It has been argued that the welfare of gestating sows is higher in groups than singly in stalls, in part because group housing offers them more space and social contact. This study set out to ascertain how important access to a group pen was to dominant sows housed in stalls, using a measure of...

To compare the behaviour of sows and the physiological indices of their offspring in stall and group-housing systems, 28 sows were randomly distributed into two systems with 16 sows in stalls, and the other 12 sows were divided into three groups with four sows per pen. The area per sow in stalls...

Thirty lactating Comisana breed ewes were used for the trial and were subdivided into 2 experimental groups. Both experimental groups were placed on pasture during daylight hours and reared in 2 equal indoor pens during nighttime. The indoor pen was provided with an outdoor area allowing 2.5 m² per ...

Sow lameness may result in severe economic consequences to the producer, as lameness has been associated with increases in involuntary culling, poor reproductive performance, and suboptimal sow longevity. Lameness prevalence and severity are impacted by facility design, with a particular focus on...

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate short-term responses in lying behavior and hygiene of Holstein dairy cows housed at a stocking density of 100 (1 cow per stall and headlock) or 142% imposed by (1) the denial of access to freestalls and headlocks, (2) the denial of access to...

Domesticated mice and rats have shown to be powerful model systems for biomedical research, but there are cases in which the biology of species is a poor match for the hypotheses under study. The California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) has unique traits that make it an ideal model for studying...

Understanding eliminative behaviour in pigs is a priority for designing pig facilities. Pigs prefer to lie in areas separated from where they eliminate (urinate, defecate). Welfare-friendly housing facilities include separate areas for lying (solid floors) and elimination (slatted floors). To...

The objective of this study was to obtain variables that enabled estimation of variation in stall occupancy times based on the cow-to-stall ratio. First, stall use by Holstein-Friesian cows was analyzed on 16 farms in Galicia, Northwest Spain, by continuously recording cow behavior for 24 h....

When calves are placed in an open arena, they perform locomotor play, which provides a time-efficient means of assessing playfulness. To use this as a method of assessing welfare, we need to relate playfulness to other welfare indicators and understand what factors influence results. The novelty of ...

Background: The objective assessment of animal stress and welfare requires proper laboratory biomarkers. In this work, we have analyzed the changes in serum composition in gilts after switching their housing, from pen to individual stalls, which is generally accepted to cause animal discomfort....