A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses

Forkman, Björn; Boissy, Alain; Meunier-Salaün, Marie-Christine; Canali, Elisabetta; Jones, Robert B.

doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.03.016

Cited by 738 publications

(701 citation statements)

References 151 publications

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“…In animals kept for production, both environmental challenges and social isolation are recognised as stressors, which could negatively affect the fear and anxiety levels of the animals (Forkman et al, 2007) and thus their physiology and immune reaction (Koolhaas et al, 1999). Specific tests are used to measure fear levels in several species (Forkman et al, 2007), but few experimental data are available for rabbits (Verga et al, 2007): the tonic immobility test has been used to evaluate rabbit fear towards humans (Ferrante et al, 1992;Trocino et al, 2004 andVerwer et al, 2009), and the open-field test has been used to obtain information on the fear of rabbits when exposed to an unknown environment (Meijsser et al, 1989;Ferrante et al, 1992;Xiccato et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rabbits kept in individual and bicellular cages showed a higher latency to enter the arena, which has been validated as the best indicator of general fear (Forkman et al, 2007), whereas rabbits in collective cages showed more 'bold' behaviours (running, biting and rearing). According to Schepers et al (2009), solitary-housed pet rabbits appeared more fearful during the open-field test compared with rabbits kept in groups.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…4 Data with normal distribution submitted to PROC GLM with cage type, age and their interaction as main effects. Freedom from fear and distress is ethically motivated, but it is also of direct economic significance because animals under a continuous state of fear may develop chronic stress, with negative consequences on health and production (Koolhaas et al, 1999;Forkman et al, 2007).…”

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“…In fact, this test mimics a predator's attack, to which the animal may react through struggle or immobility. In birds, the duration of Housing systems, fear and behaviour of rabbits immobility has been proven to be positively correlated with fear (Forkman et al, 2007). To our knowledge, no information is available on the reaction to the immobility test of rabbits kept in individual cages.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…In the present study, the rabbits kept in individual and bicellular cages showed a higher fear level than those kept in collective cages, when exposed to the open-field test. This test is largely used to measure fear in farm animals by exposing them to a new environment and in a variety of situations and stimuli, and it mimics the risk of predation only for those species that evolved to hide, such as rabbits (Forkman et al, 2007).…”

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Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Trocino

Majolini

Tazzoli

et al. 2013

Animal

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During growth (27 to 75 days of age), a total of 384 rabbits were kept in 72 individual cages, 48 bicellular cages (2 rabbits/cage) and 24 collective cages (9 rabbits/cage). To evaluate the effects of the housing system on the fear level and behavioural patterns of rabbits at the two ages (39 to 45 days and 66 to 73 days), a tonic immobility test and an open-field test were conducted and their behaviour was video recorded. In the tonic immobility test, the number of attempts to induce immobility (1.38) was lower, and the duration of immobility (47.8 s) was higher (0.05 , P , 0.01) in the rabbits housed in individual cages than in those kept in bicellular (1.72 attempts and 25.0 s of immobility) and collective cages (1.99 attempts and 25.0 s of immobility). During the open-field test, the rabbits from individual and bicellular cages showed higher latency (38.8 and 40.3 v. 27.0 s), a lower number of total (73.3 and 81.7 v. 91.9) and central displacements (3.6 and 2.8 v. 5.4) and a shorter running time (11.8 and 13.6 s v. 17.7 s) and the time biting the pen (5.5 and 9.1 s v. 28.2 s) compared with the rabbits kept in collective cages (0.05 , P , 0.001). During the 24-h video recording, the rabbits in individual and bicellular cages spent less time allogrooming (0.34% and 0.19% v. 1.44%), moving (0.74% and 0.60% v. 1.32%) and running (0.08% and 0.03% v. 0.21%) than the rabbits in the collective cages (0.01 , P , 0.001). The lowest numbers of alerts and hops were observed in the rabbits kept in bicellular cages. With increasing age, a lower number of rabbits were sensitive to the immobility test and more rabbits entered the pen spontaneously during the open-field test (P , 0.001). In conclusion, the rabbits in individual cages exhibited the highest fear level and incomplete behavioural patterns; the rabbits housed in collective cages showed the lowest fear levels and had the possibility of expressing a wider range of behaviour; and the rabbits in bicellular cages exhibited an inconsistent pattern of fear in the tonic immobility and open-field tests. Probably, these rabbits were in a less stressful condition compared with animals in individual cages because social contacts were allowed, even if freedom of movement was more limited.Keywords: housing system, fear level, behaviour, growing rabbits ImplicationsPeople are concerned about the welfare status of rabbits reared for meat production in small cages. This paper demonstrates that housing rabbits in individual or bicellular cages threatens their welfare by increasing their fear level and by limiting their possibility of expressing normal behaviour. In collective cages (9 rabbits/cage), social contacts and movements are permitted, and both fear response and behavioural patterns improve. The tonic immobility and the open-field tests can be used to compare the fear level of rabbits in different housing systems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Trocino

Majolini

Tazzoli

et al. 2013

Animal

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Ungulates (Ungulata)

Yeates¹,

McGreevy²

2018

Companion Animal Care and Welfare

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Comparative neuroanatomical study of the amygdala and fear conditioning in Nigerian breeds of Artiodactyla: Sheep (Uda) and goats (Red Sokoto)

George

Alawa

Akpulu

et al. 2020

The Anatomical Record

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The aim of this study was to evaluate fear condition responses in sheep and goat and to relate this to the neuroarchitecture of their amygdala. Forty adult sheep (Uda breed) and 40 adult goats (Red Sokoto breed) were fear‐conditioned by associating the sound of a car horn (neutral stimuli) with water spray (aversive stimuli) and the fear response was determined by direct observation of the behavior of the sheep and goats and measuring their flight distances and escape time. Eight groups were studied, each comprising of 10 animals (five sheep and five goats). Goats and sheep were tested alternately in the morning of every day of the week for three consecutive weeks, in which 4 days was used for habituation and 3 days for testing. Histologically, neurons in the central and basolateral complex of the amygdala were studied and analyzed using Nissl and golgi staines. Behaviorally, goats elicited an active avoidance response expressed as flight with concomitant intense flight distances (p < .001) compared to sheep. Although, sheep had larger brain parameters, it showed attenuated basolateral amygdala cytoarchitecture consistent with reduced fear perception and response. Goats had significantly more densely distributed pyramidal and spiny stellate neurons in the basolateral amygdala while sheep showed more non‐pyramidal and aspiny neurons. These results provide interesting practical perspectives on how adaptions in the amygdala coincides with alterations in fear conditioning in domestic animals and may be the basis for the higher incidence of the sheep in automobile accidents than goats in developing countries especially Africa.

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A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses

Cited by 738 publications

References 151 publications

Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Housing of growing rabbits in individual, bicellular and collective cages: fear level and behavioural patterns

Ungulates (Ungulata)

Comparative neuroanatomical study of the amygdala and fear conditioning in Nigerian breeds of Artiodactyla: Sheep (Uda) and goats (Red Sokoto)

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