H. Hopster

The present study examined the consistency over time of individual differences in behavioral and physiological responsiveness of calves to intuitively alarming test situations as well as the relationships between behavioral and physiological measures. Twenty Holstein Friesian heifer calves were individually subjected to the same series of two behavioral and two hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis reactivity tests at 3, 13 and 26 weeks of age. Novel environment (open field, OF) and novel object (NO) tests involved measurement of behavioral, plasma cortisol and heart rate responses. Plasma ACTH and/or cortisol response profiles were determined after administration of exogenous CRH and ACTH, respectively, in the HPA axis reactivity tests. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to condense correlated measures within ages into principal components reflecting independent dimensions underlying the calves' reactivity. Cortisol responses to the OF and NO tests were positively associated with the latency to contact and negatively related to the time spent in contact with the NO. Individual differences in scores of a principal component summarizing this pattern of inter-correlations, as well as differences in separate measures of adrenocortical and behavioral reactivity in the OF and NO tests proved highly consistent over time. The cardiac response to confinement in a start box prior to the OF test was positively associated with the cortisol responses to the OF and NO tests at 26 weeks of age. HPA axis reactivity to ACTH or CRH was unrelated to adrenocortical and behavioral responses to novelty. These findings strongly suggest that the responsiveness of calves was mediated by stable individual characteristics. Correlated adrenocortical and behavioral responses to novelty may reflect underlying fearfulness, defining the individual's susceptibility to the elicitation of fear. Other independent characteristics mediating reactivity may include activity or coping style (related to locomotion) and underlying sociality (associated with vocalization).

Performance of horses, whether in sports or in leisure, depends on both physical abilities as well as temperament. The aim of the present work was to measure individual variation and consistency of behavioural variables, related to temperament, in young horses of the same breed and age, and reared under controlled housing conditions and management. A total of 41 Dutch Warmblood

An experiment was performed in primiparous dairy cows (n = 23) to examine consistency of individual differences in reactivity to milking, and correlations between measures of behavior, physiology, and milk ejection. Responsiveness to milking was monitored during the first machine milking, on d 2 of lactation, and during milkings on d 4 and 130 of lactation. Measurements included kicking and stepping behavior, plasma cortisol and plasma oxytocin, heart rate, milk yield, milking time, milk flow rate, and residual milk obtained after administration of exogenous oxytocin. With repeated early lactation milkings, residual milk and the incidence of abnormal milk flow curves decreased. On d 130 of lactation all heifers exhibited normal milk ejection. Except for higher plasma cortisol concentrations on d 2, all measures were consistent over time between d 2 and 4 of lactation as indicated by significant rank correlations. Individual differences in the behavioral response to udder preparation...

This paper summarizes the current views on coping styles as a useful concept in understanding individual adaptive capacity and vulnerability to stress-related disease. Studies in feral populations indicate the existence of a proactive and a reactive coping style. These coping styles seem to play a role in the population ecology of the species. Despite domestication, genetic selection and inbreeding, the same coping styles can, to some extent, also be observed in laboratory and farm animals. Coping styles are characterized by consistent behavioral and neuroendocrine characteristics, some of which seem to be causally linked to each other. Evidence is accumulating that the two coping styles might explain a differential vulnerability to stress mediated disease due to the differential adaptive value of the two coping styles and the accompanying neuroendocrine differentiation.

Dit eindrapport beschrijft de resultaten van het onderzoeksprogramma Welzijn Gezelschapsdieren. Hoofdstuk 1 geeft in het kort de achterliggende redenen voor en de totstandkoming van het programma weer. De hoofdstukken 2 tot en met 7 geven een overzicht van opzet, verloop en bevindingen van de zes afzonderlijke projecten. In hoofdstuk 8 wordt het geheel kort geevalueerd.

Met het onderzoeksprogramma “Welzijn Gezelschapsdieren” wil LNV houders van gezelschapsdieren en hun organisaties op termijn voorzien van bruikbare kennis en inzichten ter verbetering van het welzijn van de gezelschapsdieren in de praktijk. Het Landelijk Informatiecentrum Gezelschapsdieren zou een rol kunnen vervullen bij de verspreiding van deze nieuwe informatie. Om een inhoudelijk goed programmavoorstel te kunnen formuleren is een internetenquete uitgezet onder alle op het gebied van gezelschapsdieren actieve organisaties, verenigingen en de sector. De diverse gezelschapsdiersoorten zijn verdeeld in de volgende groepen: 1) honden, 2) katten, 3) konijnen, knaagdieren & pelsdieren (fretten e.a.), 4) vogels (zang- en siervogels, postduiven), 5) vissen (aquariumvissen en vijvervissen) en 6) reptielen & amfibieen.

In dit onderzoek is het effect gemeten van gebruik van lokale verdoving en/of pijnstilling bij castratie van mannelijke biggen. Gekeken is naar de pijnrespons tijdens castratie en het gedrag gedurende de dagen na castratie. Een berekening van de benodigde arbeid en kosten is gemaakt voor verschillende scenario's waarin ofwel de dierenarts ofwel de varkenshouder de verdoving of pijnstilling toedient

Het is algemeen bekend dat er verschillend over dieren wordt gedacht en dat dieren in de meest uiteenlopende contexten worden gebruikt. Op verzoek van het ministerie van Economische zaken, Landbouw en Innovatie is onlangs een onderzoek gedaan naar de hedendaagse opvattingen over het omgaan met dieren en thema’s daar rondom. Het bijzondere aan dit onderzoek is dat naast het publiek ook experts uit vrijwel alle dierpraktijken hun visie hebben kunnen geven op de huidige en te verwachten maatschappelijke issues.

Beschrijving van systematiek voor transparante beoordeling of diersoort door een particulier in een bepaalde normomgeving kan worden gehouden, i.c. op de Positieflijst kan worden geplaatst.Description of system for transparent assessment whether keeping an animal species in a certain normative surrounding is acceptable.

This paper considers (potentially) harmful consequences of transgenesis for farm animal welfare and examines the strategy of studying health and welfare of transgenic farm animals. Evidence is discussed showing that treatments imposed in the context of farm animal transgenesis are by no means biologically neutral and may compromise animal health and welfare. Factors posing a risk for the welfare of transgenic farm animals include integration of a transgene within an endogenous gene with possible loss of host gene function (insertional mutations), inappropriate transgene expression and exposure of the host to biologically active transgene-derived proteins, and in vitro reproductive technologies employed in the process of generating transgenic farm animals that may result in an increased incidence of difficult parturition and fetal and neonatal losses and the development of unusually large or otherwise abnormal offspring (large offspring syndrome). Critical components of a scheme for ...

Two groups of Holstein dairy cows, which showed either high- (HC; n=8) or low (LC; n=10) plasma cortisol concentrations in response to a psychological stressor (novel–environment test) in their first lactation, were used 1 year later for studying the effects of psychological stress on various aspects of the host defence during endotoxin-induced mastitis. Social isolation was used as a stressor;

Previous studies on group housing of pregnant sows have mainly focused on reproduction, but we hypothesized that the social rank of pregnant sows housed in groups could also affect birth weight, growth, and behavior of their offspring. Therefore, in the present study, pregnant gilts and sows were housed in 15 different groups (n = 7 to 14 animals per group) from 4 d after AI until 1 wk before the expected farrowing date. All groups were fed by an electronically controlled sow feeding system that registered, on a 24-h basis, the time of first visit, number of feeding and non-feeding visits, and number of times succeeding another sow within 2 s. Only in the first 6 groups (n = 57 animals), agonistic interactions were observed continuously. The percentage of agonistic interactions won was highly correlated (r(s) = 0.90, P < 0.001) with the percentage of displacement success (DS) at the feeding station, which was calculated as: [the number of times succeeding another sow within 2 s/(the number of times succeeded by another sow within 2 s + the number of times succeeding another sow within 2 s)] x 100. This allowed us to classify all sows (n = 166) according to their DS: high-social ranking (HSR) sows had a DS >50% (n = 62) and low-social ranking (LSR) sows a DS <50% (n = 104). Body weights before AI did not differ between HSR and LSR sows, but HSR sows gained more BW during gestation, and lost more BW and back-fat during lactation (P < 0.001). Maternal salivary cortisol concentrations at 2, 7, and 13 wk after AI did not differ between HSR and LSR sows, nor did gestation length, litter size, or percentage of live born piglets. During a novel object (NO) test at 3 wk of age, HSR offspring moved and vocalized more than LSR offspring (P < 0.05). In addition, the latency time to touch the NO was shorter in HSR offspring (P < 0.05), and HSR males spent more time near the NO than LSR males (P < 0.01). At weaning, HSR offspring weighed more than LSR offspring (P < 0.05), and at slaughter HSR offspring had more lean meat than LSR offspring (P < 0.05). Results indicate that the social rank of the sow during gestation affects her own BW gain and loss as well as the growth and behavior of her offspring. Pig breeders that apply group housing for pregnant sows should pay attention to reducing competition around the feeding area, which may reduce aggression among the sows and minimize differences between HSR and LSR sows.

In three experiments, a commercial non-invasive heart-rate monitor, Polar® Sport Tester (PST), was validated for use with dairy cows. First, 10 monitors were tested using a pulse generator, which produced pulses at levels between 30 and 240 bpm. PST values and generated beats were highly correlated (r = 0.97) but with varying delay (5–55 s), depending on pulse-rate level.In a second experiment, 10 dairy cows were quietly standing or exercising on a treadmill while their heart rates were recorded by direct-wire electrocardiograph (ECG) as well as the PST. Correlations between ECG and PST values during standing (0.88) and exercising (0.72) were significant and differed between cows. During standing, inter-beat interval and PST standard deviations were significantly correlated (Rsp = 0.76), as were their coefficients of variation (Rsp = 0.89).The third experiment showed that the heart rate of 10 dairy cows increased rapidly immediately after an individual was isolated from the herd. Co...

Dit rapport, dat in opdracht van het ministerie van Economische zaken, Landbouw en Innovatie is opgesteld, beschrijft een eerste trendanalyse (nulmeting) van (verwachte) morele opvattingen in Nederland over de omgang met dieren, nu en in de toekomst ten behoeve van het dierbeleid. In dit onderzoek is gestreefd naar de volgende inzichten: 1) de hedendaagse publieke opvattingen over de omgang met dieren; 2) de thema's die in de verschillende dierpraktijken spelen; 3) de verwachte ontwikkeling van deze thema's in de komende 20 jaar.

In three experiments, the effects of venipuncture on plasma cortisol concentrations were studied in loose-housed dairy cows. In Exp. 1, two blood samples were collected 18 min apart on three alternate days from 20 dairy cows for studying their adrenocortical response to a single venipuncture. To further evaluate the effect of cows anticipating venipuncture, in Exp. 2, 15 dairy cows were sequentially venipunctured once daily on 12 successive days in a randomized order in groups of five, starting 15 min apart. In Exp. 3, 10 primiparous cows were used on three alternate days to study habituation to serial sampling (i.e., collection of five blood samples by venipuncture, 15 min apart). In cows accustomed to handling, jugular puncture did not affect cortisol concentrations in plasma collected 18 min later. Average daily cortisol concentrations varied between 2.07 +/- .38 and 3.81 +/- .56 ng/mL in the first (t = 0) and between 1.43 +/- .15 and 2.61 +/- .72 ng/mL in the second (t = 18) blo...