The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to adjust production practices in response to societal... more The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to adjust production practices in response to societal concerns. A particular area of concern surrounds how production practices impact the welfare of farm animals. This research utilizes a survey of U.S. dairy farms conducted in 2014 to examine application of animal welfare related production practices.
The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to assure and verify dairy cattle welfare related prac... more The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to assure and verify dairy cattle welfare related practices in response to societal concerns. This research aims to determine U.S. public's attitudes and perceptions about dairy cattle welfare.
crops and livestock. They offer a range of benefits to producers and consumers alike. However, ge... more crops and livestock. They offer a range of benefits to producers and consumers alike. However, gene-editing is also liable to inherit the contentions surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), despite their differences (Ufer et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2019). The complexities of the decision to adopt gene-editing technology at the farm gate are likely to be much greater than a simple matter of profitability. Many of the same motivations among consumers to reject GMOs, including ethical objection to the technology, or accept them, such as the benefits they can bring to livestock welfare, may underlie the producer's decision. The question arises as to how these non-pecuniary motivations measure up to the profit-maximizing motives of the neo-classical economic producer. Are they a significant factor in a producer's decision-making process over adopting gene-edited (GE) genetics into their herd? Motives beyond profits have been identified for biotechnology adoption in crops (Useche et al. 2009; Marra and Piggott, 2006; Marra et al. 2004). This phenomenon has not, however, been explored in the context of gene-editing applications in livestock.
Animal welfare often engages diverse values and ethics including those of citizens, consumers, sc... more Animal welfare often engages diverse values and ethics including those of citizens, consumers, scientists, and farmers. Consequently, AW is one of the seven grand challenges (GCs) identified by the ASAS Public Policy Committee (PPC). Societal concerns can lead to public policy decisions at the state or federal level that impact animal agriculture. The ASAS PPC GCs on animal welfare will be examined, progress evaluated, and recommendations made for setting research priorities. Five key questions and their corresponding expected outcomes were identified to advance AW in the GC areas of sustainable management practices, genetic markers, pain mitigation, transportation, and humane euthanasia/depopulation. The diversity of disciplines required to address these key questions is astounding. A five-year window (2015-present) was used to evaluate each key question and outcome. The published peer-reviewed literature and the North Central 1029 and Western 3173 multi-state project station repor...
Animal welfare, or well-being, is a concerns or development of alternative systems. social issue ... more Animal welfare, or well-being, is a concerns or development of alternative systems. social issue with ethical, scientific, political, and Genetic approaches involve changing the behavioral aesthetic properties. Answering questions about the and(or) physiological nature of the animal to reduce welfare of animals requires scientific definition, as-or eliminate behaviors that are undesirable within sessment, solutions, and public acceptance. With intensive system. Therapeutic approaches of a physirespect to the actual well-being of the animal, most cal (tail docking, beak trimming) and physiological issues are centered on how the animal "feels" when (drug and nutritional therapy) nature bring both managed within a specific level of confinement, during concern and promise with regard to the reduction of special agricultural practices (e.g., tail docking, beak confinement stress. Finally, the recent focus on trimming, etc.) and handling. Questions of this nature commodity quality assurance programs may indirectly may require exploration of animal cognition, motiva-provide benefits for animal well-being. Although tion, perception, and emotional states in addition to research in the area of animal well-being will provide more commonly recognized indicators of well-being. important information for better animal management, Several general approaches have emerged for solving handling, care, and the physical design of intensive problems concerning animal well-being in intensive production systems there is still some uncertainty production systems: environmental, genetic, and ther-regarding public acceptance. The aesthetics of modern apeutic. Environmental approaches involve modifying intensive production systems may have as much to do existing systems to accommodate specific welfare with public acceptance as with science.
Whereas mammalian mothers and young may retain long-term social affiliations in nature, the manag... more Whereas mammalian mothers and young may retain long-term social affiliations in nature, the management of animals in captivity typically dictates that offspring are abruptly and permanently separated from their mothers at a relatively early age, often prior to the time of natural weaning. For animal breeders, this strategy can enhance the yield of offspring from a breeding population. Morbidity and mortality can also precipitate severance of mother-young bonds. Although it is recognized that early weaning provides nutritional challenges for the young, relatively little attention has been paid to the psychological consequences and long-term impacts of breaking the mother-young bond in non-human mammals. Furthermore, whereas great strides are being made in our understanding of the neurobiological and genetic underpinnings of social bonding, the mechanisms underlying the process of detachment following establishment of a mother-young bond remain relatively unexplored, although parallels can be drawn with processes involved in withdrawal from addictive substances. In this review, we outline mechanisms involved in social bonding. We consider the diversity in extent and duration of mother-young attachment across mammalian lineages and implications for predicting the outcome of severing ties between mothers and young at different times post-partum. We identify characteristics signalling emotional distress resulting from separation of mothers and young and discuss strategies for mitigating separation-induced distress. These include postponement of separation, ensuring high-quality maternal care of young prior to separation, providing bonded individuals with opportunities to separate voluntarily for brief periods prior to permanent separation, use of anti-suck devices prior to separation, allowing a period of partial (fence line) contact prior to full separation, providing substitutes for stimuli previously exchanged between mother and young, providing social buffers, gradual introduction to new housing arrangements, and pharmacological intervention. Areas for future research are proposed, including the use of functional neuroimaging technologies and functional genomics approaches, in combination with behavioural assessments of reinstatement
As housing laying hens in aviaries becomes more common, understanding relationships between socia... more As housing laying hens in aviaries becomes more common, understanding relationships between social context and performance of key behaviors, such as dust bathing (DB), is important. Expression of behaviors may be increased or repressed by the presence of conspecifics, and degree of behavioral synchrony can affect per hen resource allocation. We investigated relationships between number of hens on litter, number of hens simultaneously DB, and interbird distances (IBD) on space used to DB and duration of DB bouts across 4 laying hen strains (Hy-Line Brown [HB], Bovan Brown [BB], DeKalb White [DW], and Hy-Line [W36]) at 28 wk of age. Brown hens needed more space to DB than white hens (HB 1125.26; BB 1146.51 vs. DW 962.65; W36 943.39 cm2; P < 0.01). More white hens occupied litter at once (43 DW, 41 W36 vs. 28 HB, 31 BB; P < 0.01), and more white hens DB simultaneously than brown hens (11 DW, 19 W36 vs. 4 HB, 4 BB; P < 0.01). Brown hens had larger average IBD (HB 13.99, BB 15.11 vs. DW 8.39, W36 7.85 cm; P < 0.01) and larger minimum IBD (HB 6.76, BB 7.35 vs. DW 1.63, W36 1.79 cm; P < 0.01) but shorter DB durations than white hens (HB 7.37, BB 9.00 vs. DW 13.91, W36 15.16 min; P < 0.01). White hens' DB area decreased if number of hens on litter increased (DW 0.85; W36 0.79 cm; P < 0.05) or minimum IBD decreased (DW 3.66, W36 2.98 cm; P < 0.01). Brown hens' DB bout duration decreased as number of hens on litter increased (HB 0.87, BB 0.95 min; P < 0.01), number of other hens DB increased (HB 0.75, BB 0.69 min; P ≤ 0.02), or minimum IBD decreased (HB 2.39, BB 2.31 min; P < 0.01). In response to smaller IBD and more hens on litter simultaneously, DW and W36 hens minimize DB area while BB and HB hens shorten DB bouts, potentially terminating bouts before fulfilling their needs. Variations in DB behavior among strains should be considered when planning and stocking laying hen aviaries.
Scientists studying the welfare of animals use approaches that best answer the research question.... more Scientists studying the welfare of animals use approaches that best answer the research question. The research question, experimental approach, variables selected for measurement, and data interpretation can differ depending on the scientist&amp;amp;#39;s disciplinary training and his or her values framework. For example, a veterinary medical scientist may value measures of biological functioning over other measures of animal welfare, whereas an applied ethologist may place greater emphasis on behavioral measures. Animal care and husbandry recommendations, guidelines and standards, assessment strategies, and laws can reflect these differences with respect to the importance attached to the accommodation of different aspects of animal well-being.
Three groups of 10 spring-calving Angus and Hereford purebred and crossbred cows were placed in d... more Three groups of 10 spring-calving Angus and Hereford purebred and crossbred cows were placed in drylot paddocks from mid-November until calving to determine the influence of mixing mature beef cows from two different sources on social behavior and stress. Two Angus cows from an outside herd (alien cows) were placed in each paddock, and eight cows selected from the resident herd were added 1 d later. Agonistic behavior was recorded during a total of 21 30-min observation sessions over a period of 13 wk. Blood samples were drawn on days 2, 28 and 84 after penning and analyzed for cortisol, glucose and differential leucocyte counts. Breed-origin influenced (P
A novel wireless body-mounted sensor was developed to remotely monitor the location and activity ... more A novel wireless body-mounted sensor was developed to remotely monitor the location and activity of laying hens within non-cage housing systems. Legislation and social demand in the U.S. and Europe is pushing the poultry industry to transition primarily to non-cage housing systems. However, non-cage systems typically house hens in groups of tens of thousands, which makes it nearly impossible for caretakers to visually assess the health, welfare, or movement of all individual hens or to follow a particular hen over time. In the present study, laying hens were fitted with a lightweight (10 g) wireless body-mounted sensor to monitor their location in space relative to key resources and general level of physical activity. Sensor data were validated by correlating them to video-based observations of the sensor-wearing hen. In experiment 1, overall agreement of at least 84% was consistently obtained between data from the sensor system and video concerning the hen's proximity to specific resources including nestboxes, perches, water, and feeder. Presented data were collected from three 30Ămin observations from each of three laying hens. In experiment 2, the accelerometer data from a back-mounted sensor were correlated to video-based observations from two 30 min observation sessions from each of two laying hens in order to demonstrate the feasibility of automated activity classification using the developed sensor system.
Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports
Objective: To examine the effects on growth performance when growingfinishing pigs are sorted uni... more Objective: To examine the effects on growth performance when growingfinishing pigs are sorted uniformly by weight at placement. Methods: Pigs selected from a group of 384 were sorted into Heavy (37.1 ± 1.4 kg), Medium (34.0 ± 0.77 kg), and Light (30.2 ± 2.0 kg) groups, or placed in an Unsorted group (33.8 ± 3.2 kg) with a mean starting weight similar to that of the Medium pigs, but with quadruple the variation. Pigs and feeders were weighed on days 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 56, 70, and 91 for determination of ADG, ADFI, feed efficiency, and within-pen pig weight variation. Results: From day 0 to 91, ADG of Unsorted pigs and Heavy pigs did not differ, but was greater (P<.05) than that of Medium or Light pigs. Grouping had no effect on overall ADFI. Feed efficiency did not differ (P=.25) for Heavy, Medium, and Unsorted pigs, but Light pigs were less efficient (P<.05) than Heavy pigs. Final body weights differed for each group (P<.05) and ranked in the following descending order: Heavy, Unsorted, Medium, and Light. Mean final weights of Unsorted pigs were greater (P<.05) than mean final weights of all sorted pigs. No differences in within-pen SD were detectable (P=.13) by the end of the study. Implications: Sorting pigs into finishing pens by weight has no effect on final variability in individual body weights. Placing pigs without sorting by weight may increase the amount of pork produced from a system and reduce turnaround time in barns.
Manuscript Highlights Changes in, and reliability of turkeys' responses to four tests of fear ... more Manuscript Highlights Changes in, and reliability of turkeys' responses to four tests of fear were examined Some fear responses of turkeys change over time and with repeated testing Most open field, voluntary approach, and tonic immobility test responses are reliable Under conditions of repeated testing and differing novel objects, few novel object test responses are reliable A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 Temperamental turkeys: reliability of behavioural responses to four tests of fear
The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to adjust production practices in response to societal... more The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to adjust production practices in response to societal concerns. A particular area of concern surrounds how production practices impact the welfare of farm animals. This research utilizes a survey of U.S. dairy farms conducted in 2014 to examine application of animal welfare related production practices.
The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to assure and verify dairy cattle welfare related prac... more The U.S. dairy industry is facing pressure to assure and verify dairy cattle welfare related practices in response to societal concerns. This research aims to determine U.S. public's attitudes and perceptions about dairy cattle welfare.
crops and livestock. They offer a range of benefits to producers and consumers alike. However, ge... more crops and livestock. They offer a range of benefits to producers and consumers alike. However, gene-editing is also liable to inherit the contentions surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), despite their differences (Ufer et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2019). The complexities of the decision to adopt gene-editing technology at the farm gate are likely to be much greater than a simple matter of profitability. Many of the same motivations among consumers to reject GMOs, including ethical objection to the technology, or accept them, such as the benefits they can bring to livestock welfare, may underlie the producer's decision. The question arises as to how these non-pecuniary motivations measure up to the profit-maximizing motives of the neo-classical economic producer. Are they a significant factor in a producer's decision-making process over adopting gene-edited (GE) genetics into their herd? Motives beyond profits have been identified for biotechnology adoption in crops (Useche et al. 2009; Marra and Piggott, 2006; Marra et al. 2004). This phenomenon has not, however, been explored in the context of gene-editing applications in livestock.
Animal welfare often engages diverse values and ethics including those of citizens, consumers, sc... more Animal welfare often engages diverse values and ethics including those of citizens, consumers, scientists, and farmers. Consequently, AW is one of the seven grand challenges (GCs) identified by the ASAS Public Policy Committee (PPC). Societal concerns can lead to public policy decisions at the state or federal level that impact animal agriculture. The ASAS PPC GCs on animal welfare will be examined, progress evaluated, and recommendations made for setting research priorities. Five key questions and their corresponding expected outcomes were identified to advance AW in the GC areas of sustainable management practices, genetic markers, pain mitigation, transportation, and humane euthanasia/depopulation. The diversity of disciplines required to address these key questions is astounding. A five-year window (2015-present) was used to evaluate each key question and outcome. The published peer-reviewed literature and the North Central 1029 and Western 3173 multi-state project station repor...
Animal welfare, or well-being, is a concerns or development of alternative systems. social issue ... more Animal welfare, or well-being, is a concerns or development of alternative systems. social issue with ethical, scientific, political, and Genetic approaches involve changing the behavioral aesthetic properties. Answering questions about the and(or) physiological nature of the animal to reduce welfare of animals requires scientific definition, as-or eliminate behaviors that are undesirable within sessment, solutions, and public acceptance. With intensive system. Therapeutic approaches of a physirespect to the actual well-being of the animal, most cal (tail docking, beak trimming) and physiological issues are centered on how the animal "feels" when (drug and nutritional therapy) nature bring both managed within a specific level of confinement, during concern and promise with regard to the reduction of special agricultural practices (e.g., tail docking, beak confinement stress. Finally, the recent focus on trimming, etc.) and handling. Questions of this nature commodity quality assurance programs may indirectly may require exploration of animal cognition, motiva-provide benefits for animal well-being. Although tion, perception, and emotional states in addition to research in the area of animal well-being will provide more commonly recognized indicators of well-being. important information for better animal management, Several general approaches have emerged for solving handling, care, and the physical design of intensive problems concerning animal well-being in intensive production systems there is still some uncertainty production systems: environmental, genetic, and ther-regarding public acceptance. The aesthetics of modern apeutic. Environmental approaches involve modifying intensive production systems may have as much to do existing systems to accommodate specific welfare with public acceptance as with science.
Whereas mammalian mothers and young may retain long-term social affiliations in nature, the manag... more Whereas mammalian mothers and young may retain long-term social affiliations in nature, the management of animals in captivity typically dictates that offspring are abruptly and permanently separated from their mothers at a relatively early age, often prior to the time of natural weaning. For animal breeders, this strategy can enhance the yield of offspring from a breeding population. Morbidity and mortality can also precipitate severance of mother-young bonds. Although it is recognized that early weaning provides nutritional challenges for the young, relatively little attention has been paid to the psychological consequences and long-term impacts of breaking the mother-young bond in non-human mammals. Furthermore, whereas great strides are being made in our understanding of the neurobiological and genetic underpinnings of social bonding, the mechanisms underlying the process of detachment following establishment of a mother-young bond remain relatively unexplored, although parallels can be drawn with processes involved in withdrawal from addictive substances. In this review, we outline mechanisms involved in social bonding. We consider the diversity in extent and duration of mother-young attachment across mammalian lineages and implications for predicting the outcome of severing ties between mothers and young at different times post-partum. We identify characteristics signalling emotional distress resulting from separation of mothers and young and discuss strategies for mitigating separation-induced distress. These include postponement of separation, ensuring high-quality maternal care of young prior to separation, providing bonded individuals with opportunities to separate voluntarily for brief periods prior to permanent separation, use of anti-suck devices prior to separation, allowing a period of partial (fence line) contact prior to full separation, providing substitutes for stimuli previously exchanged between mother and young, providing social buffers, gradual introduction to new housing arrangements, and pharmacological intervention. Areas for future research are proposed, including the use of functional neuroimaging technologies and functional genomics approaches, in combination with behavioural assessments of reinstatement
As housing laying hens in aviaries becomes more common, understanding relationships between socia... more As housing laying hens in aviaries becomes more common, understanding relationships between social context and performance of key behaviors, such as dust bathing (DB), is important. Expression of behaviors may be increased or repressed by the presence of conspecifics, and degree of behavioral synchrony can affect per hen resource allocation. We investigated relationships between number of hens on litter, number of hens simultaneously DB, and interbird distances (IBD) on space used to DB and duration of DB bouts across 4 laying hen strains (Hy-Line Brown [HB], Bovan Brown [BB], DeKalb White [DW], and Hy-Line [W36]) at 28 wk of age. Brown hens needed more space to DB than white hens (HB 1125.26; BB 1146.51 vs. DW 962.65; W36 943.39 cm2; P < 0.01). More white hens occupied litter at once (43 DW, 41 W36 vs. 28 HB, 31 BB; P < 0.01), and more white hens DB simultaneously than brown hens (11 DW, 19 W36 vs. 4 HB, 4 BB; P < 0.01). Brown hens had larger average IBD (HB 13.99, BB 15.11 vs. DW 8.39, W36 7.85 cm; P < 0.01) and larger minimum IBD (HB 6.76, BB 7.35 vs. DW 1.63, W36 1.79 cm; P < 0.01) but shorter DB durations than white hens (HB 7.37, BB 9.00 vs. DW 13.91, W36 15.16 min; P < 0.01). White hens' DB area decreased if number of hens on litter increased (DW 0.85; W36 0.79 cm; P < 0.05) or minimum IBD decreased (DW 3.66, W36 2.98 cm; P < 0.01). Brown hens' DB bout duration decreased as number of hens on litter increased (HB 0.87, BB 0.95 min; P < 0.01), number of other hens DB increased (HB 0.75, BB 0.69 min; P ≤ 0.02), or minimum IBD decreased (HB 2.39, BB 2.31 min; P < 0.01). In response to smaller IBD and more hens on litter simultaneously, DW and W36 hens minimize DB area while BB and HB hens shorten DB bouts, potentially terminating bouts before fulfilling their needs. Variations in DB behavior among strains should be considered when planning and stocking laying hen aviaries.
Scientists studying the welfare of animals use approaches that best answer the research question.... more Scientists studying the welfare of animals use approaches that best answer the research question. The research question, experimental approach, variables selected for measurement, and data interpretation can differ depending on the scientist&amp;amp;#39;s disciplinary training and his or her values framework. For example, a veterinary medical scientist may value measures of biological functioning over other measures of animal welfare, whereas an applied ethologist may place greater emphasis on behavioral measures. Animal care and husbandry recommendations, guidelines and standards, assessment strategies, and laws can reflect these differences with respect to the importance attached to the accommodation of different aspects of animal well-being.
Three groups of 10 spring-calving Angus and Hereford purebred and crossbred cows were placed in d... more Three groups of 10 spring-calving Angus and Hereford purebred and crossbred cows were placed in drylot paddocks from mid-November until calving to determine the influence of mixing mature beef cows from two different sources on social behavior and stress. Two Angus cows from an outside herd (alien cows) were placed in each paddock, and eight cows selected from the resident herd were added 1 d later. Agonistic behavior was recorded during a total of 21 30-min observation sessions over a period of 13 wk. Blood samples were drawn on days 2, 28 and 84 after penning and analyzed for cortisol, glucose and differential leucocyte counts. Breed-origin influenced (P
A novel wireless body-mounted sensor was developed to remotely monitor the location and activity ... more A novel wireless body-mounted sensor was developed to remotely monitor the location and activity of laying hens within non-cage housing systems. Legislation and social demand in the U.S. and Europe is pushing the poultry industry to transition primarily to non-cage housing systems. However, non-cage systems typically house hens in groups of tens of thousands, which makes it nearly impossible for caretakers to visually assess the health, welfare, or movement of all individual hens or to follow a particular hen over time. In the present study, laying hens were fitted with a lightweight (10 g) wireless body-mounted sensor to monitor their location in space relative to key resources and general level of physical activity. Sensor data were validated by correlating them to video-based observations of the sensor-wearing hen. In experiment 1, overall agreement of at least 84% was consistently obtained between data from the sensor system and video concerning the hen's proximity to specific resources including nestboxes, perches, water, and feeder. Presented data were collected from three 30Ămin observations from each of three laying hens. In experiment 2, the accelerometer data from a back-mounted sensor were correlated to video-based observations from two 30 min observation sessions from each of two laying hens in order to demonstrate the feasibility of automated activity classification using the developed sensor system.
Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports
Objective: To examine the effects on growth performance when growingfinishing pigs are sorted uni... more Objective: To examine the effects on growth performance when growingfinishing pigs are sorted uniformly by weight at placement. Methods: Pigs selected from a group of 384 were sorted into Heavy (37.1 ± 1.4 kg), Medium (34.0 ± 0.77 kg), and Light (30.2 ± 2.0 kg) groups, or placed in an Unsorted group (33.8 ± 3.2 kg) with a mean starting weight similar to that of the Medium pigs, but with quadruple the variation. Pigs and feeders were weighed on days 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 56, 70, and 91 for determination of ADG, ADFI, feed efficiency, and within-pen pig weight variation. Results: From day 0 to 91, ADG of Unsorted pigs and Heavy pigs did not differ, but was greater (P<.05) than that of Medium or Light pigs. Grouping had no effect on overall ADFI. Feed efficiency did not differ (P=.25) for Heavy, Medium, and Unsorted pigs, but Light pigs were less efficient (P<.05) than Heavy pigs. Final body weights differed for each group (P<.05) and ranked in the following descending order: Heavy, Unsorted, Medium, and Light. Mean final weights of Unsorted pigs were greater (P<.05) than mean final weights of all sorted pigs. No differences in within-pen SD were detectable (P=.13) by the end of the study. Implications: Sorting pigs into finishing pens by weight has no effect on final variability in individual body weights. Placing pigs without sorting by weight may increase the amount of pork produced from a system and reduce turnaround time in barns.
Manuscript Highlights Changes in, and reliability of turkeys' responses to four tests of fear ... more Manuscript Highlights Changes in, and reliability of turkeys' responses to four tests of fear were examined Some fear responses of turkeys change over time and with repeated testing Most open field, voluntary approach, and tonic immobility test responses are reliable Under conditions of repeated testing and differing novel objects, few novel object test responses are reliable A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t 2 Temperamental turkeys: reliability of behavioural responses to four tests of fear
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