Housing of breeding does in group pens can result in skin injuries and stress due to maternal protective behaviour and hierarchy fights. Aggression can be partly reduced by using single-litter cages during the first weeks of the reproductive cycle and by delaying the grouping of does with their...

European legislation (2008/120/EC) allows sows to be kept in gestation stalls for up to 4 weeks after service, but there are increased societal calls to reduce and/or ban their use. Mixing sows is inevitably associated with aggression, while reducing time spent in stalls means mixing sows into...

It was aimed with the present study to evaluate the use of slate in the construction of farrowing stalls. Twelve sows and one hundred thirty nine piglets were monitored in cell built with masonry and slate (treatments). Digital images were evaluated through two ethogram. The environmental variants...

The present study compared behaviour, fear and stress levels of 456 crossbred rabbits reared in bicellular wire-net cages (2 rabbits/cage) with top and wire floor or open-top collective pens (20 to 54 rabbits/pen) with wooden slatted floor. The effect of pen size (small vs. large) and stocking...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of increasing stocking density on indices of cow comfort measured over a 24-h period, during peak lying time (0000 to 0400 h), and 1 h after the afternoon milking. Holstein cows (n=136) were assigned to 1 of 4 pens, and stocking densities of...

The quail populations are considered to be one of the largest among the poultry species. Although quail egg and meat production are growing rapidly, still, quail farming practices and welfare aspects are not well established. Stocking density is one of the factors that can significantly affect the ...

96 pregnant sows, previously penned in individual stalls, were housed in groups of 4 in pens containing 3 zones: 4 individual feeding stalls without rear gates; a communal sleeping kennel; and a dunging area between the stalls and kennel. The feeding stalls were either long (2m) or short (1m) with...

The study was conducted to analyse the micro-climatic variables and the performance of Large White Yorkshire sows in three different farrowing housing systems, viz., conventional farrowing house with guard rail and one-third slatted floor (T1), farrowing house with guard rail and floor level...

Traditionally heifers have been kept in fully slatted floor pens in Scandinavia. However, current Animal Welfare Regulation requires that heifers should have access to a lying area with solid floor. In order to reduce space requirements, a combined lying/feeding stall was developed. These combined ...

The broiler industry has come under sustained pressure from welfare organizations to improve broiler welfare. Breed and stocking density are important factors for broiler welfare and are often specified as criteria for higher welfare systems. However, it remains unknown how slower-growing broilers...