9486 in the collection
Assessing Fear in Rainbow Trout--and Third Graders
Ohanian Comment: This article is presented as evidence of ongoing commitment to keeping readers up-to-date on the latest testing research.
As you read the article below, ask yourself: When will schools hire child welfare specialists, concerned with the humane treatment of children? Imagine having a national conference on the "latest research on the habits, personalities and proclivities of children. Imagine having the funds to do such research. Wouldn't it be valuable for teachers to know what children like to do?
Fear in Domestic Rainbow Trout was a topic deemed worthy of research funds. Fine. How about Fear in Third Graders? Don't dismiss this out of hand. In the trout study, they examined "the responses of rainbow trout to noxious stimuli." These days, third grade classrooms have plenty of noxious stimuli--mostly shipped in from firms promising high returns on standardized tests.
S. M.. Abeyesinghe and colleagues investigated 'Can the Domestic Fowl Show Self-Control?' Can Rod Paige, Reid Lyon, the National Reading Panel, NCEE, and Cohorts Show Self-Control?
The study 'Welfare of Pekin Ducks Increases When Freely Accessible Open Water Is Provided' concluded that Pekin ducks have a behavioral need for freely accessible open water. What are the behavior needs of third graders?
For decades, animal welfare research was largely dismissed by farmers and food producers. But in the past few years, under pressure from animal rights advocates and consumers concerned about the rapid growth of mega-farms, some of the world's biggest food companies, including McDonald's, Wendy's and Tyson Foods, have begun to hire animal welfare specialists.
These consultants are helping the companies adopt new standards for the humane treatment and slaughter of livestock in food factories that often house tens of thousands of hogs, chickens and cattle.
Leading universities now offer animal welfare as a speciality, and the field has grown so large that several conferences are held each year to share the latest research on the habits, personalities and proclivities of animal life.
At last summer's 37th International Congress of the International Society of Applied Ethology in Abano Terme, Italy, scholarly papers were presented on such topics as "The Effect of Diet Change on the Behavior of Chicks" and "The Importance of Straw for the Health and Welfare of Pigs and Cattle."
While much of the research may well improve life on the farm, in other cases — at least to the untrained eye — the benefits might be less obvious. Excerpts follow.
'Influence of Color on Nest Choice in Laying Hens'
By B. Huber-Eicher
At the start of lay, hens show a strong preference for nests at corners or end of nest rows. This leads to overcrowded nests, or aggression and increases in cracked and mislaid eggs.
Our aim was to test if nest color could be a means to increase nest attractiveness and thereby counterbalance the mentioned positional effects. . . .
Groups of 15 one-day old chicks were exposed to blue, green, yellow or red [nests] (two groups per color) for 12 days. In two additional groups of 92 chicks we identified 32 individuals showing high preferences for yellow or red. Not enough chicks to be tested statistically showed preferences for blue or green. We therefore considered individuals preferring yellow and red or showing no preferences instead. . . .
To summarize, we found color preferences at an early age, but these do not correspond to the preferred nest color later on. . . .
'Is the Running Wheel Beneficial or Harmful for Hamsters Kept as Pets?'
By S. G. Gebhardt-Henrich and colleagues
Many studies on running wheels demonstrated significant influences on the physiology and behavior of rodents. The conditions in those studies were not necessarily applicable to golden hamsters kept as pets such as ad libitum feeding and moderately large cages. We measured the total reproduction of 20 females of Mesocricetus auratus, their running activity and quantified their nonreproductive behavior three times during their first year.
There were only few significant differences of reproductive parameters between hamsters with and without functional wheels, but litters of hamsters with a functional wheel tended to be larger with fewer total failures of litters. Probably, the running activity did not affect the reproductive success of the females, because the females greatly reduced their running during late pregnancy and lactation. . . .
'Fear in Domestic Rainbow Trout'
By S. Yue and colleagues
The responses of rainbow trout to noxious stimuli were observed in an avoidance learning task. Each of 13 fish was placed individually into a two-chambered shuttle tank where it could be subjected to the putative frightening stimulus of a plunging dip net in either chamber. The fish could escape from the stimulus by swimming through a doorway to the other chamber. The fish escaped from the plunging net by swimming through the doorway, some on the first occasion and all after a few exposures.
Each fish was then presented with a neutral stimulus of a light that went on 10 seconds before the net plunged into the water. Over a five-day period, all fish learned to avoid the plunging net by swimming through the doorway when the light was illuminated.
All fish showed evidence of longer-term memory by showing the learned avoidance response on the first occasion they were tested after seven days of no testing. . . .
'Can the Domestic Fowl Show Self-Control?'
By S. M. Abeyesinghe and colleagues
Sixteen naïve hens were used to address this question. . . . Individuals were tested in daily sessions of 16 free-choice trails randomly interspersed with two forced trails for each option until stable responding was reached. The response of the bonus group indicates that if possible discounting of the value of a delayed reward is taken into account, domestic fowl can show self-control for food.
'Effect of Driver Behavior on the Behavior of Sheep in Transit'
By M. S. Cockram and colleagues
This study examined relationships between driver behavior and driving events, and behavioral responses of six groups of 10 sheep to these events. Two drivers drove three standard seven-hour journeys each. Video recordings were made of the sheep, the driver, the speedometer and the drivers' view of the road ahead and were analyzed by continuous focal observations.
A lag sequential analysis was used to examine relationships between either driver behavior or driving events and responses of the sheep. . . .
Seventy-nine percent of losses of balance and 44 percent of disturbances to lying behavior were preceded by driving events, such as acceleration, braking, cornering and gear changing. . . .
The percentage of time that sheep spent lying down (36 percent) and the percentage of time spent ruminating (15 percent) was greater on motorway sections than on single carriageways. A training video based on the video recordings and results of this study has been produced. . . .
'Contrafreeloading Decreases With Age and Social Isolation in Red Jungle Fowl and White Leghorn Layers'
By C. Lindqvist and P. Jensen
Contrafreeloading (CFL), i.e., choosing food which requires work over free food, has been studied in several different species. Some factors that decrease the degree of CFL are food deprivation, environmental uncertainty and increased effort to obtain earned food.
Leghorns, selected for larger and higher egg numbers, have a lower degree of CFL compared with junglefowl (wild type). We examined if the degree of CFL varies with age, sex and social isolation in a Leghorn layer strain and junglefowl and if there were any breed differences in these effects. . . .
We conclude that age and social isolation influence the level of CFL in fowl and that jungle fowl seem to be more sensitive to social isolation than leghorn, indicating a possible side effect of selection for increased production.
'Welfare of Pekin Ducks Increases When Freely Accessible Open Water Is Provided'
By M. A. W. Ruis and colleagues
A possible threat to the welfare of commercially kept ducks is the inability to perform sufficient preening behavior due to the absence of freely accessible open water. Water is usually provided by nipple drinkers which allow ducks only to drink. In Europe, it is now recommended that ducks should have access to open drinkers, which allow them to wetten the upper part of the body.
The current study was designed to gain knowledge on the actual need of Pekin ducks for freely accessible open water, and is based upon preference testing and reactions to deprivation. . . .
It was concluded that Pekin ducks have a behavioral need for freely accessible open water.
'A Functional Approach of Female Homosexual Behavior in American Bison'
By H. Vervaecke and colleagues
We present data on female homosexual behavior in American bison and review functional hypotheses with regard to its occurrence. . . . We collected behavioral data on the incidence of homosexual behavior in a bison herd of 42 same-aged females in a commercial farm. . . .
The animals grazed year-round on large meadows and were fed additional hay in winter. In June 2001, before the onset of the breeding season, three breeding males joined the group of females. From May till September 2001, agonistic and sexual behaviors were scored in the entire group. . . .
We observed 194 homosexual interactions in 39 same-sex dyads. . . .
'The Effect of Accommodating Sucking and Massage on the Behavior of Artificially Reared Piglets'
By T. M. Widowski and colleagues
Neonatal piglets are often used in biomedical research applications that require artificial rearing. Social housing can be problematic because they develop belly-nosing, navel and ear sucking that results in injury. Our objective was to determine the effectiveness of using feeding devices that provide various opportunities for sucking and massage on reducing piglet-directed behavior of group-housed laboratory piglets.
Fifteen piglets were used in each of four trials. Each unit featured a different style of feeding system for the delivery of milk replacer. . . . A feeding device that accommodates both sucking and massage can significantly reduce piglet-directed behavior and may facilitate social housing of artificially reared piglets.
— David Barboza
Pig Massage and Helping Ducks Preen: Who Says We're Heartless Carnivores?
New York Times
2003-09-28
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/28/weekinreview/28WORD.html?tntemail0
INDEX OF OUTRAGES
Pages: 380
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