Equine Activity Time Budgets: The Effect of Housing and Management Conditions on Geriatric Horses and Horses with Chronic Orthopaedic Disease

Housing and management conditions strongly influence the health, welfare and behaviour of horses. Consequently, objective and quantifiable comparisons between domestic environments and their influence on different equine demographics are needed to establish evidence-based criteria to assess and optimize horse welfare. Therefore, the present study aimed to measure and compare the time budgets (=percentage of time spent on specific activities) of horses with chronic orthopaedic disease and geriatric (≥20 years) horses living in different husbandry systems using an automated tracking device. Horses spent 42% (range 38.3–44.8%) of their day eating, 39% (range 36.87–44.9%) resting, and 19% (range 17–20.4%) in movement, demonstrating that geriatric horses and horses suffering from chronic orthopaedic disease can exhibit behaviour time budgets equivalent to healthy controls. Time budget analysis revealed significant differences between farms, turn-out conditions and time of day, and could identify potential areas for improvement. Horses living in open-air group housing on a paddock had a more uniform temporal distribution of feeding and movement activities with less pronounced peaks compared to horses living in more restricted husbandry systems.

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Activity time budget patterns of sheep and goats co-grazing on semi-natural species-rich dry grassland

Czech Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.17221/6749-cjas ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 58 (No. 5) ◽

pp. 208-216 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

P. Pokorná ◽

P. Hejcmanová ◽

M. Hejcman ◽

V. Pavlů

Keyword(s):

Social Interactions ◽

Time Budget ◽

Middle Part ◽

Positive Trend ◽

Time Budgets ◽

Activity Time ◽

Dry Grassland ◽

Sheep And Goats ◽

Grassland Community ◽

Perennial Plant

Activity time budget patterns and grazing response to sward and environmental conditions were investigated for paddocks of sheep and goats co-grazing for conservation purposes on a semi-natural species-rich dry grassland community endangered by shrub and tall perennial plant encroachment in a protected nature reserve in South Moravia (Czech Republic). Grazing was conducted by a rotational stocking system for 14 weeks in late grazing season in 2008 with 60 dry ewes and 20 goats. Twelve ewes and four goats were observed; grazing, ruminating, idling and other activities (salt licking, social interactions, walking), along with topographical position in the paddock were recorded at 5-minute intervals within 14 hours of daylight. Sheep and goats did not differ in their principal activity time budgets, such as the average total daylight time spent grazing (sheep: 8.57 h, goats: 8.59 h), ruminating (sheep: 1.42 h, goats: 1.44 h), or idling (sheep: 3.23 h, goats: 3.18 h), the duration of bouts of each activity, or the number of bouts of grazing and ruminating. There was no pattern in activity time budgets indicating dynamics in progressing season, nor was there a response to daily average temperature or to paddock size. Sheep and goats showed similar responses to groundcover of particular plant functional types. The animals showed a positive trend in response of total daylight grazing time to grass available biomass and a negative response of total daylight grazing time to herbaceous biomass for both sheep and goats. The total daylight grazing time was independent of availability of woody plants. Goats devoted more time (1.51 h) to other activities than sheep (1.34 h), especially to social interactions and salt licking. On the other hand, sheep spent proportionally more time walking. Both sheep and goats showed similar patterns in spatial use of paddocks on hill slopes, spending the most time in the middle part and the least time in the lower part of paddocks. 

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Activity Time Budgets—A Potential Tool to Monitor Equine Welfare?

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani11030850 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 850

Author(s):

Ulrike Auer ◽

Zsofia Kelemen ◽

Veronika Engl ◽

Florien Jenner

Keyword(s):

Environmental Conditions ◽

Time Budget ◽

Daily Routine ◽

Valuable Insight ◽

Time Budgets ◽

Management Interventions ◽

Budget Analysis ◽

Equine Welfare ◽

Access To Food ◽

Potential Tool

Horses’ behavior can provide valuable insight into their subjective state and is thus a good indicator of welfare. However, its complexity requires objective, quantifiable, and unambiguous evidence-based assessment criteria. As healthy, stress-free horses exhibit a highly repetitive daily routine, temporal quantification of their behavioral activities (time budget analysis) can assist in equine welfare assessment. Therefore, the present systematic review aimed to provide an up-to-date analysis of equine time budget studies. A review of the literature yielded 12 papers that fulfilled the inclusion criteria: assessment of equine time budgets for eating, resting and movement for a minimum of 24 continuous hours. A total of 144 horses (1–27 years old), 59 semi-feral and 85 domesticated horses, are included in this review. The 24 h time budgets for foraging or eating (10–6.6%), resting (8.1–66%), lying (2.7–27.3%), and locomotion (0.015–19.1%) showed large variance between studies, which can largely be attributed to differences in age and environmental conditions. Management interventions in domesticated horses (ad libitum access to food, increased space, decreased population density) resulted in time budgets similar to their (semi-)feral conspecifics, emphasizing the importance of environmental conditions and the ability of time budgets to assist in monitoring horses’ welfare.

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The spatial and temporal distribution of koala faecal pellets

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr97028 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 25 (6) ◽

pp. 663 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

W. A. H. Ellis ◽

B. J. Sullivan ◽

A. T. Lisle ◽

F. N. Carrick

Keyword(s):

Significant Relationship ◽

Average Length ◽

Temporal Distribution ◽

Faecal Pellet ◽

Time Of Day ◽

Spatial And Temporal Distribution ◽

Faecal Pellets ◽

Pellet Production ◽

South Eastern ◽

Free Ranging

Faecal pellets were collected under trees used by free-ranging koalas in south-western, central and south-eastern Queensland to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of pellets with respect to the activity of koalas. Deposition of faecal pellets by koalas was analysed according to the time of day at which the tree was occupied. For free-ranging koalas, 47% of daily faecal pellet output was recovered using a collection mat of 8 × 8 m placed under a day-roost tree. The best predictor of pellet production was the presence of a koala in a tree between 1800 hours and midnight. For other periods, there was no relationship between period of tree occupancy and faecal pellet recovery. There was a significant relationship between the average length of tree occupancy and the time of day that a koala entered a tree.

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Seasonal Habitat Use by Nubian Ibex (Capra Nubiana) Evaluated with Behavioral Indicators

Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1560/ijee.57.3.223 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

pp. 223-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Solomon A. Tadesse ◽

Burt P. Kotler

Keyword(s):

Group Size ◽

Age Structure ◽

Time Allocation ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Time Budget ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Time Budgets ◽

Behavioral Models ◽

Risk Of Predation ◽

Focal Observation

Nubian ibex (Capra nubiana) prefer steep terrain in their landscape to reduce risks of predation and human nuisance disturbances. They also use vigilance and time allocation to manage risk of predation. We studied time budgets and habitat selection of Nubian ibex to: (1) identify the habitat variables to which Nubian ibex were behaviorally responsive; (2) investigate how time budget responses of Nubian ibex were related to season, slope condition, group size, and sex-age structure; and (3) develop behavioral-based models that account for the variations in the behaviors of Nubian ibex across the landscape and seasons.To quantify time budgets, we took regular field observations on focal individuals of Nubian ibex classified according to their habitat, group size, sex, and age. For each focal observation, we quantified environmental variables that were thought to influence the behavioral responses of ibex. Then, we developed behavioral models by correlating the proportion of behaviors measured in focal animal observations to the influential environmental variables. The behaviors of Nubian ibex significantly varied with sex and age structure, season, habitat type, and slope conditions. Adult females are more vigilant than adult male ibex, especially in the spring. This correlates with breeding and nursing activities. Based on the characteristics of the habitat, ibex behave to minimize risks of predation and human nuisance disturbances while maximizing their food intake.

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Effects of Supplemental Food on the Behaviour and Paternity Status of Male Indigo Buntings (Passerina CyaNea)

Avian Biology Research ◽

10.3184/175815618x15203297120204 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 67-73

Author(s):

Brad T. McLeod ◽

Gary Ritchison

Keyword(s):

Time Budget ◽

Mate Guarding ◽

Breeding Birds ◽

Food Supplementation ◽

Time Budgets ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Supplemental Food ◽

Extra Pair Paternity ◽

Passerina Cyanea ◽

And Control

Breeding is energetically costly and, if energy-limited, birds may alter their time budgets, spending less time engaged in some activities and more time in others. Investigators who have provided breeding birds with supplemental food have noted changes in time budgets, but the extent and types of changes have been found to vary among species. Our objective was to determine how food supplementation might influence the time budgets and paternity status of male Indigo Buntings (Passerina cyanea). We studied Indigo Buntings from 8 May to 15 August 2009 in Madison County, Kentucky. Territories of male Indigo Buntings (n=30) were randomly assigned as either food supplemented (n=8) or controls (n=22). During time-budget observations, all behaviours were noted. To determine paternity status, blood samples were collected from adults and nestlings at 16 nests. Males with feeders in their territories spent significantly less time foraging and more time vocalising (chip notes) than males without feeders. Time spent singing and mate guarding by treatment and control males did not differ. Differences in the proportion of extra-pair young did not differ between nests in territories with and without supplemental food. Our results suggest that, when provided with supplemental food, male Indigo Buntings spend less time foraging and more time engaged in other activities. However, neither the presence of supplemental food nor differences in the behaviour of males in food-supplemented versus non-supplemented territories affected rates of extra-pair paternity.

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Agent-Based Simulation to Improve Policy Sensitivity of Trip-Based Models

Journal of Advanced Transportation ◽

10.1155/2020/1902162 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Rolf Moeckel ◽

Nico Kuehnel ◽

Carlos Llorca ◽

Ana Tsui Moreno ◽

Hema Rayaprolu

Keyword(s):

Travel Demand ◽

Time Budget ◽

Time Of Day ◽

Destination Choice ◽

Trip Generation ◽

Demand Model ◽

Agent Based ◽

Travel Mode Choice ◽

Travel Time Budget ◽

Aggregate Nature

The most common travel demand model type is the trip-based model, despite major shortcomings due to its aggregate nature. Activity-based models overcome many of the limitations of the trip-based model, but implementing and calibrating an activity-based model is labor-intensive and running an activity-based model often takes long runtimes. This paper proposes a hybrid called MITO (Microsimulation Transport Orchestrator) that overcomes some of the limitations of trip-based models, yet is easier to implement than an activity-based model. MITO uses microsimulation to simulate each household and person individually. After trip generation, the travel time budget in minutes is calculated for every household. This budget influences destination choice; i.e., people who spent a lot of time commuting are less likely to do much other travel, while people who telecommute might compensate by additional discretionary travel. Mode choice uses a nested logit model, and time-of-day choice schedules trips in 1-minute intervals. Three case studies demonstrate how individuals may be traced through the entire model system from trip generation to the assignment.

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JIRI ZUZANEK. Work and Leisure in the Soviet Union: A Time-Budget Analysis. Pp. x, 430. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1980. $26.95

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/000271628145700135 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 457 (1) ◽

pp. 216-217

Author(s):

David Hecht

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Soviet Union ◽

Time Budget ◽

Budget Analysis ◽

The Soviet Union

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Time budgets and synchrony of activities in muskoxen: the influence of sex, age, and season

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z97-789 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 75 (10) ◽

pp. 1628-1635 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Steeve D. Côté ◽

James A. Schaefer ◽

François Messier

Keyword(s):

Group Size ◽

Time Budget ◽

High Arctic ◽

Late Winter ◽

Time Budgets ◽

Adult Males ◽

Ovibos Moschatus ◽

Group Type ◽

June July ◽

Victoria Island

Synchrony of activities and time budgets of age–sex classes of muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) was studied on Victoria Island in the Canadian High Arctic during late winter (April – late May), spring (late May – early June) and summer (mid-June – July). As revealed by the kappa (κ) coefficient of agreement, herd members exhibited significant synchrony in 79 of 82 groups. The degree of synchrony was not related to group size in mixed herds but decreased with group size in bachelor herds. Diversity in age–sex classes, group type (mixed versus bachelor), and season did not affect synchrony. However, synchrony was less among adult males than among other age–sex classes. Muskoxen were more synchronised at the start of activity bouts than at the end. As revealed by principal components analysis, calves tended to spend more time lying and standing and less time feeding than other age–sex classes. In addition, males in bachelor groups tended to feed more and rest less than males in mixed herds. Duration of active and lying bouts was not affected by age–sex class. Length of active bouts did not change with season, but lying bouts decreased in length significantly from late winter to spring and from spring to summer. We suggest that synchrony of activities maintains group cohesion but constrains the time budget of some group members, especially adult males.

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