Effects of differential handling on the behaviour of domestic ewes (Ovis aries)

Mateo, Jill M.; Estep, Daniel Q.; McCann, J.S.

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(05)80162-5

Cited by 37 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Results of numerous studies conducted on laboratory rodents (De-Nelsky & Denenberg, 1967), rabbits (Anderson et al, 1972;Denenberg et al, 1973), and farm animals (Barnett, Hemsworth, & Newman, 1992;Jones, Duncan, & Hughes, 1981;Mateo, Estep, & McCann, 1991) consistently demonstrated that regular physical or even visual contact alone (Jones, 1993) reduces fear of humans and accelerates behavioral habituation to novelty (Meaney et al, 1991). Results of the first experiment presented here demonstrated, repeating the findings by Anderson and his coworkers (1972), that several minutes' daily handling of rabbit pups resulted in increased approaches to the test person at weaning.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Regular handling early in the nursing period eliminates fear responses toward human beings in wild and domestic rabbits

Bilkó

Altbäcker

2000

Dev. Psychobiol.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Regular handling early in the nursing period eliminates fear responses toward human beings in wild and domestic rabbits

Bilkó

Altbäcker

2000

Dev. Psychobiol.

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“…His conclusions are in line with other studies pointing out the importance of early human TS in animals to improve exploratory skills (sheep: Mateo et al, 1991;goats: Boivin and Braastad, 1996;dairy cows: Schmied et al, 2008;horses: Ligout et al, 2008;rabbits: Verwer et al, 2009), immune function (sheep: Caroprese et al, 2006) or production (sheep: Napolitano et al, 2005). In pigs, it was demonstrated that, as a consequence of receiving individual human handling, pigs touched and interacted with an unfamiliar human significantly sooner and for longer compared with non-handled pigs (Tanida et al, 1995;Tallet et al, 2014;Oliveira et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Promoting positive states: the effect of early human handling on play and exploratory behaviour in pigs

Zupan

Rehn

Oliveira

et al. 2016

Animal

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It is known that tactile stimulation (TS) during ontogeny modifies brain plasticity and enhances the motor and cognitive skills. Our hypothesis was that early handling including TS would increase play and exploratory behaviour in commercial pigs under standardized test conditions. Piglets from 13 litters were subjected to three handling treatments from 5 to 35 days of age: all the piglets were handled (H), none of the piglets were handled (NH) or half of the piglets in the litter were handled (50/50). At 42 days of age, the pigs' behaviour was observed in pairs in a novel pen with a 'toy' (tug rope). The main results were that more locomotor play was performed by pigs from litters where all or half of them had been handled, whereas social exploratory behaviour was more pronounced in pigs from litters where half of them had been handled. Although behaviour was affected by the interaction of treatment with sex or with weight category, we propose that the handling procedure does seem to have acted to increase locomotor skills and that handling half of the piglets in the litter may have triggered a series of socio-emotional interactions that were beneficial for the whole group.

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“…In other words, the methods described as 'new' provided the handling to be easier and gentle compared with the traditional ones. In a similar study, Mateo et al (1991) compared gentle handling with forced human handling in sheep and found that gentle contacts with handlers can improve the approachability of sheep.…”

Section: Stress Responses In Sheepmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress responses to comparative handling procedures in sheep

Yardimci

Şahin

Çetingül

et al. 2013

Animal

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The objective of this study was to compare some husbandry procedures on the base of physiological stress parameters and evaluate the welfare status in sheep. Forty ewes were used as the study material. Measurements were taken during several routine husbandry procedures such as milking, shearing, weighing, loading and hoof care. Data regarding time spent for each application, as well as heart and respiratory rates were recorded during the applications. Blood samples were taken 15 min before and after each application and malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione-peroxidase (GSH-Px), cortisol T 3 and T 4 parameters were measured. In addition, changes in the same parameters between pre-and post-application periods were evaluated. According to the results, machine milking caused less stress than hand milking. No significant difference was seen between shearing methods for hand shearer or clipper; however, both applications caused stress in animals. The results for weighing methods of animals demonstrated significant differences in cortisol, T 3 and T 4 values in favor of traditional method. Cortisol, T 3 and T 4 levels were significantly higher in manual loading compared with loading by ramp. Regarding hoof care, all the examined parameters differed in favor of modern method. On the other hand, significant differences were determined between the stress parameters regarding pre-and postapplications. All values differed for hand milking while no significant difference was observed in MDA and T 3 values in machine milking group. Parameters in weighing groups changed significantly. For loading process, GSH, cortisol, T 3 and T 4 values differed in both treatment groups. With regard to hoof care, parameters except T 4 in laying group differed significantly. An increase occurred in minute-based measurements of heart and respiratory rates parallel to physiological data. The number of the respiratory rates during the applications differed except for the shearing process. All the parameters displayed significant differences between groups in terms of heart rates. Time spent for each application also differed between groups. Time saved for milking, shearing, weighing, loading and hoof care was 3.23 min, 4.37 min, 1.71 min, 7.85 s and 1.55 min, respectively. These results appear to provide a tangible advantage of using new husbandry methods to the breeders. It was concluded that using new methods in sheep husbandry procedures provided advantages in terms of saving time and reducing labor, as well as improved conditions for welfare of animals. In addition, it facilitated the routine works and flock husbandry.

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Effects of differential handling on the behaviour of domestic ewes (Ovis aries)

Cited by 37 publications

References 12 publications

Regular handling early in the nursing period eliminates fear responses toward human beings in wild and domestic rabbits

Regular handling early in the nursing period eliminates fear responses toward human beings in wild and domestic rabbits

Promoting positive states: the effect of early human handling on play and exploratory behaviour in pigs

Stress responses to comparative handling procedures in sheep

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