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Summary/Lecture notes Animal behaviour & welfare- BHE31306
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Summary and lecture notes of the course animal behaviour and welfare
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Animal Behaviour & Welfare- BHE31306Lecture 1. Welfare concepts I
2 types of control:
Central control = motivation from brain → programmed (internal drive)
examples: vigilance principle and body-size principle
Peripheral control = motivation is automatic (because feel something) → stimulus driven
(environmental drive)
4 questions of Tinbergen → understanding behaviour:
Causation= mechanism behind it → not only internal, stimuli and condition
Evolution= (Phylogeny= history of evolution of species)→ how many species perform
behaviour, if kept in evolution then important
Survival value= function → how did it effect genes for survival
Ontogeny= development of organism
How (proximate) & Why (Ultimate)
Nature vs nurture:
Ethology= Biological study of behaviour: behaviour is species-specific, about adaptiveness
and nature. Observed in nature (natural behaviour)
Behaviourism= nurture, environment determines behaviour → look at learning principles
behaviour explained by stimulus-response and operant conditioning. Observed in Lab
Both are true is 50/50 depends on behaviour, need mental states to explain certain behaviour, it can
not only be explained by nurture.
Behavioural regulation
Fixed Action Pattern= pro-programmed/ fixed behaviour → induced by stimulus. Used in old days →
Instinct responses to stimuli, genetic programmed.
Models:
Homeostatic model= Regulatory model, about effects behaviour, stimulus driven, motivation
because of (for example) cold. Try to perform behaviour and works out → positive emotion.
Performance itself is not rewarding only positive outcome. Depending on consquence and
environment
Models of instinctive behaviour (Psychohydraulic) = There are behavioural needs,
motivation increase with time behaviour is not performed, at some time activated in side of
conspecifics. Performance itself is rewarding. Depending on innate behaviour, programmed,
like central control.
! The right model depends on the behaviour !
,Behavioural ecology:
Focus on function and evolution, fundamental approach welfare.
Emphasise evolutionary context
explain by the cornerstones of behavioural ecology:
Decision making → optimality theory= trying to get maximum out of things
Evolutionary Stable Strategies = always been successful in evolution, so successful in
promoting fitness
Kin selection= e.g Altruism (why family members help each other?) → share genes
New way thinking, different than behaviourism and ethology
Applied Animal Behaviour Science:
Focus on mechanism, development and function in the context of welfare (animal welfare
assessment).
Not only welfare, but also for reproductive behaviour
Not all behaviour motivational driven→ centripetal instinct (=side effect dominance) & self-
organisation of ants (= simple rules).
Behavioural desynchronization is about locomotion and stay in the group → not needed in barn → no
welfare problem.
Lecture 2. Welfare concepts II
For measuring stress response → use cortisol, released with delay.
Adrenalin is too fast, can not be measured.
Causes of poor welfare:
Design husbandry conditions→ natural needs not possible in husbandry → get performance
criteria= abnormal behaviours, stress and damaging behaviours.
Conflict behaviours:
Free (also observed in the wild):
Ambivalence = give mixed signals
Intentions = start movement, but do not finish
Redirection = react on to someone else
Displacement = react out of context and not appropriate
Unfree (in farm & companion animals):
, (self)Injurious = harm itself
Apathy = not doing anything
Stereotypies = fixed behaviour without function (compensatory & de-arousal)
Why care about animal welfare?
Societal concerns
Difference between citizens and consumers, citizens and farmers have almost same idea about
welfare, only difference is naturalness (prefered by citizens) and health (most important
farmers) & they ignore short-term stress.
Economic consequences
Reduced production, immunosuppression
Ethical considerations
Animals have intrinsic value= have value of its own → so think of ethics, not only value you
give it.
What is animal welfare?
The physical and mental well-being
5 freedoms:
1. hunger & thirst
2. discomfort
3. pain, injury or disease
4. fear & distress
5. expression normal behaviour
Different dimensions to look at animal welfare:
3 domains:
1. Biological functioning
2. Natural living
3. Affective states
Animal welfare is about a mix of these three domains
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