There is growing societal pressure to eliminate close confinement of farm animals. However, under current EU legislation, sows can be kept in gestation stalls for up to 28 days post-service. Pregnant sows fight to establish a dominance hierarchy at mixing. This poses welfare and productivity...

The aim of this study was a comparison of the behaviour and stress burden of horses in a tie stalls, stabling in individual boxes and keeping horses in small groups in a group box, each with daily paddock movement (approx. 7 h). The study was carried out with eight healthy warmblood horses at the...

The welfare of sows in gestation accommodation, and in particular the use of gestation stalls, is a major issue of concern among the animal-welfare community and pig producers. The objective of the present experiment was to investigate the effects of width (0.6 m v. 0.75 m) and length (2.0 m v. 2.2 ...

Stocking density and trough space allowance can potentially impact sheep welfare during live export voyages. The aim of this study was to assess the welfare implications for sheep housed at five allometric stocking densities, with either unrestricted or restricted trough space allowance. Merino...

Broiler production in semi-arid tropics must contend with high levels of heat stress, which have implications on stocking density, bird welfare, and profitability. Under these conditions, optimal stocking densities are likely to be lower than expected, thus must be experimentally determined....

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the density of cage stocking on laying performance, chronic stress. and mortality of hens and to propose a guideline for stocking density in conventional cages. A total of 240 Boris Brown hens, at 17 weeks of age, were randomly allotted to the...

At 33 d of age, 376 crossbred rabbits of both genders were housed in sex-mixed groups in 16 open-top collective pens (1.68 m2) in a factorial arrangement, with 2 types of flooring (wooden slats vs. plastic grid, W vs. P) and 2 stocking densities (12 vs. 16 animals/m2). Behavioural recordings (time...

This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of reducing stocking density and using cooling systems to mitigate the negative effects of high temperatures in growing pigs (females and castrated males) reared in intensive conditions (from 25 to 100 kg) during summer (June to October 2020). The...

The process of weaning is a multifactorial stressor, in which nutritional, social, physical and psychologic stressors are combined. The aim of this study was to examine whether litters' let-together system or "kindergarten-system" in the farrowing house before weaning has any effect weight gain...

Although many factors affect the welfare of hens housed in cage and non-cage systems, welfare issues in cage systems often involve behavioural restrictions, whereas many welfare issues in non-cage systems involve health and hygiene. This review considers and compares the welfare of laying hens in ...