The continued search for alternative feed resources for poultry in Africa is necessitated by the competition between people and poultry for cereal grains. Several farm and agro-industrial by-products have been evaluated for this purpose in West-Africa. One of such by-products, cocoa-pod husk (CPH) has shown promise in laying hen diets in Ghana and Nigeria (Osei et al., 1991; Sobamiwa, 1998). Another farm by-product sharing several similarities with CPH but of higher crude protein and lower crude fibre contents is Kola-pod husk (KPH). Nigeria produces 70% of world kola (Cola nitida Vent) and consequently the bulk of KPH which is estimated at 210,000 tones annually (Ogutuga, 1975). The present study investigates the partial replacement of maize with KPH in laying hen diets in South Western Nigeria. This is the region of kola production and it is characterized by small holder rural poultry farms which could easily adopt the findings of this study.

A Belgian study shows that the five most important meat attributes for the consumers are as follows: quality, taste, freshness, absence of hormones and healthiness (Verbeke and Viaene, 1999). This corroborates with the results of a French survey by Touraille (1992), who found that sensory properties and security aspects (hormones) of meat are of paramount importance for the consumer. It is important to direct pork production towards an acceptable product adapted to the consumer's demand. The objective of this study is to evaluate in which way and how strong the sensory quality parameters are influenced by different factors.

Individual piglet birthweight is a major determinant of subsequent survival and weaning weight of the litter. Low birthweight piglets are more likely to die from starvation and thermoregulatory stress than their heavier littermates, while those that do survive grow more slowly and reach a lower mature body weight with a higher body fat to muscle ratio. Inadequately grown porcine fetuses are often characterised by assymetrical organ development although it is not clear when this difference in relative organ size arises and whether this is a consequence of changes in cell size or cell number. The objectives of this study were to assess a range of determinants of fetal growth at stages of gestation and to determine when changes in the relationship between fetal size and organ development occur.

There is increasing public concern about the welfare of farm animals and one of the issues recently raised has been the use of totally slatted floors for rearing and finishing beef cattle. However, human perception of the needs of animals may not necessarily reflect that of the animals' needs. The objective of this experiment was to examine beef cattle preferences for different floor types, in order to provide scientific information that will be valuable in formulating a policy on the housing requirements of beef cattle.

Cattle presented for slaughter must now attain a very high level of cleanliness. The objective of this on farm study was to investigate the factors that affect the cleanliness of housed beef cattle in order to provide sound scientific information on the relative importance of these factors and to provide a basis for advice to the industry on producing cleaner cattle.

The most common and intractable condition which leads to lameness in cattle is claw horn disruption (CHD). Although many risk factors have been associated with CHD, such as calving and housing, the mechanisms of tissue damage are unknown. It is proposed here that this chronic condition results from failure of the suspensory apparatus of the hoof, leading to solear ulcers and white line disease. The aim of this study is to develop methodologies which permit quantitative evaluations of the relationships between connective tissue biochemistry and the biomechanical properties of supportive structures of the hoof.

Lameness in the dairy cow not only causes major financial loss but also has serious welfare implications. Both environmental and nutritional factors have been implicated in its occurrence, which is commonly observed as laminitis, white line disease and sole ulcers, which are disorders of the corium. The aim of the current study was to examine the effect of diet composition in the form of non-structural carbohydrates on hoof health.

Lameness is a major welfare problem in farm animals and poor hoof (claw) health frequently causes painful lesions. Such lesions frequently arise from damage to the underlying dermal and epidermal soft tissues causing impaired production of the horn on the external surface of the claw (Budras et al., 1998) Precisely timed interactions between embryonic dermis and epidermis, are essential for normal development and function in other integumental tissues such as the hair follicle (Galbraith, 1998), but have not been confirmed for claw tissue. The time course of development of cellular and extra-cellular structures has not been described, nor has the question of whether fetal prenatal claw development may be affected by undernutrition of the ewe such as frequently occurs in extensive production systems. The aims of the study were to investigate external physical dimensions and internal cellular development of fetal claws and how these may be influenced by stage of gestation and maternal nutrition.

The spatial distribution of grazing sheep is influenced by the distribution of vegetation and by social behaviour. Where there are conflicts between grazing preferred vegetation and maintaining normal inter-individual distances, animals may have to make trade-offs based on the relative strengths of their motivation to feed or to be social. Social motivation, or sociability, has been assessed in chickens by measuring the rate at which isolated individuals move towards their companions (Suarez and Gallup, 1983) and in sheep by studying nearest neighbours (Sibbald et al, 1998). The aim of this experiment was to test whether individual differences in sociability affect the foraging behaviour of sheep, when animals have to choose between grazing or remaining close to their companions.

A recent survey showed that 4.3% of pigs slaughtered in Great Britain were tail-bitten (Guise and Penny, 1998). This figure could be reduced through a better understanding of the individual traits associated with tail-biting. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between tail-biting and aggression in pigs reared in barren and enriched environments.

The general well-being of growing pigs is known to be affected by both the quantity/quality of stockperson input invested and the complexity of their housing environment (Pearce et. al., 1989). However, the nature of the interactions which exist between these two factors is still largely unknown. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the separate and interactive effects of handling and environmental enrichment on the welfare and performance of growing pigs.

Rearing houses for broiler poultry breeders are relatively barren buildings which provide for the basic environmental comfort and nutritional needs of the birds, but offer little in the way of additional novel stimuli (FAWC, 1998). The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) recommends that environmental enrichment should be available in rearing houses. The Peckablock is a cereal-based enrichment device which is suspended in front of broiler breeders and provides birds with a novel material at which to peck, mimicking their natural behaviour. The manufacturers claim that this stimulus, plus the reward of cereal grains that are loosened and have fallen into the undertray, can help to ameliorate the potential problem of cannibalism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of providing Peckablocks on the behaviour and performance of commercial broiler chicks at two different levels of light intensity.

Previous research into free-farrowing systems for pigs has found that although sow welfare is better than in crated systems, piglet mortality levels are often unacceptably high. Whilst on-going research programmes are investigating methods to address this problem, the effect of alternative farrowing systems on piglet behaviour and welfare post-weaning is largely unknown. A recent study found that the increased social contact between piglets reared outdoors prior to weaning resulted in welfare benefits post-weaning (Cox and Cooper, 1999). The aim of this experiment was to investigate whether offering different degrees of social contact in an indoor community-lactation system would confer similar enhancements to piglet welfare post-weaning.

Aggression seen on mixing of young pigs is a major welfare concern in modern farming. One solution may be to reduce the likelihood of aggression within a group by using combinations of individuals that facilitate rapid integration. This idea has been investigated by Mendl and Erhard (1997) using pigs with various levels of aggressiveness. An attack latency test was used to measure individual aggressiveness. Experimental pigs were placed in a familiar pen with an unfamiliar pig and the time taken to attack (i.e. attempt to fight) the intruder measured. In a substantial number of tests (e.g. 61% in the present study) no attack occurs in the time allowed (5 minutes) These pigs vary in their interactions with the intruder, ranging from no interest at all to persistent interest with isolated aggressive acts but no escalation to fighting (personal observation). The aim of this study was to investigate social behaviour throughout the test, thereby allowing a more detailed analysis of aggressiveness to be made.

Major psychological stress occurs when piglets are weaned and in particular the stress of mixing piglets into new social groups may be one of the most significant of all (Musgrave et al, 1991). The objective of the experiment was to determine whether the practice of mixing litters prior to weaning and at weaning had any effect on performance both before and after weaning.

The re-grouping of sows is a common procedure in pig production systems and is one which can have adverse consequences for both welfare and production (Arey and Edwards, 1998). Sows in an indoor dynamic group system, in which group structure was changed repeatedly, had a high rate of returns to service which may have been due to them receiving greater levels of aggression (Rigat et al., 1998). The aim of this experiment was to determine the effects of re-grouping on sow aggression and how this affected behaviour, immune function and productivity.

The heat period at which gilts are bred affects first reproductive performance and overall sow productivity. However, most studies which have examined this subject have confounded chronological age (i.e. days) with physiological age (i.e. number of heat periods experienced) and the importance of each factor remains unclear. The Dynamic Service System (DSS) is a recently developed variant of group mating and the optimum heat period at which gilts should be bred has never been established. This study tested the hypothesis that the physiological age at which gilts are first mated in a DSS will affect their first reproductive behaviour (i.e. mating frequency and quality) and performance.

Grazing activity observed in sows kept outdoors is influenced by different factors such as their nutritional status and reproductive stage. Reduction in concentrate feed intake and pregnancy development in sows kept outdoors resulted in an increase in time spent by them in grazing under temperate conditions (Robert et al., 1997). Little information is available about behaviour of sows kept outdoors under tropical conditions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of three planes of energy at three points in pregnancy on grazing behaviour of sows kept outdoors under tropical conditions.

In the last few years, there has been an increase in outdoor pig production in many countries. Outdoor herds, on average, are still less productive than indoor herds, often due to higher pre-weaning piglet mortality. Hypothermia is one of the most important underlying causes of piglet mortality in early post-natal life (English and Morrison, 1984). Although the extent of hypothermia suffered by the new-born piglet in an indoor system has been demonstrated (Pattison et al, 1990), no data of this kind are available regarding the outdoor situation. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the extent of hypothermia suffered by outdoor piglets at 30 and 60 minutes after birth, and to compare this with piglets born indoors.

The adaptation of horses (Equus caballus) to diverse environments throughout their range (e.g. Iceland and Arabia) has given rise to numerous phenotypically distinct breeds, many of which are currently maintained within the UK for sporting or leisure purposes. The welfare (energy balance) of outwintered horses has been associated with the ability to minimise heat loss by the growth of deep insulative pelage (Cymbaluk, 1994). Identification of breeds acclimated to UK conditions but retaining pelage adaptations appropriate to their environment of origin may facilitate management.