Good animal managers have always used animals' behaviour as a guide to their health and welfare. Behaviour also plays a key role in the scientific study of animal welfare, for two main reasons. First, it is one of the most easily observed indicators, and essential information can often be obtained...

This chapter discusses social behaviour; foraging, feeding and drinking; body maintenance; diurnal rhythm; sexual behaviour; egg-laying, incubation and behaviour at hatching; care of offspring and offspring development of chickens, turkeys and ducks.

There has been a growing interest in developing and implementing animal welfare assessment schemes on farms, zoos and aquaria, experimental situations, and even on free-ranging animal populations. Inspection bodies and organizations that carry out farm inspection for retailers and for government...

This second edition book is a collection of topics on animal welfare from 46 authors of varying expertise of 15 countries. The book is composed of five parts: I (issues), introduces the background and philosophy of animal welfare; II (problems), covers problems of animal welfare; III (assessment),...

Good stockpersons and animal managers have always used the behaviour of animals as a guide to their health and welfare. Behaviour also plays a key role in the scientific study of animal welfare, for two main reasons. First, it is one of the most easily observed indicators, and essential information ...

This chapter discusses animal welfare and how both the social and natural sciences play key roles in understanding this complex field. Using egg production as an example, it is illustrated how animal welfare concerns have played a driving role in policy and regulatory decisions regarding production ...

There has been a growing interest in developing and implementing animal welfare assessment schemes on farm, in zoos, in experimental situations and even in the wild. Scientists, inspection bodies and politicians are also starting to consider seriously the use of animal welfare outcome-based...

This chapter describes and discusses different views concerning our duties towards animals. First, we explain why it is necessary to engage in thinking about animal ethics and why it is not enough to rely on feelings alone. Secondly, we present and discuss five different kinds of views about the...

In this chapter, we introduce some of the principal issues that have arisen in relation to scientific approaches to animal welfare, most of which are treated in more detail later in the book. Much of the apparent disagreement between people about animal welfare stems from mixing up scientific...

Challenges are there to be overcome - seen usually as problems to avoid rather than as opportunities to enjoy. However, for humans a life without challenge would be likely to be dull and boring, lacking the enthusiasm and satisfaction that come with individual development. Could this also be true...