The effects of high milk yields on the behaviour and welfare of the dairy cow are unclear. A high milk yield increases the need to consume sufficient fodder in an attempt to meet high nutrient demands. The failure to meet the demands may result in persistent hunger in the dairy cow having to modify her behaviour by employing various coping strategies. These modifications may help the cow overcome a state of hunger but at the expense of being unable to express other important behaviours. The objective of this study was therefore to determine whether the behaviour and welfare of the genetically high yielding dairy cow is being compromised by the increased nutritional demands of milk production, and to investigate the possibility that an increased amount of time spent in food-directed behaviours may have a detrimental effect on the time available to perform other important behaviours.

Neonatal viability is one of the key factors affecting piglets’ vitality, which ultimately affects the survival and growth of piglets (England, 1974). As colostrum is the only food resource of neonatal piglets, their ability to acquire the colostrum as early as possible after their birth can determine their vitality. Piglets are usually supplied with creep food at some time during the suckling period in order to improve their performance before and after weaning. However, the creep food intake varies between litters and between individuals. Furthermore, the relationship between viability in early life and the acceptance of a new food (e.g. creep food) when they first encounter it, is not fully understood. The objectives of this study were to investigate factors affecting the neonatal viability of piglets at birth and to identify the relationship between neonatal viability and subsequent creep feeding behaviour by piglets on d14-d15.

The behavioural development of precocious mammals contributes to their survival in the neonatal period. In the sheep, neonatal behavioural progress is known to be affected by breed and birthweight (Dwyer, 2001), and is related to lamb survival (Dwyer et al., 2001). Lambs that are slow to stand and suck may be less mature at birth than lambs that stand quickly. Foetal cortisol plays an important role in the preparation of the lamb for postnatal life (Liggins, 1994) and may also play a role in the development of behavioural competency at birth. In this study differences in behavioural develoment and plasma cortisol were measured in two breeds of sheep known to differ in behavioural competency at birth. In addition, ability to maintain body temperature was also investigated.

In intensively kept fattening pigs, biting is a vice complex of fairly common occurrence, of widespread distribution, of some economic importance but of obscure aetiology. It has been suggested that in any one particular outbreak of biting there may be more than one aetiological factor at work and that the behaviour may only occur when the sum of the individual effects of these factors goes beyond a certain critical (undefined) level (Ewbank, 1973). Factors such as: sub-optimal space allowance, temperature control, air movement, nutrients, palatability of feed, access to feed and water, can stimulate this kind of behaviour. Salt (NaCl) is an essential mineral and its rate of inclusion in diets has been implicated in the development and expression of biting behaviour. It is possible that heightened appetite for salt could make pigs particularly attracted to pen-mates with injured tails (Fraser, 1987). Although pigs require only about 0.2% NaCl in the diet for maximum weight gain, NaCl is often provided at 0.5% of the diet for growing pigs, and it has been suggested that an increase to 0.75% or 1% can reduce the incidence of biting. This paper investigates the influence of salt application on biting by growing-finishing pigs under an intensive indoor pig production system. An amount of extra salt was provided to the pigs and behavioural observations (biting, drinking, lying and standing) were recorded.

The furnished cage for laying hens is one attempt to meet the welfare problem of behavioural restriction in conventional battery cages. However despite the presence of a dustbath, sham dustbathing on the cage floor, which is usually associated with litter deprivation, is often seen. It has been suggested that the performance of sham dustbathing is satisfying enough to substitute for dustbathing in litter (Lindberg & Nicol, 1997) but later experimental studies have failed to show that it reduces the motivation to dustbathe in litter (Lindberg, 1999; Olsson et al, accepted). An alternative hypothesis is that sham dustbathing is a consequence of social competition since the dustbath is not big enough to allow all birds in a cage to use it at the same time. If this hypothesis is true, sham dustbathing would be expected to take place mainly when the dustbath is occupied. We tested the hypothesis by observing sham dustbathing and the use of dustbaths in furnished cages.

The excretory behaviour of outdoor lactating sows has important implications for sow and piglet health, especially in organic systems, where use of anthelmintics and other medication is restricted. It is also important in determining the environmental impact of the system. If foraging and excretion are spatially separated this limits risk of parasite infection, but may lead to nutrient “hotspot” formation with potential for leaching and poor nutrient cycling to subsequent crops. Where nose-ringing of organic sows is not permitted by the certification scheme, pasture will be destroyed by foraging activity, further promoting nutrient losses. This study aimed to investigate the spatial distribution of excretory behaviour and patterns of pasture loss during the period from farrowing to weaning.

Piglets with intact teeth suffer considerable damage to the skin of the face during establishment of the suckling hierarchy (Delbor et al., 2000). However, the direct and indirect damage caused by clipping can exceed the effects of these injuries (Noonan et al., 1994; Hutter et al., 1994). The objective of this study was to compare the behaviour of piglets with intact or clipped needle teeth and to discuss the welfare implications of any differences observed.

Floor type is one of the main features influencing the welfare of sows and piglets in farrowing crates. Yet it is difficult to reconcile the needs of the sow and her piglets through the use of one floor (Furniss et al., 1986). Hence the aim of this study was to identify a floor combination that optimises the welfare of the piglets in the farrowing crate.

The recent trend within the Agricultural Livestock Industry away from employing permanent staff to utilising casual staff as a result of a decline in profitability may have implications for the welfare of livestock. This factor has not been examined in detail even though there are a number of studies concerned with the role of the stockperson (for example, Duncan and Fraser, 1993). From the limited number of studies performed, it is likely that the interaction between the stock-person and the animal is negative as adverse behavioural patterns are identifiable, even if the stock-person is experienced. The study reported compares the behaviour of ewes being managed by an experienced stock-person or by students undergoing training.

Leptin is a 16 kDa protein synthesized and secreted primarily by adipocytes. Leptin was discovered in 1994 as the gene product deficient in the obese ob/ob mouse. In addition to profound obesity, these animals are characterized by multiple, complex neuroendocrine disorders that manifest in severe insulin resistance and infertility. We now know that leptin is involved in the regulation of appetite, body weight, energy balance, reproduction and the neuroendocrine axis in animals and man. Additionally, leptin has been shown to regulate immune function and anorexia associated with disease.

Animal Science is, by convention, both applied and limited in scope. It is applied because it is directed towards the ‘better’ use of animals to serve man, usually in the form of a meal. Most Animal Science is limited because it focuses on what happens within the animal, a fascinating but rather inflexible link in the food chain, or detail on the broad environmental canvas. The success, failure (or complete irrelevance) of applied Animal Science is defined by what society understands as ‘better’ and by the extent to which animal scientists have contributed to this good.

Nematode parasite infections are now being recognised as possibly the greatest disease problem of grazing livestock industries, worldwide. Often parasites were considered to be of greatest concern in countries of the tropics and subtropics. This is based on the perception that parasites are either not as pathogenic, or are better controlled, in grazing livestock industries in the temperate regions of the world. Unfortunately this is not the case. The hidden costs of nematode parasite infection, particularly in young ruminants, are substantial even in Europe. This is now especially so, when one considers that maintaining livestock for longer periods on pasture is becoming and economic, environmental and animal welfare necessity.

How do animal hosts control worms? When an animal ingests an infective form of a gastrointestinal helminth (roundworm) from pasture, it can contain the infection by limiting the establishment, growth rate, fecundity and persistence of the parasite. This containment is achieved through the direct and indirect actions of the immune response. A helminth-specific immune response is, by and large, a local one and is achieved by an increase in the number of effector cells and the concentration of effector substances (such as specific immunoglobulins, proteases and mucin) in the gastrointestinal mucosa and lumen. The delivery of some of the effector substances is achieved through plasma leakage, part of which is irretrievably lost As these responses require nutrients for their expression and replenishment, it is not unreasonable to expect that host nutrition has the potential to affect the immune responses when nutrient resources are scarce. In this presentation we concentrate on the consequences of nutrition on the acquired immunity to parasites. Host nutrition can also affect innate immunity by, for example, making the gastrointestinal environment more hostile to parasites, but such effects will not be considered any further here.

On a global scale, ruminant diseases caused by gastrointestinal parasite infection are the diseases with the greatest impact upon animal health and productivity (Perry et al., 2002). The problems associated with anthelmintic resistance amongst nematode parasites are well known, and considerable effort is now being made to devise alternative and complementary control strategies. Selection of animals with enhanced resistance is one such control strategy. This paper considers the genetic control of host resistance to gastrointestinal parasites and the selection of host animals with genetically enhanced resistance.

My remarks explore the role of theory in making progress in science generally and particularly in ecology. I discuss what theory is (and isn’t). I argue that theory is a fundamentally important part of doing science efficiently, and I discuss some exciting new approaches for combining theory, data, and statistics to enhance scientific understanding. I illustrate these approaches using examples from work on foraging by mammalian herbivores.

Livestock systems in hill and upland areas of the UK are characterised by extensive grazing, mainly by sheep and beef cattle. These areas also represent some of the most valued semi-natural habitats and landscapes in the country, with many areas being the subject to any number of a range of types of designation. This paper explores how, within upland systems, livestock can be integrated with their environment to achieve both agricultural and environmental objectives.

Language provides us with convenient generalisations that often conceal as much as they reveal. The term ‘rural economy’ fits into this category. In the UK the rural economy ranges from the lush pastures of Cheshire, interspersed with the residences of the wealthy, to the bleak Highlands and the isolated, windswept Western Isles. When we look for the optimum use of the resources involved in such areas no one solution can suit all. Equally our emotional attachment to rural economies often embraces the idea that they are timeless. In reality all rural economies are dynamic and some are changing very rapidly as this conference takes place. Probably the most useful task for those who seek to help farmers and planners is to come to an understanding of the moving economic equilibrium, towards which at any one time we are tending. That equilibrium can be represented as a balance between the inflows and outflows of people, money and physical resources at any one time.

Leptin is a hormone mainly expressed by adipose tissue (AT) in mammals and/or by liver in birds, at levels that differ according to genetic, physiological, nutritional and environmental factors, as well as hormone treatments (Houseknecht et al., 1998; Barb et al., 2002; Chilliard et al., 2002; Taouis et al., 2002).

AT leptin mRNA level was higher in sheep and goat subcutaneous than visceral tissues, and the opposite was observed in cattle; it was higher in fat than in lean selection line in sheep. Leptin gene expression was decreased by undernutrition and increased by refeeding in AT of cattle and sheep, and decreased during fasting but not after feed restriction in AT of pig. In the chicken, both AT and liver leptin mRNA were decreased by undernutrition. In lactating goats, the replacement of part of the dietary concentrates by soybeans did not change leptin expression. The injection of NPY in sheep, as well as growth hormone (GH) treatment of growing sheep and cattle increased AT leptin mRNA. In the pig, AT leptin mRNA decreased after GH administration and estrogen-induced leptin mRNA increased with age and adiposity. In the chicken, estrogen treatment decreased AT and liver leptin mRNA. In vitro, insulin and glucocorticoïds increased AT leptin mRNA in cattle and pig, and leptin production in sheep. However, these effects on leptin gene expression were inhibited by GH. In the chicken, liver but not AT leptin mRNA was either increased by insulin, glucocorticoïds and GH or decreased by glucagon treatments. Long daylength increased AT lipogenic activities and leptin mRNA, as well as plasma leptin in sheep. In sheep, AT leptin mRNA increased from prebreeding to mid-pregnancy and declined to prebreeding levels during early lactation (Ehrhardt et al., 2001).

The application of welfare science to the study of both domestic and wild animals raises important ethical questions which the science itself cannot answer, and my purpose in the paper is to give a framework for answering these questions. I shall also try to evaluate the contribution that welfare science can make to difficult questions of wildlife management.

A slow but steady shift in perspective on the need to address ethical issues within the professional activity of animal scientists has been underway for almost twenty years. Increasingly the issue is less whether animal scientists should be discussing ethical issues in their classes, at their professional meetings and in their interactions with client groups, but how they should do so. This paper will provide some arguments in support of this general trend, and will make some suggestions about how animal scientists can increase their capacity to address ethical issues as part of their professional responsibility.