Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pjpqr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T16:19:24.078Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Measures of Developmental Instability as Integrated, A Posteriori Indicators of Farm Animal Welfare: A Review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

F A M Tuyttens
F A M Tuyttens*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanisation-Labour-Buildings-Animal Welfare and Environmental Protection (CLO-DvL), Agricultural Research Centre, B Van Gansberghelaan 115, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
*
Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: frank.tuyttens@clo.fgov.be
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Developmental instability, of which fluctuating asymmetry is the most commonly used and recommended measure, has recently been claimed to be an objective, integrated and retrospective indicator of animal welfare. The theoretical and empirical grounds for these claims are reviewed. In theory, carefully selected composite indices of fluctuating asymmetry are valid indicators of animal welfare in the sense that they reflect the ability of the developmental processes of an animal, with a given genetic constitution, to cope with environmental stressors. Relevant scientific experiments are scant and are mainly restricted to poultry, but they are on the increase and they largely support the application of developmental instability for assessing animal welfare. A scheme for monitoring farm animal welfare based purely on measures of developmental instability would have important advantages, but cannot be recommended yet. It cannot be ruled out that certain factors are clearly relevant to the welfare status of an animal but do not notably/proportionally affect its morphogenesis. Moreover, such a monitoring scheme would not be appropriate for applications with an emphasis on problem analysis/management.

Keywords

animal welfaredevelopmental instabilitydevelopmental stabilityfarm animalfluctuating asymmetrypoultry
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 12 , Issue 4: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , November 2003 , pp. 535 - 540
Copyright
© 2003 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Broom, D M 1986 Indicators of poor welfare. British Veterinary Journal 142: 524–526CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campo, J L, García Gil, M, Muñoz, I and Alonso, M 2000 Relationships between bilateral asymmetry and tonic immobility reaction or heterophil to lymphocyte ratio in five breeds of chickens. Poultry Science 79: 453–459CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campo, J L, García Gil, M, Torres, O and Dávila, S G 2002 Fluctuating asymmetry in male secondary sexual traits: association with indicators of stress in chickens. Archiv fur Geflügelkunde 66: 85–89Google Scholar
Duncan, I J H 1996 Animal welfare defined in terms of feelings. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica (Section A — Animal Science) 27: 29–35 (Suppl)Google Scholar
Duncan, I J H and Fraser, D 1997 Understanding animal welfare. In: Appleby, M C and Hughes, B O (eds) Animal Welfare pp 19–31. CAB International: Wallingford, UKGoogle Scholar
Forkman, B and Corr, S 1996 Influence of size and asymmetry of sexual characters in the rooster and hen on the number of eggs laid. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 49: 285–291CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gangestad, S W and Thornhill, R 1999 Individual differences in developmental precision and fluctuating asymmetry: a model and its implications. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 12: 402–416CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leung, B, Forbes, M R and Houle, D 2000 Fluctuating asymmetry as a bioindicator of stress: comparing efficacy of analyses involving multiple traits. American Naturalist 155: 101–115CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ludwig, W 1932 Das Rechts-Links Problem im Tierreich und beim Menschen. Springer: Berlin, Germany [Title translation: The right-left problem in animals and humans]Google Scholar
Main, D C J, Kent, J P, Wemelsfelder, F, Ofner, E and Tuyttens, F A M 2003 Applications for methods of on-farm welfare assessment. Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level. Animal Welfare 12: 523–528Google Scholar
Martin, S M, Manning, J T and Dowrick, C F 1999 Fluctuating asymmetry, relative digit length, and depression in men. Evolution and Human Behavior 20: 203–214CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moberg, G P 1996 Suffering from stress: an approach for evaluating the welfare of an animal. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica (Section A — Animal Science) 27: 46–49 (Suppl)Google Scholar
Møller, A P 1999 Asymmetry as a predictor of growth, fecundity and survival. Ecology Letters 2: 149–156CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Møller, A P and Manning, J T 2003 Growth and developmental instability. The Veterinary Journal 166: 19–27CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Møller, A P and Swaddle, J P 1997 Asymmetry, Developmental Stability, and Evolution. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Møller, A P, Sanotra, G S and Vestergaard, K S 1995 Developmental stability in relation to population density and breed of chickens Gallus gallus. Poultry Science 74: 1761–1771Google ScholarPubMed
Møller, A P, Sanotra, G S and Vestergaard, K S 1999 Developmental instability and light regime in chickens (Gallus gallus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 62: 57–71CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmer, A R and Strobeck, C 1986 Fluctuating asymmetry: measurement, analysis, patterns. Annual Reviews of Ecology and Systematics 17: 391–421CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmer, A R and Strobeck, C 1992 Fluctuating asymmetry as a measure of developmental stability: implications of non-normal distributions and power of statistical tests. Acta Zoologica Fennica 191: 5772Google Scholar
Polak, M, Møller, A P, Kroeger, D E, Gangestad, S W, Manning, J T and Thornhill, R 2002 Statistical covariance in fluctuating asymmetry among traits? A meta-analysis. In: Polak, M (ed) Developmental Instability: Causes and Consequences. Oxford University Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Sanotra, G S 1999 Recording actual strength of legs in farmed chickens (in Danish). Dyrenes Beskyttelse: Frederiksberg C, Denmark. Available at http://www.dyrnes-beskyttelse.dkGoogle Scholar
Satterlee, D G, Cadd, G G and Jones, R B 2000 Developmental instability in Japanese quail genetically selected for contrasting adrenocortical responsiveness. Poultry Science 79: 1710–1714CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spoolder, H, De Rosa, G, Hörning, B, Waiblinger, S and Wemelsfelder, F 2003 Integrating parameters to assess on-farm welfare. Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level. Animal Welfare 12: 529–534Google Scholar
Stub, C and Vestergaard, K S 2001 Influence of zinc bacitracin, light regimen and dustbathing on the health and welfare of broiler asymmetry. British Poultry Science 42: 564–568CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swaddle, J P and Witter, M S 1994 Food, feathers and fluctuating asymmetry. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 255: 147–152Google Scholar
Yalçin, S, Özkan, S, Türkmut, L and Siegel, P B 2001 Responses to heat stress in commercial and local broiler stocks. 2: Developmental stability of bilateral traits. British Poultry Science 42: 153–160CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yngvesson, J and Keeling, L J 2001 Body size and fluctuating asymmetry in relation to cannibalistic behaviour in laying hens. Animal Behaviour 61: 609–615CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiepkema, H 1982 On the identity and significance of disturbed behaviour in vertebrates. In: Bessei, W (ed) Disturbed Behaviour in Farm Animals pp 7–17. Verlag Eugen Ulmer: Stuttgart, GermanyGoogle Scholar