Veterinary Clinical Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMaternal contact and positive human interactions during lactation impacts piglet performance and behaviour during lactation(Frontiers Media S.A., 2023)Introduction: Early life interactions with the sow or humans can have lifelong consequences on welfare and performance in pigs. It was hypothesised that piglets that received increased maternal contact and positive human contact would display improved responses to stressful events and improved performance. Methods: Ninety-eight litters were allocated to a 2 x 2 factorial design for maternal contact (MC+)/restricted maternal contact (MC-); and positive human contact (HC+)/no additional human contact (HC-). Modified farrowing crates were used to restrict maternal contact (MC-) and litters in the HC+ treatment received five minutes of daily positive human interaction (stroking). Behavioural and physiological responses were assessed during processing at three days of age and during a behaviour test in which piglets were introduced to an empty arena, novel object, human hand and human standing in the arena at 18 days of age. Observations of behaviour in the home pen and growth and survival of piglets to weaning were also assessed. Results: At processing, MC- piglets had more squeals (P = 0.015), tended to have more grunts (P = 0.063) and struggle attempts (P = 0.079), and had increased plasma cortisol concentrations (P = 0.009) after processing than MC+ piglets. During the behaviour test, HC+ piglets were more active (P = 0.014) and had more vocalisations (P < 0.05) in the empty arena than HC piglets. Furthermore, HC+ piglets were more likely to approach a human standing in the arena (P = 0.006) than HC- piglets. MC- piglets were less active (P = 0.008) and were less likely to approach the novel object (P = 0.049) than MC+ piglets. MC+ piglets tended to have higher weaning weights (P = 0.055) and more MC+ piglets were successfully weaned (P = 0.022) than MC- piglets. There was no significant effect of HC on piglet performance. Discussion: While positive handling did not affect behavioural and physiological stress response to processing, HC+ reduced fear of novelty and humans. These findings highlight the importance of early life experiences has on stress resilience early in life.
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ItemNo Preview Available4. Early life maternal contact has long-term impacts on pig growth(Elsevier BV, 2023-11)
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ItemMeasurement of corticosterone in the plasma, eggs and faeces of laying hens(CSIRO PUBLISHING, 2022)Context Stress responses in chickens are commonly assessed from measurements of corticosterone in blood, but there is an increasing research effort to develop non-blood means of assessing the activity of the hypothalamo–pituitary (HPA) axis. It is common to measure corticosterone in the eggs and faeces. Aims We extended previous work by undertaking a study of caged laying hens comparing basal concentrations of corticosterone in plasma, faeces, egg albumen and egg yolk on a between-cage basis. We tested the hypothesis that there are positive relationships between corticosterone in plasma and corticosterone in each of the other matrices. Methods Blood samples were collected from each bird at a single point in time. In Experiment 1, these comparisons (between plasma concentrations of corticosterone on Day 1 and egg albumen, egg yolk and faecal concentrations of corticosterone on Days 1, 3 and 4 of the study) were made for hens of two ages under basal conditions, whereas, in Experiment 2, the comparisons (between plasma concentrations of corticosterone on Day 3 and egg albumen, egg yolk and faecal concentrations of corticosterone on Days 1 and 2 of the study) were made for hens housed at different space allowances with and without access to a nest box. The birds without a nest box had not had experience with a nest box prior to sampling. Key results There was a statistically significant (P = 0.012), but limited, positive relationship between plasma and egg albumen concentrations of corticosterone under basal conditions in Experiment 2. There were no other statistically significant (P > 0.05) relationships in either experiment. These results suggest that measures of corticosterone in the albumen, yolk and faeces of laying hens are unlikely to be robust predictors of basal concentrations of corticosterone in the blood. Conclusions Although there was some indication that concentrations of corticosterone in albumen may be related to concentrations in blood under basal conditions, based on all the results, this suggestion is made cautiously. Implications More comprehensive research is required to establish if measures of corticosterone in egg components and faeces are related to chronic basal activity of the hypothalamo–pituitary axis in laying hens. There is also a need to understand the impact of corticosterone on production, reproduction and welfare in hens from measures in both blood and non-blood matrices.
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ItemEffects of the presence of zoo visitors on zoo-housed little penguins (Eudyptula minor)(TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2022-01-02)
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ItemEffects of Positive Human Contact during Gestation on the Behaviour, Physiology and Reproductive Performance of Sows(MDPI, 2021-01)Previous positive interactions with humans may ameliorate the stress response of farm animals to aversive routine practices such as painful or stressful procedures, particularly those associated with stockpeople. We studied the effects of positive handling by providing younger (parity 1-2) and older (parity 3-8) sows housed in pens of fifteen (n = 24 pens in total) with either positive human contact (+HC) or routine human contact (control) during gestation. The +HC treatment involved a familiar stockperson patting and scratching sows and was imposed at a pen-level for 2 min daily. Measurements studied included behavioural, physiological and productivity variables. The +HC sows showed reduced avoidance of the stockperson conducting pregnancy testing and vaccination in the home pens, however the behavioural and cortisol responses of sows in a standard unfamiliar human approach test did not differ. There were no effects of +HC on aggression between sows, serum cortisol or serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentrations during gestation, or on the behavioural and cortisol response to being moved to farrowing crates. There were also no effects of +HC on the maternal responsiveness of sows, farrowing rate or the number of piglets born alive, stillborn or weaned. Sows in the +HC pens reduced their physical interaction with the stockpeople imposing the treatment after 2 weeks, which suggests the sows may have habituated to the novel or possible rewarding elements of the handling treatment. This experiment shows that regular positive interaction with stockpeople does reduce sows' fear of stockpeople, but does not always confer stress resilence.
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ItemEffects of Regulating Visitor Viewing Proximity and the Intensity of Visitor Behaviour on Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) Behaviour and Welfare(MDPI, 2019-06)We examined the effects of regulating the viewing proximity of visitors and the intensity of visitor behaviour on behaviours indicative of fear and stress physiology of 15 zoo-housed little penguins (Eudyptula minor). A 2 × 2 factorial fully randomised design was used to examine the effects of regulating: 1) the viewing proximity of visitors to enclosure, 'normal viewing distance' and 'increased viewing distance' (using a physical barrier set up 2 m away from the enclosure), and 2) the intensity of visitor behaviour, 'unregulated visitor behaviour' and 'regulated visitor behaviour' (using signage and uniformed personnel). In addition, a treatment consisting of closing the enclosure to visitors was included. Penguin behaviour, visitor numbers and visitor behaviour were recorded by CCTV video recordings and direct observations, respectively. Penguin faecal glucocorticoid metabolites were also analysed as a measure of stress physiology. We found that increased viewing distance reduced (p < 0.05) all visitor behaviours except for loud vocalisations and tactile contact with penguins. However, there were no direct effects of signage and uniformed personnel on visitor behaviour (p > 0.05). As the regulation of viewing proximity increased from a closed exhibit to an open exhibit with increased viewing distance, and then to an open exhibit with normal viewing distance, this increased the proportion of penguins huddling (p = 0.0011), vigilant (p = 0.0060) and retreating (p = 0.00013), and decreased the proportion of penguins within 1 m of the visitor viewing area (p = 0.00066), surface swimming (p = 0.00091) and preening in the water (p = 0.042). There were also limited effects of regulating visitor behaviour on penguin behaviour. No treatment effects were found on faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (p > 0.05). These results indicate that regulating visitor viewing proximity affects penguin behaviours indicative of fear and visitor behaviour. This suggests that close visitor contact can be fear-provoking for little penguins but increasing the distance between visitors and penguins can reduce fear responses of penguins by regulating both viewing proximity and visitor behaviour. However, it is unclear whether these changes in penguin behaviour are due to the increased separation between visitors and penguins and/or specific visitor behaviours associated with close viewing proximity to the enclosure, such as leaning over the enclosure or tactile contact with the pool, which are impeded when visitors are further away.
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ItemThe Human-Animal Relationship in Australian Caged Laying Hens(MDPI AG, 2019-05-01)Studies on farm animals have shown relationships between stockperson attitudes and behaviour and farm animal fear, stress and productivity. This study investigated how the avoidance behaviour of Australian commercial caged laying hens may be related to stockperson behaviour, albumen corticosterone, and the number of weeks producing within 5% of peak egg production. Nineteen laying houses were assessed over 3 days. Fear of humans in hens, based on their avoidance response to an unfamiliar human, was assessed using two behavioural tests. Albumen corticosterone concentrations were measured from egg samples collected immediately prior to behavioural testing. Stockperson attitudes were assessed using a questionnaire and stockperson behaviour was observed over 2 days. Productivity records for each laying house were also obtained. The duration of peak production was negatively related to both noise made by the stockperson and hen avoidance. No relationship between stockperson behaviour or attitudes and hen avoidance was found, but stockpeople with negative attitudes made more noise. In conclusion, this study could not confirm a relationship between stockperson behaviour and hen avoidance behaviour for Australian caged laying hens. However, this study did confirm a relationship between hen avoidance behaviour, albumen corticosterone concentration, and the duration of peak egg production.
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ItemEffect of Covering a Visitor Viewing Area Window on the Behaviour of Zoo-Housed Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor)(MDPI, 2020-07)Studies on the effects of visitors on zoo animals have shown mixed findings and as a result, the manner in which visitors affect zoo animals remains unclear for many species, including a rarely studied taxa such as penguins. Penguins are a common zoo-housed species and have been shown to display huddling, vigilance and avoidance towards zoo visitors which can be indicative of fear. Here, we examined the effects of covering one visitor viewing area window, out of four, on little penguin (Eudyptula minor) behaviours that may be indicative of fear. Two treatments were randomly imposed on different days: (1) The main visitor viewing area window, where most visitor-penguin interactions occurred, was uncovered ('Main window uncovered') and (2) The main visitor viewing area window was covered ('Main window covered'). Penguin numbers and behaviour were recorded near the main visitor viewing area window and the three other visitor viewing area windows, as well as one area not visible to visitors ('Corner' area). Furthermore, visitor numbers and visitor behaviour were recorded at all four visitor viewing area windows. Covering the main visitor viewing area window reduced the proportion of visitors present at this window by about 85% (p < 0.001) and reduced potentially threatening visitor behaviours at this window such as tactile contact with the window, loud vocalisations and sudden movement (p < 0.05). When the main visitor viewing area window was covered, the proportion of penguins present increased by about 25% (p < 0.05), the proportion of visible penguins preening in the water increased by about 180% (p < 0.05) and the proportion of visible penguins vigilant decreased by about 70% (p < 0.05) in the area near this main window. A preference for the Corner area was also found whereby 59% and 49% of penguins were present in this area when the main window was uncovered and covered, respectively. These results provide limited evidence that the little penguins in this exhibit showed an aversion to the area near the main visitor viewing area window when it was uncovered based on the increased avoidance and vigilance and decreased preening in the water in this area. This suggests visitors may be fear-provoking for these little penguins. However, it is unclear whether visual contact with visitors per se or other aspects of visitor contact, such as visitor-induced sounds and vibrations, were responsible for this apparent aversion when this window was uncovered.