offered a choice of 24 matted cubicles and 24 unmatted cubicles arranged in alternating groups of four. The cows were observed every half hour for 24 hours and their location (in or out of cubicles) and behaviour (standing or lying and whether ruminating) recorded. The second was a changeover experiment in which two groups of 28 cows were housed for two periods, each of at least two months, on either matted or concrete cubicles. In each period cow location and behaviour was recorded half hourly for a 24 hour duration. The 1·19 X 2·17 metre cubicles had Dutch Comfort divisions and all were bedded with sawdust. Cow health, reproductive performance and lameness were monitored throughout.

Based upon the concept of ethological need, changes in time-budgeting from the baseline of that of feral conspecifics are considered to be detrimental to welfare. However, it is argued that domestication changes innate abilities and expectations, and that changes in behaviour may be appropriate adaptations to changes in environment. These opposing ideas present a difficulty in the use of time-budgets in the assessment of animal welfare.

This paper shows how experimentation can aid the interpretation of changes in behaviour seen in horses kept in a variety of environments, and so validate the use of time-budgets in the assessment of welfare.

Six 24 hour time budgets were compiled for 4 Thoroughbred geldings, aged 12-19, 15 - 16·5 hh, weighing 490 - 600 kg. They were kept in a variety of environments; (i) at pasture (approx. 7000 m2/head) (ii) in loose boxes (14 m2/head) fed hay ad libitum, (iii) in stalls (6 m2/head) fed hay ad libitum, (iv) in stalls fed hay to maintenance (v) in stalls fed pelleted hay to maintenance and (vi) in stalls fed alfalfa-maize cobs to maintenance, for one month at a time, in random order.

In intensive farming, it is Important to remember that each individual animal has its own needs (Hughes and Duncan, 1988). In pigs, close confinement and food restriction can result in the development of abnormal behaviour. Terlouw et al. (1990) suggest that an individual's temperament may influence the development of such behaviour and therefore how a pig copes with environmental stress. Individual differences in behaviour are consistent and measurable (e.g. Lyons et al.. 1988). By determining an animal's temperament using a characteristic profile, it may it may be possible to predict the response of a temperament “type” to certain conditions.

This study is part of a larger project concerned with the effects of housing and feed level on the development of behaviours in group-housed gilts. All the pigs entered a series of tests to measure individual characteristics prior to the main experiment. Two of the tests, one measuring feeding motivation and the other social behaviour, are compared here.

Many reports have examined the effect of subjecting animals to stress and a variety of physiological indices have been used to monitor their responses. The indices are often only measured at one point in time and compared to resting levels. Problems could arise in interpretation of the results especially where there is little or no information on the time course of response. This work examined the pattern or response of various indices to the stress of negotiating a loading ramp.

Four pigs of approximately 60 kg live weight were surgically prepared and indwelling catheters placed in both jugular veins. The animals were allowed to recover for three days and to become accustomed to the blood sampling procedure before the experiment. The pigs were driven individually up a 2.44m long ramp which was set at an angle of 34° lo the horizontal, the maximum allowed under UK legislation for internal vehicle ramps (Transport of Animals (Road and Rail) Order, 1975). Nine blood samples were removed at intervals from each pig. The whole process was repealed on each individual pig for three days.

Economic and production reasons dictate that the breeding stock of domestic pigs are normally fed a food ration less than their ad libitum intake (Whittemore 1987), and commercial levels of food restriction have been shown using operant conditioning to result in sustained feeding motivation (Lawrence et al 1988). However, operant conditioning procedures can be criticised on the basis that they impose artificial conditions on the animal.

The practice of food restriction with dry sows has been directly linked to the performance of stereotypic behaviour (Appleby and Lawrence 1987) which maybe interpreted as an indicator of poor welfare (Mason 1991). Stereotypies in sows have often been associated with physically restrictive housing such as stalls and tethers. However, stereotypies can also develop in loose housed sows if they are also food restricted (Terlouw et al 1991). The performance of stereotypies may then reflect underlying feeding motivation and the subsequent potentiation foraging behaviour (Hughes and Duncan 1988). Stereotypies may arise where restrictive housing in some way interferes with the expression of that foraging behaviour perhaps by modifying or channelling complex and variable foraging behaviour into more simple and often repeated forms (Lawrence and Terlouw, in press.