Selection of putative indicators of positive emotions triggered by object and social play in mini-pigs

Marcet-Rius, Míriam; Cozzi, Alessandro; Bienboire-Frosini, Cécile; Teruel, Eva; Chabaud, Camille; Monneret, Philippe; Leclercq, Julien; Lafont-Lecuelle, Céline; Pageat, Patrick

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2018.02.002

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Finally, regarding tail movement duration, we found that the duration was significantly longer after play than after the control conditions. Some studies showed a link between an increase in tail movement duration in pigs and play behaviour or the interaction with some types of enrichment material [ 33 , 34 , 37 ]. In the present study, this behaviour was significantly higher after playing, not during it, which is a new finding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the Play sessions, the pigs stayed in their own pens (2.5 m 2 of slatted floors), where two medium-sized dog toys (balls with ropes attached, Denta Fun, 7 cm/50 cm, 132 g, MonAnimalerie.net , Saint-Alexandre, France) were introduced. This type of toy was previously tested with these mini-pigs, and the toy yielded a high motivation to play when it was provided for a 10 min’ period [ 33 ]. One operator put the toys on the floor in the centre of the pen and then exited the pen, while the pigs were present in the same pen.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In each pen, two toys were provided to reduce conflict due to competition. Video recordings were used to confirm that the pigs played during the Play sessions, according to previous literature [ 33 , 34 ], measuring object and social play duration (Table 1 ). During the Control sessions, the animals were again placed in their own pens, and no toy was provided to them; this setting represented their typical housing situation, which did not have any additional stimuli.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A better understanding of animal emotions is an important goal in disciplines ranging from neuroscience to animal welfare science, but few reliable tools exist for measuring these emotions [ 4 , 10 ]. Play behaviour is generally recognised as a trigger of positive emotions in mammals [ 30 , 39 ], and previous studies consistently suggested that a high tail movement duration (a behaviour often seen during play) indicates positive emotions in pigs [ 33 – 35 , 46 , 47 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The provision of toys to pigs can improve the human-animal relationship

et al. 2020

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It is now widely recognised that a positive human-animal relationship is beneficial not only for farm animals’ welfare but also for productivity and the quality of products. A better understanding of animal emotions is an important goal in disciplines ranging from neuroscience to animal welfare science, but few reliable tools exist for measuring these emotions. In this study, whether the provision of toys to solicit play behaviour in pigs is associated with a change in the human-animal relationship and the emotional state of pigs was investigated. We involved a group of sixteen mini-pigs housed in an experimental setting and the use of a preliminary test called the ‘strange person’ test. After a Control and a Play session (with medium-sized dog toys, balls with ropes), the strange person test was performed. During the test, a person wearing a colourful overall, a hood, a mask, gloves and boots (unknown person with an odd appearance) entered the pen, where 2 mini-pigs were housed, for a 2-min video recording. The strange person test results after the Play and Control sessions were compared. The results showed that the latency to approach the person (duration in seconds) and the duration for which the pig was distant from the strange person (duration in seconds) were significantly lower after the Play session than after the Control session (Degrees of Freedom =30; Statistic of the F test =39.1; p < 0.0001 and Degrees of Freedom =15; Statistic of the F test =54.3; p < 0.0001, respectively). The duration of direct contact (duration in seconds) (Degrees of Freedom =15; Statistic of the F test =14.8; p = 0.002), the need to separate the pig from the strange person (frequency) (Degrees of Freedom =30; Statistic of the F test =9.3; p = 0.005) and the duration of tail movement (duration in seconds) (Degrees of Freedom =15; Statistic of the F test =12.6; p = 0.003) were all significantly higher after the Play sessions than after the Control sessions. Overall, the results suggest a change in the human-animal relationship after the Play sessions: the pigs seemed to be less fearful and more inclined to interact with the strange person, showing a more positive emotional state. This preliminary study suggests that the provision of toys, and more precisely, the opportunity to perform object play behaviour, and sometimes, spontaneously, social play behaviour, can improve the human-animal relationship. Additional research to explore this topic thoroughly may yield interesting results because a positive emotional state of the animals and a good human-animal relationship are essential to ensure good quality of life of farm animals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The provision of toys to pigs can improve the human-animal relationship

et al. 2020

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“…Play behaviour is not considered to be essential for survival, and animals typically do not expend energy expressing play behaviour when resources are limited or welfare is compromised [48]; play is therefore considered to be a "luxury behaviour" that is exhibited when animals are in a positive welfare state [51]. Play is also thought to be an indicator of positive emotions in animals [50,52]; however, play behaviour can be time consuming and laborious to assess as it occurs spontaneously, infrequently and over short durations [42]. Play cannot be predicted, and long periods of observation are required to accurately determine the duration and number of play bouts, making the assessment of play behaviour impractical for inclusion into on-farm welfare assessments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of a Tri-Axial Accelerometer Can Reliably Detect Play Behaviour in Newborn Calves

Gladden

Cuthbert

Ellis

et al. 2020

Animals

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Traditionally, the welfare assessment of farm animals has focused on health and production outcomes. Positive welfare is, however, not merely the absence of negative welfare and is an important part of a life worth living. Play behaviour is widely considered to be an indicator of positive emotions because it is a “luxury” behaviour. Direct visual observation is considered the most accurate method of behavioural analysis, but it is time consuming and laborious. There is increasing interest in the use of remote monitoring technology to quantify behaviour. We compared the data output (“motion index” (MI)) from a commercially available tri-axial accelerometer fitted to newborn dairy calves to video footage of the same calves, with a focus on play behaviour. The motion index values over 48 h were positively correlated with both the duration of play behaviour and the number of play bouts. The motion index threshold in each sample interval with the optimal sensitivity and specificity for the identification of play behaviour was MI ≥ 2.5 at a 1 min resolution (sensitivity (Se) = 98.0%; specificity (Sp) = 92.9%) and MI ≥ 24.5 at a 15 min resolution (Se = 98.0%; Sp = 89.9%), but these values consistently overestimated the overall proportion of sample intervals in which play was observed. The MI that best reflected the results obtained from visual one-zero sampling was MI ≥ 23 for 1 min intervals and MI ≥ 62 for 15 min intervals—this may therefore be the basis of a more conservative approach to the identification of play behaviour from accelerometer-generated data. Our results indicate that accelerometer-generated data can usefully indicate the amount of play behaviour shown by newborn calves for up to 48 h, providing an efficient method for identifying this important parameter in future work.

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Animal Dignity and the Law: Potential, Problems and Possible Implications

Kempers

2020

Liverpool Law Rev

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Selection of putative indicators of positive emotions triggered by object and social play in mini-pigs

Cited by 27 publications

References 41 publications

The provision of toys to pigs can improve the human-animal relationship

The provision of toys to pigs can improve the human-animal relationship

Use of a Tri-Axial Accelerometer Can Reliably Detect Play Behaviour in Newborn Calves

Animal Dignity and the Law: Potential, Problems and Possible Implications

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