The degree of domestication of an animal is difficult to estimate because the animal's phenotype depends not only on its genetic make-up but also on its experiences during ontogeny. In addition, comparisons between wild and domestic animals suffer from the lack of a proper reference population. In this study, we compared the offspring of silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) that had been selected specifically for tameness for more than 30 generations (NOVO) with normal Finnish farmed foxes (FIN) and with reciprocal hybrids between these two strains. All animals were housed under standard farm conditions without any extra handling. The NOVO foxes had higher domestication indexes and lower fearfulness scores than the FIN foxes, with their hybrids showing values in between. Almost all NOVO foxes started eating in the presence of a human and took a titbit from him, whereas only a few FIN foxes did so. Open field and urinary cortisol tests failed to discriminate between the genotypes. The NOVO cubs had lower levels of serum cortisol both before and after a stressful situation or ACTH injection and showed lower stress-induced hyperthermia than the FIN cubs, with the hybrids showing results in between. NOVO foxes can be used as a reference when developing and validating behavioural tests for use in the selection of less fearful silver foxes. The observed low fear levels and low stress hormone levels suggest better welfare in the NOVO foxes under standard farm conditions.

When thwarted in a behaviour, laying hens show an increase in stereotyped pacing, displacement preening and a specific vocalisation known as the ‘gakel-call’. How these behaviours, which might serve as indicators of welfare, are influenced by social factors is not yet known. In this study, we investigated the effect of an audience (another bird or a human) on the expression of the gakel-call and other behaviours indicating frustration. Twenty-four Lohman Brown hens were trained to gain free access to food in a test cage. Sixteen hens were used as test birds and eight as non-test audience birds. The food-deprived test hens were tested for 15 min in a non-thwarting situation (food freely available) and for 15 min in a thwarting situation (food covered but visible). For both situations we investigated four different treatments: no audience in the adjacent cage; a non-thwarted audience bird in the adjacent cage; a thwarted audience bird in the adjacent cage; and finally a human audience. The durations of stereotyped pacing and displacement preening were significantly higher in test birds during thwarting than during non-thwarting; thwarted birds also gave significantly more gakel-calls compared to non-thwarted birds. The test birds, and also the audience birds, gave more gakel-calls when thwarted in the presence of a thwarted conspecific than when in the presence of a non-thwarted bird, but there were no significant differences in stereotyped pacing or displacement preening, which are usually associated with frustration. In conclusion, this study supports the view that the gakel-call signals frustration in laying hens. Furthermore, the state of the audience influences the occurrence of gakel-calls in thwarted hens. Thus, when using the gakel-call as a welfare-indicator, the social aspects of the vocal expression of frustration in laying hens should not be overlooked.

Laboratory primates are often housed in same-sex pairs to avoid single-housing and when breeding is to be prevented. However, pair formation is not without risks, as fights and injuries may occur. No data are available on pair formation in female common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), a species used extensively in laboratories. Therefore, this study focuses on the pairing of unfamiliar common marmoset females, aiming to assess its success rate and whether age can predict the result. Data on the study animals and success of the pairings were extracted from laboratory back-records: a total of 28 pairings was obtained. In addition, behavioural data were collected on six of the 28 pairs. Almost 80% of pairs were compatible beyond one week, and most of the fights occurred well within the first week after pair formation. Pairs in which one of the females was sexually immature (ie < 15 months) were significantly more compatible than pairs in which both females were post-pubertal. First encounters were characterised by sniffing of the unfamiliar monkey. Aggressive behaviours occurred frequently following pair formation but they were unidirectional, and in only two pairs was veterinary treatment required. This study shows that pairing of unfamiliar common marmoset females is a safe practice if one monkey is sexually immature, a result that supports observations of both group and pair formation in other primate species. However, given the potentially detrimental effects of removing young females from their natal groups, we argue that it is preferable to remove two sisters from their natal group when female pairs are required. However, when a single sexually mature female requires a pair mate so as to avoid single-housing and no mature sibling is available, an older, but still sexually immature, unfamiliar female that has had a normal development within the family should be considered as a pair mate.

Most dairy producers believe that early separation of the cow and calf is necessary for reproductive efficiency, to minimise health problems and to improve the ease of milking. In addition, many consider that it is less distressing for both animals if separation occurs earlier rather than later. In this paper we review the welfare and production effects of early separation on the cow and calf. Research has shown that the cow's immediate behavioural response to separation from the calf increases with increased contact with the calf, but other work has shown that cow health and productivity are positively affected by the presence of the calf. Calf response to separation also increases when the calf spends more time with the cow, but there are long-term benefits of prolonged contact in terms of sociality, fearfulness and future maternal behaviour. Health, weight gain and future productivity are also improved when the calf is allowed to spend more time with the cow.

In the test described here, sheep are exposed to a situation of conflict between the motivation to approach other sheep and the motivation to avoid a human handler. The distance that the test sheep keep from the handler is a reflection of the relative aversiveness of this handler to the sheep. The test itself requires only a minimum amount of handling and gives the test animals the opportunity to choose their distance from the aversive stimulus, thereby reducing stress during the test itself. The two aversive stimuli chosen for comparison were a human handler facing toward the test arena (more aversive) or the same handler turning his back to the arena (less aversive). Ten Scottish Blackface sheep were tested individually a total of ten times, five times with each of the two stimuli in alternate tests. During the first two tests, nine of the sheep stayed further away when the human was facing toward the arena, compared to when he was facing away; this shows that the test is able to discriminate differences in aversiveness between two stimuli as perceived by individual sheep. This difference was not apparent in the following eight tests, probably because of the fact that the stimuli were not reinforced during the tests. Because the test is concerned with sheep's reaction to a stimulus (eg handler), the procedure associated with the stimulus itself (eg shearing, castration) does not have to be repeated in the test, which means that this method is ideal for studying procedures which cause distress to the animals or which are difficult to repeat.

For management and/or research purposes, chimpanzee mothers and their offspring are often physically separated from one another at an earlier age than they would be in the wild. Studies of the behavioural and physiological effects of mother-infant separation on infant behaviour have been conducted in both human and nonhuman primates. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the response of the mother to separation from her infant, particularly in great apes. The current study opportunistically examined the response of twelve chimpanzee mothers to separation from 15 of their offspring ranging from 1.8 to 5.4 years of age. Behavioural data (proximity of the mother to other group members, and fifteen behaviours representing six categories [agonistic, prosocial, vocalisations, abnormal, locomotor, inactive]) were collected for three weeks prior to and three to five weeks following the permanent removal of the offspring from their mothers. A repeated measures MANOVA conducted on all subjects revealed no significant change in behaviour following separation. There was a significant increase in inactivity following separation of the offspring (F2.21 = 5.47, P < 0.05) in a subgroup of mothers (n = 8) that was studied more intensively on the first day of separation. Maternal age, infant age, presence of other offspring, and past experience with mother-offspring separation had no effect on response to separation. These results contradict those of mother-infant separation studies in monkeys and indicate that most behavioural indicators of well-being are stable in chimpanzee mothers that remain in their familiar environment and social group following offspring separation.

The vicuna is mainly used in two ways: wild captured, shorn and returned to the wild; or wild captured and maintained in captivity as part of a programme of sustainable use in the Andes of South America. Farming of wild vicunas has hitherto involved no assessment of their welfare. In this study we measured a set of basic blood parameters in order to characterise baseline values in captivity, and we then characterised adrenal cortical responsiveness using an ACTH challenge. The ACTH challenge is widely used for assessing neuroendocrine responses to stress and is now increasingly being applied to studies of wild animals’ welfare. Five male vicunas were injected with exogenous ACTH and their responses compared with those of a control group injected with placebo. Behavioural and haematological changes were monitored. Injection of ACTH produced a 4.5-fold increase in cortisol concentration within 1 h. Total white blood cell count almost doubled in less than 5 h. The neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio also changed, with a decrease in lymphocytes and an increase in neutrophils, suggesting that the neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio was affected by the ACTH challenge. Packed cell volume increased from 40% to 44%. Observations of individual vicunas during sampling revealed no discernible behavioural differences between treated and control animals; however, animals that had higher initial baseline cortisol concentration made more attempts to escape, and vocalised more during handling, regardless of whether they were treated with ACTH or placebo. The results reveal the different blood parameter levels associated with stress in different species and highlight the hazard of interpreting stress levels in one species on the basis of measures calibrated in another. We provide calibrated reference values for future studies of stress in vicunas.

A current programme of wildlife utilisation in the Andean region involves the capture of wild vicunas, their shearing, transport and, in some cases, captive farming. The effects of these interventions on the physiology, and thus welfare, of wild vicunas are unknown. As a first step to quantifying and thus mitigating any adverse welfare consequences of this harvest, we measured the immediate and longer-term physical and physiological effects of capture, shearing and transport. A sample of juvenile male vicunas was captured. Six were shorn at the capture site, six after two weeks in captivity, and the remaining seven animals were kept as controls for 39 days. In general, vicunas showed changes in blood glucose, packed cell volume, cortisol, and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratios within 4-6 h following capture. Creatine kinase was also affected by capture and transport, showing a peak plasma level 24 h after capture, which was followed by a peak plasma level of aspartate aminotransferase four days after capture and transport. After 12 days in captivity, all of the vicunas showed physiological parameters close to expected baseline values for the species. We could detect no differences in physiological parameters between animals that were captured, sheared and transported and those that were only captured and transported. Similarly, we could detect no differences in most responses of vicunas between those sheared after 12 days in captivity and a control group held under similar conditions but from which blood was sampled without shearing. A further comparison between animals sheared immediately after capture and animals sheared after 12 days in captivity revealed that creatine kinase levels were higher in the former group. During transport prior to release back into the wild, only minor injuries (lip bleeding and limb contusions) and a significant increase in rectal temperature were observed. Our results provide a basis for recommendations to improve the welfare of vicunas during the wool harvest, and provide baseline and stress-response data to serve as reference points for further studies of vicuna welfare.

This study was undertaken in order to determine the variation of the acute phase proteins haptoglobin and Pig-MAP (major acute phase protein) in the serum of pigs affected by transport-related stress. Pigs were subjected to one of two pre-slaughter treatments: a) short-duration transport (1 h 15 min transport and 2 h lairage); or b) long-duration transport (6 h transport and 14 h lairage). There were 10 individuals in each treatment group, belonging to the NN (n = 5) or Nn (n = 5) genotypes for halothane susceptibility. Samples were taken before transport, just after transport, and on stunning at slaughter. We measured levels of serum haptoglobin, Pig-MAP and cortisol. Our results showed that the short-duration transport did not modify the levels of haptoglobin or of Pig-MAP in any of the three samples, whereas cortisol was increased just after transport. In contrast, there was an increase in haptoglobin and Pig-MAP in serum from animals after long-duration transport, as observed in the post-mortem samples (20-21 h after the beginning of transport); cortisol levels were not increased in these conditions. In this experiment, homozygotes for the halothane gene tended to have higher values of haptoglobin after slaughter than did heterozygotes. In conclusion, combined determination of acute phase proteins and cortisol levels could provide valuable information on welfare problems related to transport.