If you knew what was good for you! The value of environmental enrichments with known welfare benefits is not demonstrated by sows using operant techniques.
Summary of "If you knew what was good for you! The value of environmental enrichments with known welfare benefits is not demonstrated by sows using operant techniques."
This study assessed the motivation of gestating sows housed in standard, barren gestation stalls (used for breeding/implantation and/or gestation) for access to environmental enrichment. Enrichment consisted of a cotton rope or rubber mat in comparison to positive (additional food when fed at commercial levels) and negative (empty trough) controls. Although environmental enrichment may improve animal welfare, sows' valuation of enrichments is largely unknown. This study used an operant panel and obtained behavioral measures to quantify motivation. As indicated by a higher price paid and lower latencies to press the panel and enter the treatment stall (all comparisons, p < .05), sows demonstrated higher motivation for food compared with all treatments. Sows housed in gestation stalls did not demonstrate high motivation via operant responding for a cotton rope or a rubber mat; nor did they demonstrate any differences in behavioral measures (all comparisons, p > .10). Although sows' motivation for a mat did not differ from that for an empty trough, previous work has demonstrated the welfare benefits associated with comfort flooring.
Affiliation
a Department of Animal Sciences , Purdue University.
Journal Details
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Journal of applied animal welfare science : JAAWS
ISSN: 1532-7604
Pages: 254-71
Links
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22742201
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2012.683982
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Biodegradation, Environmental
Elimination of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS; PESTICIDES and other waste using living organisms, usually involving intervention of environmental or sanitation engineers.
Environmental Remediation
Removal of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS or contaminants for the general protection of the environment. This is accomplished by various chemical, biological, and bulk movement methods, in conjunction with ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING.
Double Effect Principle
Guideline for determining when it is morally permissible to perform an action to pursue a good end with knowledge that the action will also bring about bad results. It generally states that, in cases where a contemplated action has such double effect, the action is permissible only if: it is not wrong in itself; the bad result is not intended; the good result is not a direct causal result of the bad result; and the good result is "proportionate to" the bad result. (from Solomon, "Double Effect," in Becker, The Encyclopedia of Ethics, 1992)
National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences (u.s.)
Component of the NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. It conducts and supports basic and applied research to reduce the burden of human illness and dysfunction from environmental causes by, defining how environmental exposures, genetic susceptibility, and age interact to affect an individual's health. It was established in 1969.
Ecological And Environmental Processes
Ecosystem and environmental activities, functions, or events.
PubMed Articles
Environmental enrichment typically improves learning, increases cortical thickness and hippocampal neurogenesis, reduces anxiety, and reduces stereotypic behaviour, yet sometimes such effects are abse...
Environmental enrichment typically improves learning, increases cortical thickness and hippocampal neurogenesis, reduces anxiety, and reduces stereotypic behaviour, yet sometimes such effects are abse...
Concentrations of vanadium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, antimony, and lead were measured in Ficus benjamina leaves from the Mexico City urban area in order to assess their enrichment again...
UFJCOSY: A Fast 3D NMR Method for Measuring Isotopic Enrichments in Complex Samples.
A fast 3D NMR method is described, which gives access to site-specific (13) C isotopic enrichments in complex biological mixtures in a few minutes. It relies on a hybrid strategy combining ultrafast a...
Methanotrophs are known to produce poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), but there is conflicting evidence in the literature as to which genera produce the polymer. We screened type I and II proteobacterial m...
Clinical Trials
Environmental Contaminants and Infant Development
This study is designed to examine the effects of prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants on cognitive and behavioral development and physical growth in two groups of Inuit infants...
The MIDAS Project (Models of Implementation and Dissemination of Environmental Health and Science Across Subjects) Assessment Objectives: - Determine whether students are aware of the...
Genetic and Environmental Determinants of Triglycerides (GOLDN)
To characterize the genetic basis of the variable response of triglycerides to two environmental contexts, one that raises triglycerides (dietary fat), and one that lowers triglycerides (f...
Comparison of Workplace Obesity Management Programs
The purpose of this study is to design and demonstrate the feasibility of implementing moderate and intensive environmental obesity prevention programs at major worksites.
Effect of Dietary, Lifestyle, and Environmental Factors on Patients With Early-Stage Bladder Cancer
RATIONALE: Learning about the long-term effects of dietary, lifestyle, and environmental factors on the risk of cancer progression and recurrence may help the study of bladder cancer in th...
