Creating Public Awareness of How Goats Are Reared and Milk Produced May Affect Consumer Acceptability

This study evaluated whether showing a video of the different ways of raising goats for milk affected consumer acceptability. Four combinations, 2 Videos (intensive [INT] and semiextensive [SEM] system) × 2 Milk Types (semiskimmed [S] and whole [W] milk), were evaluated by 70 habitual consumers of goat milk, who scored their liking and purchase intention during blind (B), expected (E), and informed (I) acceptability sessions. In the B session, consumers tasted both milk types without information. S samples were preferred over W samples. In the E session, SEM video created high expectations in terms of milk liking and purchase intent, whereas the opposite happened when showing INT video. In the I session, consumers showed a clear preference for combinations created using SEM video, regardless of milk type. W-SEM and S-INT were worse (negative disconfirmation) and better (positive disconfirmation) than expected, respectively. A complete assimilation toward expectations occurred only for S-INT. INT video adversely affected the acceptability of S samples. Concerning purchase intent, W-SEM and S-SEM were worse than expected, but the assimilation was complete only for S-SEM: SEM video increased purchase intent for S samples.     

Characteristics of Adopted Thoroughbred Racehorses in Second Careers

The unwanted horse issue continues to be a major concern in the U.S. equine industry. Nonprofit organizations dedicated to rescuing, retraining, and rehoming unwanted horses are critical in minimizing this problem. This study utilized data collected nationwide from organizations that provide these services for thoroughbreds retired from racing to identify individual horse characteristics that influenced length of stay at the adoption facility as well as characteristics that increased the probability that an adopted horse would be returned to the facility. The results suggested that horses with fewer activity limitations were rehomed more quickly (p < .01), as were gray horses (relative to bays, p < .03) and stallions (relative to geldings, p < .04). Older horses took longer to rehome (p < .05). Interestingly, the results also suggested that gray horses were more likely to be returned to the facility postadoption (p < .02). Results from this study could benefit thoroughbreds retired from racing, nonprofit organizations, end consumers, and the thoroughbred racing industry.     

Vocalisation sound pattern identification in young broiler chickens

In this study, we describe the monitoring of young broiler chicken vocalisation, with sound recorded and assessed at regular intervals throughout the life of the birds from day 1 to day 38, with a focus on the first week of life. We assess whether there are recognisable, and even predictable, vocalisation patterns based on frequency and sound spectrum analysis, which can be observed in birds at different ages and stages of growth within the relatively short life of the birds in commercial broiler production cycles. The experimental trials were carried out in a farm where the broiler where reared indoor, and audio recording procedures carried out over 38 days. The recordings were made using two microphones connected to a digital recorder, and the sonic data was collected in situations without disturbance of the animals beyond that created by the routine activities of the farmer. Digital files of 1 h duration were cut into short files of 10 min duration, and these sound recordings were analysed and labelled using audio analysis software. Analysis of these short sound files showed that the key vocalisation frequency and patterns changed in relation to increasing age and the weight of the broilers. Statistical analysis showed a significant correlation (P<0.001) between the frequency of vocalisation and the age of the birds. Based on the identification of specific frequencies of the sounds emitted, in relation to age and weight, it is proposed that there is potential for audio monitoring and comparison with ‘anticipated’ sound patterns to be used to evaluate the status of farmed broiler chicken.     

Developing a HACCP-like system for improving animal health and welfare in organic egg production – based on an expert panel analysis

In the process of developing a generic Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)-like system for securing animal health and welfare in organic egg production, an expert panel analysis was used to perform the initial hazard analysis. Eighteen advisers and researchers in organic egg production were included in the expert panel. In a series of four questionnaires, the expert panel first scored 34 health and welfare problems seen in Danish organic egg production. Based on scorings of severity and occurrence, 10 problems were selected for further analysis. The experts subsequently suggested and scored risk factors for those problems and finally suggested control points, alarm values indicating the need for corrective actions in order to control the risk factors and monitoring frequencies of these. The 10 selected problems were hunger, thirst, piling, crop impaction, blackhead, pasteurellosis, bone fractures, cannibalism, predators and red mites. A total of 154 different risk factors were suggested for these problems. The 41 risk factors which rated highest in a combined scoring of importance and occurrence were selected for further analysis. There was a high degree of consensus between experts when scoring both problems and risk factors. The level of consensus, as defined by an interquartile range ⩽1, was 79% to 100% when scoring the health and welfare problems (scale 1–5) and 77% to 95% when scoring the risk factors (scale 1–4). On average, 5.8 control points were suggested for every risk factor. Alarm values were often not detailed enough to be of practical significance and further analysis is needed in order to define these. The experts were highly diverse in their suggested monitoring frequencies and establishment of monitoring schemes should be part of developing the farm specific systems. An expert panel analysis based on questionnaires was a useful tool during the first steps of developing a HACCP plan, conducting a hazard analysis and suggesting control points. However, care should be taken regarding the panel’s size and fields of expertise in order to assure that the panel fully covers the field of interest throughout the study. A further development of the hazard analysis into a farm-specific HACCP system would include assembling an on-farm HACCP team consisting of farmers and advisors for the practical application of control points, alarm values and monitoring schemes. The results from the fourth questionnaire would be useful as input for this work.     

Current issues in fish welfare

Human beings may affect the welfare of fish through fisheries, aquaculture and a number of other activities. There is no agreement on just how to weigh the concern for welfare of fish against the human interests involved, but ethical frameworks exist that suggest how this might be approached. Different definitions of animal welfare focus on an animal's condition, on its subjective experience of that condition and/or on whether it can lead a natural life. These provide different, legitimate, perspectives, but the approach taken in this paper is to focus on welfare as the absence of suffering. An unresolved and controversial issue in discussions about animal welfare is whether non‐human animals exposed to adverse experiences such as physical injury or confinement experience what humans would call suffering. The neocortex, which in humans is an important part of the neural mechanism that generates the subjective experience of suffering, is lacking in fish and non‐mammalian animals, and it has been argued that its absence in fish indicates that fish cannot suffer. A strong alternative view, however, is that complex animals with sophisticated behaviour, such as fish, probably have the capacity for suffering, though this may be different in degree and kind from the human experience of this state. Recent empirical studies support this view and show that painful stimuli are, at least, strongly aversive to fish. Consequently, injury or experience of other harmful conditions is a cause for concern in terms of welfare of individual fish. There is also growing evidence that fish can experience fear‐like states and that they avoid situations in which they have experienced adverse conditions. Human activities that potentially compromise fish welfare include anthropogenic changes to the environment, commercial fisheries, recreational angling, aquaculture, ornamental fish keeping and scientific research. The resulting harm to fish welfare is a cost that must be minimized and weighed against the benefits of the activity concerned. Wild fish naturally experience a variety of adverse conditions, from attack by predators or conspecifics to starvation or exposure to poor environmental conditions. This does not make it acceptable for humans to impose such conditions on fish, but it does suggest that fish will have mechanisms to cope with these conditions and reminds us that pain responses are in some cases adaptive (for example, suppressing feeding when injured). In common with all vertebrates, fish respond to environmental challenges with a series of adaptive neuro‐endocrine adjustments that are collectively termed the stress response. These in turn induce reversible metabolic and behavioural changes that make the fish better able to overcome or avoid the challenge and are undoubtedly beneficial, in the short‐term at least. In contrast, prolonged activation of the stress response is damaging and leads to immuno‐suppression, reduced growth and reproductive dysfunction. Indicators associated with the response to chronic stress (physiological endpoints, disease status and behaviour) provide a potential source of information on the welfare status of a fish. The most reliable assessment of well‐being will be obtained by examining a range of informative measures and statistical techniques are available that enable several such measures to be combined objectively. A growing body of evidence tells us that many human activities can harm fish welfare, but that the effects depend on the species and life‐history stage concerned and are also context‐dependent. For example, in aquaculture, adverse effects related to stocking density may be eliminated if good water quality is maintained. At low densities, bad water quality may be less likely to arise whereas social interactions may cause greater welfare problems. A number of key differences between fish and birds and mammals have important implications for their welfare. Fish do not need to fuel a high body temperature, so the effects of food deprivation on welfare are not so marked. For species that live naturally in large shoals, low rather than high densities may be harmful. On the other hand, fish are in intimate contact with their environment through the huge surface area of their gills, so they are vulnerable to poor water quality and water borne pollutants. Extrapolation between taxa is dangerous and general frameworks for ensuring welfare in other vertebrate animals need to be modified before they can be usefully applied to fish. The scientific study of fish welfare is at an early stage compared with work on other vertebrates and a great deal of what we need to know is yet to be discovered. It is clearly the case that fish, though different from birds and mammals, however, are sophisticated animals, far removed from unfeeling creatures with a 15 s memory of popular misconception. A heightened appreciation of these points in those who exploit fish and in those who seek to protect them would go a long way towards improving fish welfare.     

Providing straw to allow exploratory behaviour in a pig experimental system does not modify putative indicators of positive welfare: peripheral oxytocin and serotonin

Numerous studies have shown that providing straw to pigs can reduce undesirable behaviours such as aggression, tail biting and stereotypy. The measurement of various neuromodulators can be helpful in assessing the development of positive behaviours and overall animal welfare. The oxytocin release is frequently linked to positive emotions and positive welfare. It has been suggested that oxytocin modulates the serotoninergic system. This study aims to investigate the potential effect of straw provision in pigs on peripheral levels of oxytocin and serotonin. In total, 18 mini-pigs were involved in an exploratory study conducted in two parallel groups, Enriched (n=10) and Control (n=8) groups. Pigs were divided by group and housed in pens of two individuals. Straw was provided continuously only in Enriched group and renewed each day for 2 weeks. Two blood samples were drawn from each animal 5 to 10 min before providing the straw, and 15 min after providing straw, during the 1^st week, to analyse peripheral changes in oxytocin and serotonin before and after straw provision, and determine the existence of a putative short-term effect. The same procedure was carried out for Control group, without straw provision. Long-term effects of straw provision were also examined using blood samples drawn at the same hour from each animal in the 2^nd and 3^rd weeks. During this time, animals had the permanent possibility to explore the straw in Enriched group but not in Control group. At the end of each week, one animal-keeper completed two visual analogue scales for each mini-pig regarding the difficulty/ease to work with and handle it and its trust in humans. Results showed peripheral oxytocin increases in both groups after 2 weeks (P=0.02). Results did not demonstrate any effect of providing straw to allow exploratory behaviour on peripheral serotonin. Other results were not significant. This preliminary study explored the relationship between peripheral oxytocin and serotonin and the presence of straw that allow pigs to perform exploratory behaviour, suggesting that there was no relationship between them. Some future studies may include crossing oxytocin and serotonin with other parameters, such as behavioural measures, to obtain more information about the true state of the animal and any possible relationship with pig welfare.     

Review: What innovations in pain measurement and control might be possible if we could quantify the neuroimmune synapse?

It has taken more than 40 years for the fields of immunology and neuroscience to capture the potential impact of the mechanistic understanding of how an active immune signalling brain might function. These developments have grown an appreciation for the immunocompetent cells of the central nervous system and their key role in the health and disease of the brain and spinal cord. Moreover, the understanding of the bidirectional communication between the brain and the peripheral immune system has evolved to capture an understanding of how mood can alter immune function and vice versa. These concepts are rapidly evolving the field of psychiatry and medicine as a whole. However, the advances in human medicine have not been capitalised upon yet in animal husbandry practice. Of specific attention are the implications that these biological systems have for creating and maintaining heightened pain states. This review will outline the key concepts of brain–immune communication and the immediate opportunities targeting this biology can have for husbandry practices, with a specific focus on pain.