The effects of resource distribution on behaviour in pair housed silver fox vixens (Vulpes vulpes) subsequent to mixing

Akre, Anne Kathrine; Hovland, Anne Lene; Bakken, Morten

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2010.05.004

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Second, one rewarding aspect of social contact that may decline with age and thus reduce animals' motivation for contact is social play (Spinka et al, 2001;Trezza et al, 2009). Pair housed adult silver fox vixens tend to engage in social play less frequently than do pair housed juvenile vixens housed under similar conditions (Hansen, 2007;Akre et al, 2010b). Intriguingly, the number of social play bouts was highest in the pair where the test subject paid the lowest relative price for contact, suggesting that reinforcing properties of play may indeed be reduced for adults, perhaps because play sequences include competitive elements that may escalate into aggression (e.g.…”

Section: The Strength Of Social Motivationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two's company? Solitary vixens’ motivations for seeking social contact

Hovland

Akre

Flø

et al. 2011

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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a b s t r a c tThe flexible social organisation in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) suggests that social contact could enrich the housing of silver fox vixens (a selected line of red foxes) farmed for their fur. To investigate their social motivation, adult vixens housed in an operant apparatus were allowed to pull a loop for full physical contact with a same-aged vixen. The access cost was increased daily and their maximum price paid (MPP) measured. Five test and five stimulus animals were pair housed long-term in separate apparatuses over 5 weeks in November/December wherein each pair could have 12 h daily physical contact in a shared compartment. Prior to the operant trials, two food competition tests were completed to establish dominance relations within pairs. To examine vixens' motives for contact, social behaviour during interaction was also recorded. Subsequently, the test foxes' MPP for a comparator resource, food, was also measured and their relative price paid (RPP, %) for contact calculated. When access to the resource cage was free (FR1), at the start and end of the experiment, time spent in contact averaged approximately 1/6 (2 h) of the available time; this was stable between these periods. Neither visit rate to nor time spent in the shared compartment differed between the start and the end of the trial, indicating that the test subjects' social motivation remained stable during the experimental period. The MPP (mean ± SE) for social contact averaged at 560 ± 160.6 pulls; this was significantly lower (P = 0.015) than the MPP for food (2108 ± 526.6 pulls), representing a RPP of 24.8 ± 3.36%. During social interaction agonistic gaping signals occurred (though never serious fights requiring intervention), but there were also bouts of play, social exploration and high levels of synchronous resting. Aggressive behaviour during the second food test predicted the levels of aggression during operant trials. RPP positively correlated with the total time spent together (r = 0.87, P = 0.054), and with the time spent resting together (r = 0.89, P = 0.046). Differences in RPPs for contact and levels of agonism between pairs illustrate that social contact between adult vixens is enriching for some, but may put welfare at risk for others, especially if they have no opportunity to retreat from aggression. However, levels of agonistic behaviour during, e.g. food competition tests may be a possible indicator of the compatibility between potential cage mates. Due to the low number of animals the result must now be replicated with further animals.

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Section: The Strength Of Social Motivationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two's company? Solitary vixens’ motivations for seeking social contact

Hovland

Akre

Flø

et al. 2011

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Regarding agonistic behaviour, 9 positive outcomes, 5 negative outcomes, and 3 neutral outcomes were reported. Hiding places were demonstrated to decrease agonistic behaviours between socially housed goats [ 116 ], pigs [ 97 , 117 ], calves [ 114 ], quail [ 118 ], foxes [ 119 ], and fish [ 70 ]. However, several papers reported that providing group-housed animals with hiding places increased agonistic behaviours, this was reported to have resulted from animals competing for the hiding spaces [ 69 , 100 , 120 ] or because the hide formation subsequently restricted open space in the pen [ 76 , 121 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of providing hiding spaces to farmed animals: A scoping review

2022

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Many wild animals perform hiding behaviours for a variety of reasons, such as evading predators or other conspecifics. Unlike their wild counterparts, farmed animals often live in relatively barren environments without the opportunity to hide. Researchers have begun to study the impact of access to hiding spaces (“hides”) in farmed animals, including possible effects on animal welfare. The aims of this scoping review were to: 1) identify the farmed species that have been most used in research investigating the provision of hides, 2) describe the context in which hides have been provided to farmed animals, and 3) describe the impact (positive, negative or neutral/inconclusive) that hides have on animals, including indicators of animal welfare. Three online databases (CAB Abstracts, Web of Science, and PubMed) were used to search for a target population of farmed animals with access to hiding spaces. From this search, 4,631 citations were screened and 151 were included in the review. Fourteen animal types were represented, most commonly chickens (48% of papers), cattle (9%), foxes (8%), and fish (7%). Relatively few papers were found on other species including deer, quail, ducks, lobsters, turkeys, and goats. Hides were used in four contexts: at parturition or oviposition (56%), for general enrichment (43%), for neonatal animals (4%), or for sick or injured animals (1%). A total of 218 outcomes relevant to our objectives were found including 7 categories: hide use, motivation, and/or preference (47% of outcomes), behavioural indicators of affective state (17%), health, injuries, and/or production (16%), agonistic behaviour (8%), abnormal repetitive behaviours (6%), physiological indicators of stress (5%), and affiliative behaviours (1%). Hiding places resulted in 162 positive (74%), 14 negative (6%), and 42 neutral/inconclusive (19%) outcomes. Hides had a generally positive impact on the animals included in this review; more research is encouraged for under-represented species.

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“…However, the way resources were distributed was rarely taken into considerations when designing their housing environments [2]. In addition, most of the animals were housed in high density per cage to lower the cost of doing research [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Different Resource Distribution on Behaviour and Corticosterone Level of Male Mice (Mus Musculus)

2014

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Animals housed in a cage with clustered environmental enrichments may deal with higher aggression when they have to compete for depleting resources. In this study, the effects of the way environmental enrichments distributed between individuals were investigated. Sixteen adult male mice (Mus musculus) were housed in four different treatments with manipulation in terms of food choices availability and distribution of resources. Each male was observed for their aggressive and stereotypic behaviours for seven minutes twice a day for five days. The faeces were also collected after each treatment for measuring the corticosterone level in order to indicate the stress level of the mice. The results showed reduced aggression (p<0.05), stereotypic behaviour (p<0.05) and corticosterone level (p<0.05) in both dispersed environment and food available environment compared to the clustered environment as well as in the environment where the food choices were not available. From the results, it can be suggested that resources are better arranged in a dispersed way, so that the resources are easier to be shared. Thus, with lesser aggression and stereotypic behaviour, the welfare of the laboratory mice can be improved and easily managed.

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The effects of resource distribution on behaviour in pair housed silver fox vixens (Vulpes vulpes) subsequent to mixing

Cited by 5 publications

References 53 publications

Two's company? Solitary vixens’ motivations for seeking social contact

Two's company? Solitary vixens’ motivations for seeking social contact

The impact of providing hiding spaces to farmed animals: A scoping review

Effects of Different Resource Distribution on Behaviour and Corticosterone Level of Male Mice (Mus Musculus)

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