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The effects of mixed gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections on animal growth and post-weaning activity patterns were investigated in grazing intact ram lambs when naturally exposed to two different infection levels and weaned at different ages. Ewes and their twin-born lambs were turned-out to graze in two permanent pasture enclosures naturally contaminated with GIN the previous year. Ewes and lambs in the low parasite exposure group (LP) were drenched before turn-out and at weaning, respectively, with 0.2 mg ivermectin per kg body weight, whereas those in the high parasite exposure group (HP) were left untreated. Two weaning ages were applied, early weaning (EW) (10 weeks) and late weaning (LW) (14 weeks), respectively. The lambs were then allocated to one out of four groups based on parasite exposure level and weaning age (EW-HP, n = 12; LW-HP, n = 11; EW-LP, n = 13; LW-LP, n = 13). Body weight gain (BWG) and faecal egg counts (FEC) were monitored, in all groups, from the day of early weaning and every four weeks, for 10 weeks. In addition, nematode composition was determined using droplet digital PCR. Activity patterns measured as Motion Index (MI; the absolute value of the 3D acceleration) and lying time were monitored continuously from the day of weaning until four weeks postweaning using IceQube (R) sensors. Statistical analyses were performed in RStudio, using mixed models with repeated measures. BWG was 11% lower in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0079) and 12% lower compared with LW-HP (P = 0.018), respectively. In contrast, no difference in BWG was observed between LW-HP and LW-LP (P = 0.97). The average EPG was higher in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P < 0.001), as well as in EW-HP compared with LW-HP (P = 0.021), and LW-HP compared with LW-LP (P = 0.0022). The molecular investigation showed that animals in LW-HP had a higher proportion of Haemonchus contortus compared with EW-HP. MI was 19% lower in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0004). Daily lying time was 15% shorter in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0070). In contrast, no difference in MI (P = 0.13) and lying time (P = 0.99) between LW-HP and LW-LP was observed. The results suggest that a delayed weaning age may reduce the adverse effects of GIN infection on BWG. Contrarily, an earlier weaning age may reduce the risk of H. contortus infection in lambs. Moreover, the results demonstrates a potential use of automated behaviour recordings as a diagnostic tool for the detection of nematode infections in sheep.

After approximately 9 months, cows give birth to one calf. They usually try to separate from the herd if kept outdoors, but this depends on the possibilities to hide. When the calf is born, the cow immediately stands up and starts licking the calf, and this is most intense for the first hour. During this time, the cow is very protective of her calf and may attack anyone trying to come close to it, especially if the cow is not so used to human handling. The calf tries to stand up and falls in the beginning, but it usually stands about half an hour later. Once standing, the calf searches for the udder, and after approximately 2 h, the calf is suckling the colostrum from the cow's teats. The calf is born without an immune defense, and it, therefore, needs to suckle enough colostrum from the cow to get protection against infections. If the calf does not succeed in suckling within 4-6 h after birth, the farmer must milk the cow and give the calf at least 2-4 l of colostrum in a teat bottle. If the farmer has frozen colostrum of good quality in the freezer, and it is either difficult to milk the cow or her colostrum is of too low quality, the frozen colostrum can be warmed up and given to the calf. Beef calves are usually allowed to stay with their mother until they are 6-8 months old, when they are separated from the cow and then weaned. Dairy calves are usually separated from their mother immediately or within a few days after birth and raised by artificial milk feeding. In the beginning or during the whole milk period (6-12 weeks), they may be kept individually indoors in crates or outdoors in hutches. After weaning, they are usually group housed.

A number of studies have investigated anticipatory behaviour in animals as a measure of sensitivity to reward or as an expression of emotional state. A common feature of many studies is that they base inferences on seemingly arbitrary measures, for example, the frequency of behavioural transitions (ie number of times an animal switches between different behaviours). This paper critically reviews the literature and discusses various hypotheses for why specific behavioural responses occur in the anticipatory period between the signal and reward in conditioned animals. We argue that the specific behaviours shown may be the result of superstitious learning and thus highly variable, leaving behavioural transitions as the only response that can be scored consistently, and that sometimes these responses may relate more to frustration than to a positive emotional state. Finally, we propose new research approaches to avoid potential confounds and improve future studies on this topic.

We investigated the post-weaning effect of providing additional objects (i.e. rope, ball, tyre) to commercial piglets given straw pre- and post-weaning on behaviour and average daily gain (ADG). Piglets from litters with objects (O,n = 20 in 5 litters) and controls (C,n = 20 in 5 litters) were observed from 24 h post-weaning and during six days. Piglets were weighed at birth, weaning and 11 days post-weaning. O-piglets performed less littermate manipulation (P < 0.05), exploring pen fixtures (P < 0.1) and lying (P < 0.1) but spent more time in the creep post-weaning than C-piglets (P < 0.1). Social or locomotor play was expressed similarly in both treatments. Day strongly influenced the behaviour of pigs post-weaning. O-piglets had significantly lower pre-weaning ADG than C-piglets (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in post-weaning ADG between the treatments. Providing objects to piglets around weaning may reduce some negative behaviours, but may affect weight gain negatively.

Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are monogastric herbivores with cecotrophy, small prey animals with crepuscular activity pattern. They live in breeding groups, where the dominant male defends a territory with a burrow system. Rabbits are sexually mature at 3–4 months, have mating-induced ovulation and postpartum estrus. Gestation lasts 28–31 days, and kits are altricial at birth and born in an under-ground nest. Nursing occurs once per 24 h, and weaning starts from 3 weeks. Kits start feeding cecotrophs from mother and solid feed at 2–4 weeks. Rabbits eat grass, herbs, fruit, roots, leaves, and bark in shared home ranges. They communicate by scent marking, have good eyesight and seldom make sounds. In laboratories, rabbits are preferably housed in large floor pens to allow normal locomotion, rearing, digging, exploration, and social interactions. If fed pellets as the main diet, hay should be provided in smaller amounts as enrichment to facilitate normal feeding behavior and tooth wear. Environmental enrichment, shelves, tunnels, and wood block should be offered. Social groups which are stable, compatible, and established with young rabbits of same sex should be created. Due to high risk of fighting, intact males should be individually housed, but not isolated. If cages are used they must be large, high enough, and enriched. Gentle and frequent handling from early age and habituation to procedures should be practiced.

Sickness behaviour has been suggested as an applicable indicator for monitoring disease. Deviating feeding behaviour and activity can provide information about animals' health and welfare status. Recent advances in sensor technology enable monitoring of such behaviours and could potentially be utilized as an indicator of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections. This study investigated activity and rumination patterns in first-season grazing steers exposed to subclinical infection levels of the GIN Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora. At turnout, animals were allocated to one of four experimental groups and were faced with "high" (H1, n = 15; H2, n = 17) or "low" (L1, n = 17; L2, n = 11) levels of parasite exposure by grazing in similar enclosures contaminated with overwintering third stage (13) GIN larvae. Animals in H1 and H2 (HP) received a 1:1 mix of approximately 10,000 0. ostertagi and C. oncophora L3 at turnout; whereas the animals in Ll and L2 (LP) were treated monthly with ivermectin. Activity and rumination patterns were monitored by fitting animals with leg- (IceQube) and neck-mounted (Heatime) sensors. BW was recorded every fortnight, whereas faecal and blood samples were examined every four weeks for nematode faecal egg count and serum pepsinogen concentrations (SPCs). There was an interaction effect of exposure level and period (P < 0.0001) on average lying daily time across the entire grazing time. A higher mean daily lying time (P = 0.0037) was found in HP compared with LP during the first 40 days on pasture. There was also interaction effects of treatment and day since turnout on rumination time (P < 0.0001) and rumination change (P = 0.0008). Also mean daily steps (P < 0.0001) and mean daily motion index (P < 0.0001) were markedly higher in HP during days 62-69, coinciding with peaking SPC in HP. Strongyle eggs were observed both in HP and LP from 31 days after turnout. Eggs per gram (EPG) differed between parasite exposure levels (P < 0.0001), with mean EPG remaining low in LP throughout the experiment. Similarly, an increase in SPC was observed (P < 0.0001), but only in HP where it peaked at day 56. In contrast, no difference in BW gain (BWG) (P = 0.78) between HP and LP was observed. In conclusion, this study shows that behavioural measurements monitored with sensors were affected even at low infection levels not affecting BWG. These combined results demonstrate the potential of automated behavioural recordings as a tool for detection of subclinical parasitism.

Assessing how cats cope with the housing and husbandry at shelters is an important part of maintaining good animal welfare. There are non-invasive methods to assess how cats cope with their environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of the behaviours used in an extended Stress Assessment protocol for cats to detect stress. Looking at which behaviours are salient and possible to observe accurately, and which correlate with time until adoption. The study was carried out at a non-governmental medium sized cat rescue shelter in Midwestern USA. The shelter had a no-kill policy with screening of cats before intake from county shelters. The observed cats were either group-housed in five rooms (n = 70) or singly housed in double cages (n = 13). Observations were carried out during both morning and afternoon sessions, during which two 1-min observations recorded if cats performed any of 85 behavioural elements (BEs). Time at shelter and if cats were declawed or not were collected from shelter records after the observations. Statistical analysis of the BEs that best predicted the total time at shelter was calculated using the Survival Analysis based on the Cox proportional hazards regression model using a stepwise regression analysis separately for each scoring. The median time at shelter for group-housed cats was 26 days (IQR = 6-54) and for single-housed cats 29 days (IQR = 7-97). In total, 24 % of the BEs (20 of 85) were never recorded, however there were significantly more BEs recorded in group-housed cats (63 BEs) than in single-housed cats (49 BEs, p < 0.05). The survival analysis found 16 unique BEs to predict "Short time at shelter" (14 BEs in group-housed, two in single-housed), 14 were positively correlated meaning that they increased the chance of early adoption and two were negative meaning that they decreased the chance of early adoption. The survival analysis also calculated "Long time at shelter" and found 14 unique BEs where 12 BEs were in group-housed cats and three BEs were in single-housed cats. Seven of these were positively correlated meaning that they decreased the chance of early adoption, whereas seven were negatively correlated meaning that they increased the chance of early adoption. The conclusion is that the extended Stress Assessment could be used to detect BEs indicating stress of cats at shelters, and that there are BEs that can predict shorter time at the shelter. However, further investigations could help reduce the number of BEs needed.

Mammalian vocalizations can encode contextual information in both the spectrographic components of their individual vocal units and in their temporal organization. Here we observed 23 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows immediately after birth during interactions with their calf and when their calf was separated to the other side of a fence line. We investigated whether the vocalizations emitted in these postpartum contexts would vary temporally. We also described the maternal and stress behaviors preceding and following postpartum vocal production using kinematic diagrams and characterized call sequence structure. The kinematic diagrams highlight the disruption of maternal responses caused by calf separation and show that behavioral and vocal patterns varied according to the cows' emotional states and proximity to the calf in both contexts. During calf interactions, cows mainly produced closed-mouth calls simultaneous to licking their calf, whereas an escalation of stress responses was observed during calf separation, with the cows approaching the fence line, becoming alert to the calf, and emitting more mixed and open-mouth calls. Call sequences were similarly structured across contexts, mostly containing repetitions of a single call type, with a mean interval of 0.57 s between calls and a greater cumulative vocalization duration, attributed to an increased number of vocal units per sequence. Overall, calf separation was associated with a greater proportion of calls emitted as a sequence (inverse of single isolated calls), a shorter interval between separate call sequences, and a greater number of vocal units per sequence, compared with calf interactions. These temporal vocal features varied predictably with the high stress expression from cows during calf separation and may represent temporal modulations of emotional expression. Despite the noisy farm soundscape, empirical call type and temporal vocal features were easy to measure; thus, findings could be applied to future cattle studies wishing to analyze vocalizations for on-farm welfare assessments.

We investigated the effects of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) challenge on activity in first season grazing lambs naturally exposed to two different levels of multispecies GIN infections. Ewes and their twin-born lambs were turned-out to graze in two permanent pasture enclosures naturally contaminated with GIN the previous year, thereby exposing them to overwintering strongyle larvae. Animals in the low parasite exposure group (LP) were dewormed monthly with 0.2 mg ivermectin (Ivomec (R) vet, oral suspension) per kg body weight, whereas those in high parasite exposure group (HP) were left untreated. At weaning, lambs were allocated to one out of four groups based on weight and sex (HPE, n = 15; HPR, n = 15; LPE, n = 14; LPR, n = 14), in four nearby noncontaminated ley enclosures of similar size. Activity patterns were monitored from day -7, i.e. 7 days preweaning, until day 49, i.e. 49 days post-weaning, by fitting all lambs with IceQube sensors (IceRobotics). Body weight was monitored weekly from day -21, whereas faecal samples were investigated at days -21, 7, 35 and 49 for nematode faecal egg counts (EPG) using McMaster-technology and a validated Droplet Digital PCR protocol to determine nematode composition. All statistical analyses were performed in R studio, using mixed models with repeated measures. In the data analyses, weekly recordings was treated as a period, generating a total of eight periods. Average daily lying time had a significant interaction between parasite exposure and period (P = 0.0013), with animals in HP having a 101 +/- 31 min shorter daily lying time compared to LP. Motion Index (MI; absolute value of the 3-D acceleration) had a significant interaction between parasite exposure and period (P = 0.0001) with lambs in group HP having a lower average daily MI compared with LP. Both body weight gain and EPG levels were significantly different (P< 0.0001) between HP and LP groups during the course of the study. The molecular investigation showed that animals were predominantly infected with Teladorsagia spp., combined with low proportions of Haemonchus spp. In conclusion, this study shows that lying time and Motion Index of lambs around weaning was affected by moderate nematode infections. This indicates that there is a potential use of automated behaviour recordings as a diagnostic tool for detection of nematode parasites in lambs even at moderate infection levels.

The aims of this study were to investigate the occurrence of stereotypic behaviours and the activity level in farmed mink when group housed in climbing cages and if group housing increase aggression by assessing the prevalence of bite marks. This was studied in juvenile mink of the colour types "demibuff" (n = 165) and "half sapphire" (n = 165). The animals were housed in standard cages (S2: one male, one female), or in climbing cages (C2: one male, one female; C3: one male, two females; C4: two males, two females). Behaviours were recorded for two hours beginning at sunrise and two hours before sunset during six periods of five days each from August-October. After pelting, the leather side of the undried skins were visually inspected for bite marks. Stereotypic behaviours were infrequent (0.1% of observations). Pair housed mink in climbing cages were more "inactive out in cage" than pair housed mink in standard cages (p

We validated the accuracy of two commercially available activity loggers for cattle in determining lying and standing durations, number of lying bouts and number of steps in growing lambs. Ten growing lambs divided into two weight classes were fitted with an IceTag on the right hind leg and an IceQube on the left hind leg. The IceTag reports activity per second, whereas the IceQube reports activity in 15-min periods. To enable comparison between loggers, IceTag data were also summarized in 15-min periods. Computed indications for the start of a lying bout of durations >10 s and >30 s was performed to enable filtering of lying bout data. Analyses of the lambs body posture and number of steps per second from 50 h of video recordings were used as a gold standard to determine the accuracy of the two loggers. Two observers scored the two different groups and inter-observer reliability was consistent for standing, lying and number of lying bouts (κ = 0.99). However, the observers defined step count differently and no agreement was found (κ = -0.05; -0.11). Based on Bland-Altman comparison both loggers can be used to record standing and lying time. The positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity and specificity of the IceTag compared to video recordings per second for standing and lying were all > 91.5 %. The IceTag showed a poor PPV (

Highlights • Effects of GIN was evaluated for the first time in FSG using accelerometers. • GIN affect activity patterns in FSG cattle on grass. • Discrepancies from classic sickness behaviour may indicate discomfort. • There is a potential use of automated behavioural observations as a diagnostic tool., We investigated the effects of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) challenge on activity patterns in first season grazing (FSG) steers exposed to two different levels of Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora. At turn-out, experimental animals were allocated to one of two treatment groups grazing in different enclosures each with 32 animals. The first group (High) received 5000 third stage (L3) O. ostertagi (50%) and C. onchophora (50%) larvae; whereas the second group (Low) were dewormed monthly with 0.5 mg ivermectin (Noromectin®, Pour-on) per kg bodyweight. Activity patterns were monitored by fitting some animals in each group (High, n = 10; Low, n = 8) with leg mounted sensors (IceTag® 3D-accelerometers) during three two-week periods. In animals fitted with sensors body weight gain (BWG) was recorded every fortnight, whereas faecal and blood samples were collected every four weeks for nematode faecal egg count (FEC) and serum pepsinogen concentrations (SPC). Differences between the periods in daily (P = 0.046) and diurnal (P = 0.0502) activities were recorded between groups during the course of the study. A significant (P = 0.038) increase in the number of lying bouts was recorded in group High during the second period (days 74–86), which was correlated (r = 0.55, P = 0.018) to an increase in SPC ≈ 85 days after turn-out. BWG was reduced (P = 0.037) in group High compared to group Low, deviating from day 45. Strongyle nematode eggs were observed in both groups 29 days after turn-out, however the mean EPG remained low in group Low throughout the experiment. An increase in SPC was observed (P

This study aimed to investigate whether reducing the milk flow and increasing the milk portion size of a computer-controlled milk feeder would lead to less cross-sucking and fewer unrewarded feeder visits in dairy calves. Five groups, each with 9 or 10 calves (n = 48), were housed in pens with one milk feeder in each pen, and exposed to four milk-feeding treatments in a cross-over design with four periods of 1 week. All four treatments involved a daily allowance of 8 L of whole milk, with variation in the maximum portion size and the rate at which milk entered the teat of the milk feeder. The treatments were: 1) 1 L/Low flow (1 l portions at a flow of 300 ml/min); 2) 2 l/Low flow (2 l portions at a flow of 300 ml/min); 3) 1 l/High flow (1 l portions at a flow of 600 ml/min); 4) 2 l/High flow (2 l portions at a flow of 600 ml/min). When the calves were fed milk in 2 l portions, they had fewer rewarded visits (P < 0.001) than when they were fed 1 l portions. When the calves were fed the milk in 2 l portions with a low flow, they spent more time on rewarded visits during which they did not ingest the whole portion (P < 0.05) and had more (P < 0.001) and longer (P < 0.001) rewarded visits during which they ingested less than 0.5 l of the portion. The treatments had no effect on the occurrence of cross-sucking. A higher number of bull calves were subject to cross-sucking than heifer calves (P < 0.001), and in total they also received more cross-sucking events than heifer calves (P < 0.001). Heifer calves initiated a higher frequency of cross-sucking than bull calves (P < 0.001). We concluded that when calves are given milk in 2 l portions, a very low flow should be avoided, as this may reduce the calves’ milk intake. The finding that bull calves were subject to cross-sucking more often than heifers, while heifer calves initiated more cross-sucking than bulls warrants further studies on these gender effects.

Aim Little is known about the developing breastfeeding behaviour of newborn infants. This study describes infants' prebreastfeeding behaviour during the second day of life and explores possible associations with infant characteristics. Methods We studied 13 mothers and healthy full-term infants after normal births. At 24–48 hours of life, the newborns were placed in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers for breastfeeding and were video-filmed. The order, frequency and duration of predefined infant prefeeding behaviours and suckling were coded and analysed using computer-based video software. Results Prefeeding behaviours occurred in the following order: rooting, hand to mouth movements, licking of the nipple and hand to breast to mouth movements. The infants started to suckle at a median of one to two minutes. Rooting was the most common behaviour, observed in 12 infants. The duration of rooting movements during the last minute before breastfeeding was inversely related to neonatal age (p ≤ 0.001) and positively related to neonatal weight loss (p = 0.02) after birth. Conclusion Infants exhibited a distinct sequence of prefeeding behaviours during the second day of life, and our findings suggest that rooting movements were governed by mechanisms involved in the regulation of food intake and weight gain.

Premature breaking of the maternal bond between a cow and her calf triggers a strong behavioural response which renders separation and weaning major welfare challenges in suckling systems. Fence-line separation and weaning allowing physical contact has been evaluated for beef cattle and is claimed to reduce stress at separation. The objective of this study was to compare the post-separation behavioural response of cow–calf pairs separated either with a fence-line (FL, n =8 pairs) allowing physical contact or with a solid wall (SW, n =8 pairs) allowing merely auditory contact. After separation, all calves were offered milk (2.0L, thrice a day) from a teat bottle to reduce the effect of hunger. Behaviours were recorded for 4h at days 0 (day of separation), 1, 2, 3 and 4 from which we calculated the total behavioural reaction (area under the curve, AUC). Treatment differences were analysed with two samples Wilcoxon test. Most of the post-separation responses occurred during day 0–2. Results show that FL calves performed less high-pitched (open mouthed) vocalizations as compared to SW calves ( P =0.003). Median number of calls/4h and range for FL vs. SW calves respectively were: day 0 ; 13 (0–94) vs. 361 (2–658), day 1 ; 10 (1–247) vs. 274 (18–872), day 2 ; 0 (0–4) vs. 48 (0–365), day 3 ; 0 (0–1) vs. 4 (0–135) and day 4 ; 0 (0–2) vs. 18 (0–84). Calves separated with FL also showed a lower frequency than SW calves ( P =0.003) of alert behaviour defined as high-head posture, pointed ears with focus towards the cow (median percentage of observations and range for FL and SW calves respectively): day 0 ; 23 (0–50) vs. 26 (0–50), day 1 ; 3 (0–12) vs. 12 (4–36), day 2 ; 0 (0–6) vs. 12 (0–18), day 3 ; 0 (0–2) vs. 3 (0–18) and day 4 ; 0 (0–2) vs. 15 (0–28). No significant treatment differences were found for other calf behaviours or in the post-separation behavioural responses of the cow. This is the first study to quantitatively assess two different vocalizations in response to separation; low-pitched vocalizations (with closed mouth) and high-pitched vocalizations in response to separation. Recordings of high-pitched vocalization seem to be a promising tool for assessing distress at separation. In conclusion, FL separation allowing physical contact may reduce the vocal response and alert behaviour of calves.

The aim of the present project was to investigate whether repeated visits by a therapy dog to nursing homes might affect the older residents’ systolic blood pressure and heart rate. A secondary aim was to investigate and compare effects (differences in responses) in older people with high and normal systolic blood pressure. The project consisted of two consecutive studies; the dog study (two researchers and a therapy dog with a handler visited the residents at three nursing homes, n = 13), and the controlstudy (the two researchers alone visited the residents at three different nursinghomes, n = 13). The studies were divided into three periods; period 1(weeks 1–2), period 2 (weeks 3–4), and period 3 (weeks 5–6) and included two visits per week. The dog and her handler visited during periods 2 and 3 in the dog study. Participants’ heart rate and blood pressure were measured at 0 and 20 minutes at each visit. The data were analyzed using Friedman’s twowayanalysis of Variance by Rank with post-hoc analysis using Wilcoxonsigned-rank tests with a Bonferroni correction, and also with the mann-Whitney U test for independent samples. In the dog study, participants’ heartrate decreased significantly (p = 0.006) from period 1 to period 3. Participants with an initial systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mmhg had a significant decreasein both systolic blood pressure (p = 0.009) and heart rate (p = 0.009). In the control study, participants’ heart rate and systolic blood pressure did not change significantly. the participants in the dog study had a significantly lower systolic blood pressure during period 3 (p = 0.016) compared with those in the control study. In conclusion, repeated visits by a therapy dog–handler team decreased the older adults’ heart rate, and for those with high initial systolic blood pressure, blood pressure also decreased. In addition, systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the dog group when compared with the control group. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Behavior and performance changes when tied dairy cows were moved to a loose housing system in a cubicle system were investigated. Behavioral observations were made for 3 consecutive days in 3 periods after transition. The cows (n = 105) were observed on 18 sampling occasions for 1 month. Recordings were made of body positions and general and social behaviors. Monthly milk records were collected 1 year before and 1 year after transition. Cows walked more during the 1st observation period than during the other periods (p

The aim of this study was to identify behaviours and ear postures linked to the appetitive, consummatory and post-consummatory motivational phases of play in male lambs, and to evaluate how cortisol was affected by play. Ten pairs of male lambs, Ovis aries were observed in a play arena three times a week for 4 weeks. They were kept in a holding pen for 5 min (appetitive phase) where they could look into the play arena (containing a ball, two chains and a tunnel) and thereafter released into the play arena for 20 min (consummatory phase). They returned to their home pen where they were observed for 6 min (post-consummatory phase). Direct observations were made in each location and behaviours were recorded as frequencies per min. Ear postures were recorded instantaneously every 15 s for 3 min per location. Saliva samples were taken in the 4th week for analysis of cortisol. Behaviours were analysed with a generalized linear model and cortisol with paired t-test. In the holding pen, the most common behaviours were walking, sniffing pen, standing facing play arena, standing facing alley, butting and pawing. Walking (P

The performance of dairy calves allowed to suckle freely (FS) until eight weeks of age in a cubicle system with automatic milking was compared to automatic teat-feeding with low milk (LM) or high milk (HM) substitute allowances. Weight gain and feed intake of FS (n = 13), LM (n = 23) and HM (n = 22) calves were recorded until two weeks after abrupt weaning, and their behaviour was studied during weaning. FS calves had higher weight gain, but much lower solid feed intake until weaning, than LM and HM calves and their advantage in weight remained throughout the study despite very low post-weaning gain. During the first 24 hours after weaning, FS calves displayed more behavioural signs of stress. However, at 72 hours after weaning, behaviour was similar for all treatments. Methods to stimulate solid feed intake before weaning need to be developed to draw advantage of the FS system.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the presence of digital dermatitis (DD) and sole ulcer (SU) in dairy cows was associated with changes in behaviour and milk production. Swedish Red and Swedish Holstein cows (mostly in the first to second lactation) were housed in a cubicle system with automatically scraped passageways. After maintenance claw trimming of all the cows in the herd, 10 cows with DD and 10 cows with SU were selected. For each DD- or SU-affected cow, a healthy control cow, matched according to breed, age, parity and lactation stage, was selected. The behaviour of each of the 20 focal cows was observed for 1 h during 2 to 3 weeks after claw trimming (WACT; period 1) and for 1 h during 5 to 6 WACT (period 2). Milk production parameters: energy-corrected milk (ECM), fat and protein percentages and somatic cell counts (SCCs) were recorded once monthly. Lameness was scored once at the start of the study and cows with SU and DD showed more score 2 lameness (42% v. 31%) than the healthy cows (12%). Most differences in behaviour were found during 2 to 3 WACT when DD- and SU-affected cows were lying less (P = 0.001 and P = 0.012, respectively) than healthy cows. Ruminating while standing was performed more in DD-affected cows (P < 0.001) and tended to be performed more in SU-affected cows (P = 0.079) than their controls. Vigilance was performed more in DD- and SU-affected cows than in healthy cows (P < 0.001 and P = 0.047). Cows with DD produced approximately 5.5 kg less ECM per day both at 2 to 3 WACT (P = 0.022) and at 5 to 6 WACT (P = 0.017) than healthy cows, whereas SU-affected cows tended to produce less ECM at 5 to 6 WACT (P = 0.059). No differences in milk fat and protein or SCC were found. It may be concluded that DD-affected cows showed a stronger behavioural response to the claw disease than the SU-affected cows. This shows the importance of regular claw checking and claw trimming of the cows in order to avoid the negative effects on behaviour and milk production.

We observed housed dairy calves nursed by their dam to examine the development of sucking, teat change, butting, manipulating and other behaviours during the first four weeks post partum. The study herd was kept in a deep litter system with access to an out-door area. The nursing cows were milked two to three times daily and calves could suckle them at will. Twelve cow–calf pairs were followed to obtain video recordings of two nursings per pair at 7, 14 and 28 days post partum. Videos were analysed for the duration and frequency of all observable behaviours within a nursing. The nursings lasted on average 7.2min ranging from 2.8 to 16.3min. Sucking made up 66% of the total nursing time and occurred throughout the nursing. Total sucking and butting were higher at the beginning of the nursing and decreased towards the end. Older calves had longer nursing durations ( p p p p p p

To explore if β-adrenergic receptors in the brain are involved in acute and delayed cardiovascular responses to a brief emotional stress, by comparing the effects of the β1-blockers metoprolol (lipophilic) and atenolol (hydrophilic).Male dominant pigs, singleliving, freely moving, with telemetric recordings of intra-arterial pressure and ECG and assay of plasma levels of the adrenergic cotransmitter neuropeptide Y (NPY), were confronted with four alien pigs for three minutes at weekly intervals. Weeks 1 and 4 were controls, in weeks 2 and 3 randomized crossover treatment with metoprolol or atenolol were given.The confrontation caused instant and transient tachycardia and more prolonged effects in terms of increased plasma NPY levels, increased arterial pressure and reduced cardiac vagal activation. The two β-blockers inhibited the tachycardia equally, but only metoprolol reduced the prolonged effects.Emotionally induced sympathetic activation involves peripheral release of NPY causing a prolonged increase of arterial pressure and a reduction of cardiac vagal activity. These effects are prevented by central nervous β-adrenoceptor blockade.

Suckling was studied in primiparous cross-bred beef cattle (Bos primigenius f. taurus) kept on a 1000-ha grazing area. Observations were made at mean calf ages of 1, 7, 65 and 123 d on 20 calves of each age. Recordings of four different behaviours were made at 12-s intervals and recordings of butting were made continuously during one suckling bout per calf and age. Two types of sucking, occurring within the same suckling bouts, were distinguished: sucking 1 (rhythmic sucking movements) and sucking 2 (

This study evaluated whether adding environmental enrichments to a standard housing system during winter could decrease stereotypic behaviours in female mink. The study was conducted on two private farms (F1 and F2) in southern Sweden. In total, 75 farmed mink on each farm were housed in standard cages, with either a wire net shelf, a plastic ball, a plastic cylinder or all three enrichments together. Standard cages without enrichments were used as a control. All animals in the study were born and raised in a standard cage system without enrichments. The animals were housed in the enriched cages from early December, at approximately 7 months of age, until the beginning of March. Behavioural observations were made in January–March during three observation periods (10 consecutive days each) on each farm. The behaviours were recorded using one-zero sampling during 2h prior to feeding and 2h afterwards. There were no significant differences in stereotypic behaviours between treatments at F1, but stereotypic behaviours decreased significantly ( P P P

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of soft elastic stall partitions on the positions in own or neighbouring stalls by dairy cows, faeces and urine, and of contact between animal and partition. There were two designs of a soft elastic partition, here called I-partition and lambda-partition. The study was performed on a commercial dairy herd where the partitions had been developed. After clinical examination 16 lactating cows were selected and used as focal animals, and paired for video recordings. The animals were placed, according to their size, on stalls with different breadths and lengths. Each pair of focal animals was video recorded continuously for 9 days according to the following sequence: (1) with partition 3x24 h; (2) without partition 3x24 h; (3) with partition again 3x24 h. Before each such session each focal pair was again clinically examined. Behaviours were analysed per hour, summarised per 24h and analysed with a mixed linear model or Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. Without partitions more urine (p

The aim of this study was to investigate the suckling behaviour of dairy calves allowed to suckle freely in a barn with an automatic milking (AM) system and how their behaviour differed from the behaviour of calves given milk substitute from an automatic feeder. For the first 8 weeks of life, calves of the dairy breed Swedish Red were either suckling freely (FS, n = 16) from the dam in an AM barn or kept in groups with automatic feeding (HM, n = 18) with an allowance of 9 kg of milk substitute per day. All treatments had concentrate and hay ad lib. Focal calves in FS and HM treatments were observed one day in weeks 2, 4 and 8, at 08:00–10:00 and the FS calves’ suckling behaviour was observed for a 24-h period once weekly. The HM calves moved, ate concentrate and ate hay more than the FS calves, whereas the FS calves lay down and ruminated more than the HM calves. Cross-sucking and tongue-rolling were displayed in HM but not in FS calves. Of the suckling bouts recorded in FS calves 80% was on the dam. Four calves were recorded suckling solely on their dam, but most of the calves were observed attempting to suckle or suckling on other cows in the group once or twice. The total suckling time and number of suckling bouts during week 2–8 on all cows decreased with increasing calf age. In conclusion, the free-suckling calves ate less solid feed, rested more and exhibited fewer non-nutritive oral and abnormal behaviours compared to the calves fed milk substitute from an automatic feeder, and some calves often suckled on other cows.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of restricted suckling (RS) in Holstein cattle on the weight gain, health and behaviour of calves and on udder health and milk let-down in cows compared to artificial rearing (AR). The study was conducted in Mexico. The 27 cows with calves were assigned to one of the two treatments and studied until weaning 8 weeks postpartum. Cows were milked three times daily. RS calves were allowed to suckle for 30 min 2 h after morning and afternoon milking, whereas AR calves were fed milk from buckets through a floating nipple at the same time. During suckling/milk feeding, the AR calves performed more oral behaviours such as ‘cross-suck’ and ‘lick object’ than RS calves. The RS calves spent a longer time suckling on the front teats than the rear teats. During observations of general behaviour when calves were not milk fed, AR calves displayed more often ‘cross-suck’, ‘lick object’, ‘eat concentrate’, ‘eat hay’ and ‘ruminate’ than RS calves. Milk consumption (286 kg) over 8 weeks in both groups and live weight gain (LWG) were similar in RS (26.2 ± 3.9 kg) and AR calves (26.1 ± 1.4 kg), but the individual variation in LWG was higher in RS calves. The milk suckled by RS calves contained more fat and metabolisable energy (ME) per kg than the parlour milk fed to AR calves (6.1% vs. 4.2% and 3.5 MJ/kg vs. 2.9 MJ/kg) whereas AR calves ingested more than fourfold as much concentrate as RS calves (21.6 kg vs. 4.8 kg), which resulted in similar total ME intake in treatments. The California Mastitis Test scores revealed a tendency to improved udder health in RS cows compared to AR cows. The average time to milk let-down was similar in treatments. In conclusion, the RS system with the Holstein dairy cattle reduced ‘cross-sucking’ and ‘licking objects’ in the calves and tended to improve udder health in the cows, compared to the AR system.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the prevention of suckling and the separation from a foster cow in two steps lower the behavioural and physiological stress reaction in calves compared with if the two events occur simultaneously. Twelve groups, each consisting of one cow and four calves, were formed when the calves were 1 week old, and the calves were prevented from suckling at 10 weeks of age. In six of the groups, the calves were prevented from suckling by simultaneous separation from the cow (control). In the other six groups, the calves were fitted with a nose-flap, which prevented them from suckling while they were kept together with the cow for another 2 weeks before they were separated at 12 weeks of age (two-step). The behaviour and the heart rate of the calves were recorded, and saliva cortisol samples were taken after the calves were prevented from suckling (both treatments), as well as after the two-step separation. The two-step calves vocalised and walked significantly less when prevented from suckling than control calves ( p p p p p p

We evaluated how the behavioural and heart rate response of dairy cows and calves to mutual separation was affected by two factors: the age of the calf at separation (1, 4 and 7 days) and the presence or absence of visual and auditory contact between the mother and her calf after separation. In total, 46 cow–calf pairs were randomly allocated to one of six treatments according to a 3×2 factorial design. The cows' behavioural response to separation was recorded at 0–1, 9–10, 25–26 and 50 and 51h after separation. The calves' behavioural response was recorded during the 24h after separation. The heart rate was measured 60min before and 60min after separation. Cows from the later separation treatments spent more time standing ( p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p

Concrete is the most commonly used alley flooring in confined dairy herds because of its qualities of construction and ease of cleaning. Nevertheless, the hardness, abrasiveness, and slipperiness of concrete floors have adverse effects on animal well-being and health, and yielding rubber flooring is becoming popular as a way of improving the flooring conditions on walkways. The aim of this study was to investigate preferences of dairy cows for rubber compared with concrete flooring under the conditions of a commercial dairy farm. The study was conducted in an organic dairy herd with free-stall housing. Floor preference was tested on groups of standing cows in a 120-m2 holding pen before milking, and 1 yr later on a 12- x 3-m walkway. The holding pen and the walkway were divided lengthwise into 2 identical sections. Two types of solid rubber mats (soft and extra soft) were tested against solid concrete in the holding pen. Slatted and solid rubber mats were tested against slatted concrete in the walkway. Each floor type was tested over 4 d on the left side and 4 d on the right side of the holding pen and the walkway, respectively. Concrete flooring on both sides of the sections was tested as a control before the testing of different section materials. All observations of the distribution of cows in the sections were made from video recordings captured in association with the afternoon milking. The number of cows on each section was recorded approximately every 7 min in the holding pen, and continuously on the walkway. A significantly higher proportion of cows stood on the side with the soft and extra soft rubber mats (65.1 +/- 2.7 and 69.3 +/- 2.6%, respectively, mean +/- SEM) compared with the control distribution when only the solid concrete was available (50.9 +/- 3.9%). A significantly higher proportion of nonlame cows walked exclusively on the side with the slatted (64.5 +/- 5.4%, d 4) or solid rubber mats (68.2 +/- 5.1%, d 4) compared with controls (28.9 +/- 4.3%). Lame cows within a group of walking cows did not show a higher preference for soft flooring as distinct as nonlame cows (52.7 +/- 6.9 and 59.4 +/- 6.2% for the solid and slatted rubber mats, respectively, at d 4 vs. 40.3 +/- 6.2% for control), presumably because of competition with other, higher ranked cows. It was concluded that the majority of cows preferred to walk and stand on soft rubber rather than on concrete flooring.

The aim of this study was to investigate if a 2-step method of preventing suckling and cow-calf separation reduces the stress reaction in foster cows compared with a simultaneous separation method. Seven Swedish Holstein and 5 Swedish Red dairy cows were used as foster cows, each having a group of 4 calves. The foster cow-calf group was formed when calves were 1 wk old, and the calves were prevented from suckling at 10 wk of age. In 6 of the cow-calf groups, calves were prevented from suckling by simultaneous separation from the cow (control). In the other 6 groups, calves were fitted with a nose-flap, which prevented them from suckling while they were kept together with the cow for another 2 wk before they were separated (2-step). The behavior of the foster cows was observed at 4 observation periods, 0 to 2, 8.5 to 9.5, 24 to 26, and 72 to 74 h after the calves were prevented from suckling (2-step), after separation (2-step), and after calves were prevented from suckling by simultaneous separation (control). For both treatments, saliva cortisol was sampled once daily for 5 d at wk 10. This was repeated at wk 12 for the 2-step treatment. Heart rate was measured with the behavioral observations. Control foster cows vocalized more (P < 0.001) and walked more (P = 0.005) than the 2-step foster cows after prevention of suckling and after separation from the calves. When control cows were separated from their calves, they more frequently (P < 0.001) held their head out of the pen than was the case with 2-step cows when separated 2 wk after prevention of suckling. The variation in heart rate was larger in the control group compared with 2-step cows at 0 to 2 h after separation/prevention of suckling (P = 0.002). No effect of treatment was found on cortisol concentration. Our conclusion is that separating the 2 events "prevention of suckling" and "separation" reduces the stress experienced by the foster cow at weaning.

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of restricted suckling (RS) in dual-purpose cows and calves compared to artificial rearing (AR). Twelve Holstein-Zebu cows with calves were assigned to each treatment. Cows were milked once daily in the morning with calves present to stimulate milk let-down. RS calves suckled 30 min after milking and 30 min in the afternoon, whereas AR calves were milk-fed from nipple bottles. The daily saleable milk yield was higher in RS than in AR cows (p < 0.01; 7.44 vs 6.50 kg/day), whereas RS cows had lower milk-fat content (p < 0.001). AR cows had higher California Mastitis Test scores (p < 0.001) and lower lactose content (p < 0.001) compared to RS cows, which indicates an improved udder health in RS cows. AR calves displayed more ‘cross-suck’ during suckling/milk feeding (p < 0.001) and during observations of general behaviour (p < 0.05), and more ‘lick and sniff interior’ during milking (p < 0.05) and suckling/milk feeding (p < 0.01), compared to RS calves. During observations of general behaviour the RS calves were more often observed to ‘walk’ (p < 0.01) and ‘lick self’ (p < 0.05) and less frequently to ‘eat concentrate’ (p < 0.05) than AR calves. Results support the hypothesis that RS increases milk yield, influences milk composition and improves udder health in cows, and decreases abnormal sucking in calves.

The present study evaluated the effect of restricted suckling (RS) on some physiological and behavioural stress measures compared to artificial rearing (AR). Thirty Holstein × Zebu cows and their calves were randomly assigned to one of two treatments. Cows were milked once daily. All calves were tethered in front of their dams during milking permitting physical contact between them in order to stimulate milk ejection, starting at 5 days of age. Calves in the RS treatment were allowed to suckle during 60 min daily, 30 min after milking and 30 min in the afternoon, while calves in the AR treatment were fed milk from teat bottles at the same times. Data were collected from day 4 to day 9, while treatments started on day 5. Heart and respiratory rates, body weight and temperature were measured (in that order) 15 min before entry into the milking parlour. Blood samples and pedometer readings were collected about 50 min later, immediately on return to their home pens. Higher heart rate in calves was found in the RS group than in the AR group. However, cortisol concentration was higher ( P P P > 0.05) was found in body temperature, heart and respiratory rates in RS and AR treatments. It was concluded that suckling and nursing reduces some stress parameters in calves and cows in the AR treatment.

The aim of this study was to compare the effect of different access to an exercise area on behaviour, time to lie down, claw conformation, claw lesions and milk production. The study was carried out on an organic dairy farm with 52 tied cows. The cows were randomly assigned to one of four treatments, with 13 cows in each group, and matched according to lactation number, milk production and whether or not they were de-horned. The treatments were: exercise every day (E7), exercise two days per week (E2), exercise one day per week (E1) or no exercise (NoE). Exercised cows were brought to one of two outdoor paddocks for 1 h. Observations of behaviour were made using one-zero sampling during the 1 h exercise, twice per month and treatment, during the six months of winter housing (780 min per group in total). Treatment NoE was observed in their stalls during the same time as the other treatments were exercised. The duration of the two phases of the lying down movement was recorded four times per cow. Claw traits were recorded at trimming at the beginning and the end of the six month study period. The farm measured the individual milk yield one day per month. There was an increase in the mean percentage of walking and trotting with decreasing access to exercise. Cows in the E1 and E2 treatment explored the environment more than cows in the E7 treatment. The wear of the claws during the winter was greater for the exercised cows compared to NoE and resulted in shorter claws at spring trimming. There was no difference in the duration of lying down movements for different treatments, nor a difference in milk production. These results shows that adult dairy cows used the time to walk, trot and explore the environment when given access to an outdoor paddock, and that exercise had a positive effect on the claw conformation.

Intersucking is an abnormal behaviour in dairy heifers and cows, and it is defined by one animal sucking the teat of another animal with the intention of sucking milk. The aim of this paper is to review earlier studies on intersucking in dairy cattle and to present results from a questionnaire about intersucking in Swedish cattle. In previous studies 1–49% of the dairy farmers have reported intersucking in cows, and 0.5–40% of the cows have been observed intersucking. Many factors have been found to be related to the development of intersucking, for example, the milk feeding method and housing of calves, the feeding methods of heifers, and the feeding and housing of cows. There also seems to be a relation between cross-sucking in calves and intersucking in heifers and cows. It has been claimed that intersucking between heifers leads to mastitis in primiparous cows, and especially the Corynebacterium pyogenes mastitis. A large number of preventive measures have been tested to stop intersucking in cows, but with varying success. A questionnaire was answered by telephone interviews to 230 dairy farms in Sweden with a reply frequency of 66%. Intersucking had been observed between cows on 29.4% of the farms, and between heifers on 60% of the farms. Calves had been observed sucking under the belly of other calves on 60% of the farms. There was a significant relationship between observations of calves sucking under the belly (cross-sucking) and heifers intersucking (P

International audience; Anticipatory behaviours may serve a useful tool in studying positive emotional states in animals. This study aimed to investigate if lambs express anticipatory behaviours for opportunities to play or a food reward and if these behaviours would differ depending on the anticipated event. Forty-two male lambs were allocated into three treatment groups (control, play, food). Play and food lambs were conditioned to anticipate play or food in a holding pen for three minutes prior to accessing a reward arena containing toy objects or concentrate, respectively. Control lambs returned to their home pen following three minutes in the holding pen. Compared to the control lambs, both play and food lambs differed in several behaviours frequencies and durations, e.g. by an increased frequency of behavioural transitions and duration of walking. Following these observations, food lambs received the toy objects when entering the reward arena. The subsequent session in the holding pen resulted in a decrease in number of behavioural transitions, time spent walking and an increase in time standing still. In conclusion, anticipating a positive event resulted in differences in behaviour compared to a control group, and these behaviours are affected when the anticipated event does not fit with the lambs’ expectations.

This study investigated the diurnal distribution of urination and defecation in tied dairy cows with reference to management routines and milk yield/feeding intensity. A total of 16 lactating cows and 4 heifers were videotaped during nine consecutive 24-h periods. The cows had a mean of 16.1 defecations per 24 h—significantly more than the heifers (P

To improve the welfare of group-housed male guinea pigs during the acclimatization period, which is when social groups are formed, different designs of shelters were tested, one shelter having one entrance to a single compartment – a Box for group hiding – and the other having individual entrances to a compartment in the cage – a Garage for single hiding. Both were studied to evaluate whether they had any affect on the behavioral levels. Behavioural and weight data were collected during five of the seven days of the acclimatization period. Data were tested against the Mann-Whitney U and Variance Analysis test. Results demonstrated that males in cages with the garage spent more time inside the shelter (P =0.0004), while males in cages with the box spent more time resting (P =0.000), feeding (P =0.0043) and drinking (P =0.0022) on the open floor, and yet there was no difference in individual weight between treatments at the end of the study. Males in cages with garage experienced a more rapid establishment of the social hierarchy (P = 0.0024) by being involved with a lower number of social interactions. The conclusion from the present study is considered to show that males in cages with the garage were able to avoid unnecessarily high levels of stress and aggression caused by territorial defence while the hierarchy was established., Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Animal Sciences, Vol 34, No 1 (2007)

We examined at what time after separation from their own calf, dairy cows best accept foster calves, and if there are differences between two breeds in their willingness to accept foster calves. In total 48 cows, 24 Swedish Red and White (SRW) and 24 Swedish Holstein–Friesian (SHF) were used. They were tested at four different times after separation from their own calf: (1) directly; (2) 4 days; (3) 26 days; and (4) 178 days after ( n =6 cows/treatment). Twelve groups of four calves in each, two calves of each breed, were used to test the cows. Each calf group was used to test four cows of the same breed from different times after separation in a random balanced order during 29 h. Behaviours were recorded with direct observations for the first and last 2 h using 1–0 sampling at 3 min intervals. The behaviours were tested statistically with analysis of variance. There was no significant effect of the four different times after separation. SRW cows sniffed the calves significantly more than SHF cows during both observation periods ( P P P P

The aim of this study was to investigate if access to an artificial teat compared to an open bucket would decrease abnormal sucking in calves held in pairs, and if the calves would perform less abnormal sucking if they spent more time drinking or sucking the milk. In total 16 calves of Swedish Red and White cattle housed in pairs were used. The eight groups were given 2.5l of whole milk per calf, twice a day in one of the following treatments; bucket with fast flow (control), bucket with slow flow, floating nipple with fast flow and floating nipple with slow flow. All groups were subjected to the four different treatments in a random balanced order. Two buckets were connected with a rubber pipe in order to control the milk flow. In the fast treatments, the milk poured from one bucket to the other in 40s, and in the slow treatments the milk poured from one bucket to the other in 10min. Each group had the treatment for 6 days before behavioural observations were done on day 7. These were made by instantaneous recordings at 20s intervals for 30min, starting when the calves received their milk in the morning and afternoon. The number of recordings of abnormal sucking was lower than the control in all treatments (P

The behavioural effects of providing male laboratory rabbits with one of four objects in their cage as environmental enrichment were investigated. A total of 60 New Zealand White rabbits housed individually in cages were used. The rabbits were assigned to one of 5 treatments by a random procedure; hay in a water bottle, grass-cubes, two gnawing sticks, a box, or nothing (controls). One week after purchase they were given their object and behavioural observations began. These were made by instantaneous recordings at 2 min intervals for one h/day and totaled 16 days. Rabbits given hay interacted more with their object than those given grass-cubes, gnawing sticks or a box (143, 58, 13 and 19 mean no. of rec. resp., p < 0.0001 for each treatment), they showed less abnormal behaviour, such as excessive fur-licking, sham chewing and bar-biting, than the control rabbits (50 vs. 97 mean no. of rec., p < 0.01), and they lay still less often than the control rabbits (179 vs. 256 mean no. of rec., p < 0.05). Rabbits given grass-cubes interacted more often with their object than those given gnawing sticks (p < 0.001) or a box (p < 0.01), and they showed less abnormal behaviour than the control rabbits (p < 0.001). Rabbits given gnawing sticks or a box interacted only rarely with their object, and they showed the same amount of abnormal behaviour as the control rabbits. The weight gain was higher for rabbits given grass-cubes (906 g, p < 0.001), but not for rabbits given hay (650 g), gnawing sticks (611 g) or a box (570 g) compared to the control rabbits (617 g). It is concluded that hay was the most effective of the tested objects in reducing abnormal behaviour and giving the individually housed rabbits some alternative occupation.