The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of peanut (Arachis pintoi cv. Amarillo) hay in diets based on dwarf elephant grass (DEG, Pennisetum purpureum Schum cv. Kurumi) hay of different regrowth ages on forage intake and digestibility in wether lambs. The experimental treatments consisted of DEG hay with an interval of regrowth of 30 or 45 days offered as the only feed or in mixture with peanut hay (300 g/kg of total dry matter (DM)), which were tested in eight Texel × Suffolk crossbred wethers in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square experiment. Both organic matter (OM) and digestible OM intakes were higher (P < 0.05) in animals receiving the legume forage. Total apparent OM digestibility was higher (P < 0.05) at an increased grass regrowth age. Ruminal OM digestibility increased (P < 0.05) with legume inclusion and at a higher grass regrowth age. The nitrogen (N) intake was higher (P < 0.05) in legume treatments and lower (P < 0.05) as the grass regrowth age increased, but retention of N was not affected by treatments. Duodenal flow of both, non-ammonia N and microbial N, were not affected by legume inclusion and were lower (P < 0.05) as grass regrowth age increased. The efficiency of rumen microbial protein synthesis (ERMPS) was negatively affected (P < 0.05) by legume inclusion and was lower (P < 0.05) as the grass regrowth age increased. Supplementation of dwarf elephant grass hay cut at the vegetative stage with peanut legume hay improves nutritional supply to wethers due to an increase in the forage intake.
This study aimed to refine bird-soiling as a broiler chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) welfare indicator, and to develop and test two additional indicators, namely contact dermatitis on the breast and abdominal areas and carcase scratches. We constructed a questionnaire with pictures of birds presenting different indicator levels for classification as absent, low, moderate or severe. The questionnaire was sent to 146 invited experts for the first round and 88 for the second, in a Delphi process. Visual scales were built for the target indicators, which were tested by three assessors in ten flocks on-farm (n = 1,303 birds) and at the slaughterhouse (n = 1,631 birds). High concordance was observed among groups of Delphi respondents and among assessors. A total of 90.7% of the birds were either moderately or severely soiled, 99.9% were poorly feathered, 73.4 and 90.0% presented erythaema and carcase scratches, respectively. The correlations between litter quality and all outcomes assessed on-farm, and between bird-soiling and contact dermatitis on the breast and abdominal areas, were moderate. Results suggest that adoption of the proposed scales may improve our ability to assess broiler chicken welfare, since relevant problems were prevalent and measurement consistency acceptable. Substantial concordance observed among assessors encourages application of these animal-based indicators to assess broiler chicken welfare in a wide range of poultry houses, in a variety of different countries, thereby allowing the scales to be tested in a host of animal welfare conditions.
Simple SummaryAmong carnivore animals, domestic cats are those with the most extensive vocal repertoire. This is due to their social organization, nocturnal activity and long period of contact between the mother and the offspring. In order to identify vocalizations other than meowing in two different situations, a study was performed with 74 cats divided into two groups, one associated with a pleasant situation and another with an aversive situation. Only the group exposed to the positive stimulus of being offered a favorite snack produced specific vocalizations other than meowing: recognition or trill, squeak, purring and chatter. During the aversive situation of car transport, no vocalization other than meowing was observed. The present study indicates the relevance of applying the study of vocalizations to determine the state of emotional valence in cats.AbstractOur objective was to identify and characterize the types of vocalization other than meowing (VOM) in two contexts, a pleasant and an aversive situation, and to study the effect of the sex of the animal. A total of 74 cats (32 tom cats and 42 queens) living in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, participated in the study; in total, 68 (29 tom cats and 39 queens) were divided into two groups according to the stimulus they were exposed to: either a pleasant situation (PS), when they were offered a snack, or an aversive situation (AS), with the simulation of a car transport event. The other six animals (three tom cats and three queens) participated in both situations. Only the PS group presented VOM; of the 40 PS animals, 14 presented VOM, mostly acknowledgment or trill and squeak. No correlation was observed between vocalization and cat sex (p = 0.08; Pearson’s Chi-Square). Results show that VOM is exclusively associated with positive situations, suggesting that these vocalizations may be relevant for understanding the valence of cat emotional state. Further studies are warranted to advance knowledge on other VOMs and on the generalization of our findings to other situations.
RESUMO:O crescimento das áreas urbanas, a falta de familiaridade das pessoas com a vida selvagem, a disseminação das cidades para regiões não exploradas e a perda de habitats naturais fazem com que animais e seres humanos vivam em grandes proximidades dentro e ao redor de áreas urbanas. Esta situação impõe muitos desafios a ambas as partes e ocasionalmente gera conflitos. Ao gerenciar situações de conflito, a abordagem tradicional considera quase exclusivamente a conservação, com pouca ou nenhuma consideração pelo bem-estar animal. Este trabalho tem por objetivo discutir o conceito de conservação compassiva e sua aplicação prática pela exposição de três questões relevantes de conservação de espécies silvestres. A abordagem de conservação compassiva une a conservação e o bem-estar animal em um esforço para tomadas de decisão mais esclarecidas e, consequentemente, melhoria do bem-estar animal e humano e de aspectos ambientais. Em uma revisão sobre alguns métodos de manejo da vida selvagem, as abordagens são comparadas quanto a pontos fortes e fracos em relação ao bemestar e à conservação animal.Palavras-chave: Animais selvagens; armadilhas de cola; bem-estar animal; bemestar único; capivara; urso. ABSTRACT:The growth of urban areas, the unfamiliarity of people with wildlife, the spread of cities into wilderness and the loss of natural habitats cause animals and humans to live in close proximity in and around urban areas. This situation imposes many challenges to both parties and occasionally generates conflicts. When managing conflict situations, the traditional approach considers almost exclusively conservation, with little or no regard for animal welfare. This work aimed to discuss the concept of compassionate conservation and its application in practice by addressing three relevant wildlife conservation issues. The compassionate conservation approach unites conservation and animal welfare in an effort for more enlightened decision making and, consequently, improvement in animal and human welfare and environment aspects. In an overview of some wildlife management methods, the approaches are compared regarding strengths and weaknesses on animal welfare and conservation.
The aim of this work was to study the perception of beef cattle producers in the state of Paraná, Brazil, about hot iron branding. Seventeen beef cattle producers answered a questionnaire about their perspective on cattle identification methods and animal welfare aspects. Results showed that there is a consensus among farmers that the identification of animals at their farms is an important practice. The majority of farmers (12/17) use hot iron branding as the main method of identification of cattle and most farmers (11/17) believe it is an efficient Method. Considering costs and applicability, 10/17 farmers believe there are other methods of identification that would be viable for utilization at their farms; ear tagging (7/17) and microchipping (3/17) were the most mentioned alternatives. Farmers affirmed believing that animals are sentient beings (16/17) and capable of experiencing pain (17/17). On a scale from 1-5, scores attributed to pain experienced capabilities of different species were high for human babies, sheep and dogs (median = 5.0). The median score attributed to the pain experienced by cattle during branding with a hot iron was 4.0, ranging from 2.0 to 5.0. In conclusion, the opinion of cattle producers in the State of Paraná, Brazil, indicates recognition of animal sentience and their ability to experience pain. Future efforts should focus on refining and developing new methods that are effective and inexpensive, motivating producers to use procedures that respect the quality of life of their animals.
Os objetivos deste trabalho foram estudar e identificar as atitudes dos consumidores de produtos de origem animal com ênfase no bem-estar animal (BEA), possíveis vantagens do consumo de alimentos oriundos de melhores práticas de bem-estar e fatores que possam influenciar asdecisões de compra. Para isto, foi realizada uma pesquisa online com 402 consumidores de produtos de origem animal provenientes das cinco regiões brasileiras. Os respondentes afirmaram que o tema BEA recebe pouca importância no país, avaliando as condições dos animais de produção no Brasil como piores quando comparadas às de outras nações, e atribuíram aos produtores rurais a principal responsabilidade quanto ao assunto. Os respondentes demonstraram uma desassociaçãoentre o alimento e o animal que o originou, porém reconheceram que há influência na promoção do BEA ao adquirirem produtos diferenciados para tal atributo. Do ponto de vista dos respondentes, a disponibilidade de produtos com maior grau de bem-estar, e as informações disponíveis na rotulagem quanto à forma com que os animais são criados, constituem gargalos para a aquisição de tais produtos. O preço pode ser considerado um fator importante, visto que a maioria dos respondentes aceitaria pagar 10% (32,3%) ou 25% (24,6%) a mais em produtos produzidos com maior grau de bem-estar. Com base nos resultados, os respondentes brasileiros se importam com o BEA, porém, diversos fatores podem ser entraves para que exerçam sua preferência ética no comportamento de compra, como falta de informação para o consumidor antes e no momento da compra, baixa disponibilidade dos produtos, desassociação do produto com o animal de origem e custo elevado.
A domesticação causou impacto importante na vida do ser humano e dos animais. Ao longo do tempo, foram descobertas novas formas de fazer com que os animais atendessem os interesses humanos, e uma das ferramentas utilizadas para alcançar tal objetivo foi a seleção artificial. O objetivo deste trabalho foi apresentar as consequências da seleção artificial para o bem-estar de animais de companhia e de produção. Embora os programas de seleção tenham importância econômica, os animais passaram a apresentar diversos problemas devido à intensificação do uso dessa ferramenta. Cães e gatos selecionados para características estéticas e animais de produção para características de desempenho sofreram deterioração crescente de seu bem-estar. A partir do reconhecimendo do impacto da seleção artificial sobre a qualidade de vida dos animais, é possível estimular a inclusão de aspectos relacionados ao bem-estar animal nos programas de seleção artificial para as diversas espécies que são utilizadas pelo ser humano.
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