scholarly journals Positive Human Contact and Housing Systems Impact the Responses of Piglets to Various Stressors

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1619
Author(s):  
Megan E. Hayes ◽  
Lauren M. Hemsworth ◽  
Rebecca S. Morrison ◽  
Alan J. Tilbrook ◽  
Paul H. Hemsworth

This experiment studied the effects of lactation housing systems and human interaction on piglets’ responses to routine stressors. Forty litters of piglets were reared in either a standard farrowing crate (FC) or a loose farrowing and lactation pen (LP; PigSAFE pen) and received either routine contact with humans (C) or regular opportunities for positive human contact (+HC; 3 min of patting, stroking and scratching 5 times/week). Behavioural and physiological responses to routine husbandry procedures, weaning, novelty and humans were studied in addition to effects on piglet growth, injuries and survival. Compared to C piglets, +HC piglets vocalised for shorter durations (p = 0.018) during husbandry procedures and showed a lower intensity of escape behaviour during iron injection (p = 0.042) and oral vaccination (p = 0.026) at 3 d of age, capture at 2 wk of age (p < 0.001), and intramuscular vaccination (p = 0.005) at 3 wk of age. +HC piglets at 2 wk of age were faster than C piglets to approach (p = 0.048) and interact (p = 0.042) with a stationary unfamiliar human. Compared to LP piglets, FC piglets showed a lower intensity of escape behaviour during capture and iron administration by a stockperson at 3 d of age (p = 0.043). FC piglets at 2 wk of age were faster than LP piglets to approach (p = 0.005) and interact (p = 0.027) with a novel object and approach (p = 0.009) and interact (p = 0.008) with an unfamiliar human. FC piglets had fewer injuries than LP piglets at 2 wk of age (p = 0.004). +HC pigs had fewer injuries than C pigs after weaning (p = 0.003). After weaning there were more pigs from LP than FC observed to be upright (both stationary, p = 0.002 and walking, p = 0.024), vocalizing (p = 0.004), nosing another pig (p = 0.035) and nosing the pen floor (p = 0.038). There were no significant effects on neutrophil:lymphocyte ratios or plasma cortisol concentrations 1.5 h after weaning. However, 25 h after weaning +HC pigs had higher haptoglobin concentrations than C pigs (p = 0.002), and C/LP pigs had higher cortisol concentrations than +HC/LP and C/FC pigs (p = 0.012). There were no significant effects on piglet growth, the number of piglets born alive or the number stillborn, however there were more piglets weaned from FC than LP (p = 0.035). The results from this experiment raise questions that require further research on the ability of pigs reared in loose pens to cope with stressors such as exposure to humans, novelty, husbandry procedures and weaning. This experiment also provides evidence that regular positive human interaction reduces pigs’ fear of humans and husbandry procedures imposed by stockpeople. More research is required to determine if any of these effects are sustained long-term.

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 330
Author(s):  
Bryan A. Oakley

Napatree Point, an isolated barrier in southern Rhode Island, provides a case study of barrier spit migration via storm driven overwash and washover fan migration. Documented shoreline changes using historical surveys and vertical aerial photographs show that the barrier had little in the way of net change in position between 1883 and 1939, including the impact of the 1938 hurricane. The barrier retreated rapidly between 1945 and 1975, driven by both tropical and extra-tropical storms. The shoreline position has been largely static since 1975. The removal of the foredune during the 1938 hurricane facilitated landward shoreline migration in subsequent lower intensity storms. Dune recovery following the 1962 Ash Wednesday storm has been allowed due to limited overwash and barrier migration over the last several decades. Shoreline change rates during the period from 1945–1975 were more than double the rate of shoreline change between 1939 and 2014 and triple the rate between 1883 and 2014, exceeding the positional uncertainty of these shoreline pairs. The long-term shoreline change rates used to calculate coastal setbacks in Rhode Island likely underestimate the potential for rapid shoreline retreat over shorter time periods, particularly in a cluster of storm activity. While sea-level rise has increased since 1975, the barrier has not migrated, highlighting the importance of storms in barrier migration.


1973 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Aarons

An empirically ordered sequence of 11 steps is described for the training of progressive increases in physical contact between monkeys and Es. The steps range from a point at which food is not accepted from E's hand, through the touching and petting of varied parts of the monkey's body, to the monkey climbing on or being held by E. Some illustrative data are presented and it is suggested that evaluation of the animal-human relationship is relevant to long-term studies in experimental behavior therapy.


2022 ◽  
Vol 505 ◽  
pp. 119943
Author(s):  
Rao-Qiong Yang ◽  
Fan Zhao ◽  
Ze-Xin Fan ◽  
Shankar Panthi ◽  
Pei-Li Fu ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
R. A. Eager ◽  
J. Price ◽  
E. Welsh ◽  
N. K. Waran

Behavioural responses to pain are highly species specific and reflect varying strategies for survival. As prey animals, horses may fail to show obvious pain responses, instead masking pain to reduce predation through selection as the weakest of a group (Anil et al., 2002). Price et al. (2002) identified disagreement amongst vets regarding pain assessment and management in horses. This was highlighted by recent debate concerning the existence of post-castration pain and the necessity for analgesia in equines (e.g., Capner 2001; Green 2001). While optimal assessment and management of pain is an important equine welfare issue, the behaviours of horses in response to pain are poorly defined (Raekallio et al. 1997) and the relevance of physiological indicators not confirmed. Palpation or human interaction tests, used in other species (e.g. Holton et al 1998), have yet to be validated in horses. This study aimed to identify and quantify potential behavioural indicators of post-castration pain in horses.


2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (No. 10) ◽  
pp. 464-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Vácha ◽  
M. Vysloužilová ◽  
V. Horváthová

The set of 102 samples of agricultural soils was taken for the study of the load of agricultural soils with polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofuranes (PCDDs/Fs). The background value of PCDDs/Fs in agricultural soils of theCzech Republicwas determined. The soils with different sources of the load of PCDDs/Fs were compared. It was concluded that fluvisols in fluvial zones and soils with long-term sludge application are soils with the highest contents of PCDDs/Fs. The soils affected by imission outputs show a lower intensity of the load with PCDDs/Fs that is characterised by higher content of toxic congeners.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Nakanishi ◽  
Takahiro Kuragano ◽  
Masayoshi Nanami ◽  
Yukiko Hasuike

For patients on dialysis, infection is the second leading cause of mortality. Iron metabolism should be considered in the pathogenesis of infectious disease, as high local iron concentrations favor the growth of many microbes. This review is intended to provide information regarding iron metabolism and infection in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. There are 2 reasons these patients may be vulnerable to infection: (1) the excessive iron administered to treat renal anemia could be associated with impairments of the host's innate immune response, (2) CKD-associated inflammation could cause dysregulated iron metabolism. Pathogenic microorganisms can be categorized as extracellular or intracellular pathogens. The proliferation site may determine the degree of virulence. In cases of mainly extracellular microbial growth, the host's strategy of sequestering iron in cells may efficiently inhibit proliferation. However, the same strategy may favor the intracellular growth of microorganisms. The administration of excessive amounts of iron may modify iron localization by an increase in the hepcidin concentration. We conclude that there is a need for large multicenter randomized controlled trials to evaluate the long-term safety of different iron administration patterns that allow for a lower infection rate while still producing efficient erythropoiesis in CKD patients.


Author(s):  
Alistair B. Lawrence ◽  
E. M. Claudia Teriouw ◽  
Birte L Neilsen

Previous work has shown that feeding regime and not physical restraint is a major cause in the development of stereotypies in closely confined sows, (Teriouw et al, 1991). However, this and a previous report on the relationship between feeding regime and stereotypies in sows (Appleby and Lawrence, 1987) have only studied gilts in their first pregnancy. The objective of this present work was to examine longer-term effects of feeding regime and housing on the development of stereotypies in sows.Thirty-two sows (Cotswold Pig Development Co. Ltd, UK) were allocated to either loose (Lo) or tether (Te) housing and to Low (L; 2.5 kg/day) or high (H; 4.0 kg/day) food levels in a balanced design. Apart from social contact and freedom of movement the housing systems were similar including the provision of chains to the loose housed animals. The behavioural response to these treatments was observed over parities 2,3 and 4 using a time sampling technique, and the data analysed by analysis of variance and linear correlation.


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