Relationships between young stallions's temperament and their behavioral reactions during standardized veterinary examinations.

in Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research (2012), 7(5), 311-321

Le stress du cavalier et du cheval en compétition

Poster (2011, February 24)

La relation entre peur et bien-être chez les animaux de production

in Beata, Claude (Ed.) La peur. De l'animal à l'humain, de l'éthologie à la pathologie. (2011)

Fear is a basic emotion shared by humans and most animals that meet veterinarians. This book gathers the proceedings of the "Zoopsy 2011" congress, where veterinarians and other health professionals ... [more ▼]

Fear is a basic emotion shared by humans and most animals that meet veterinarians. This book gathers the proceedings of the "Zoopsy 2011" congress, where veterinarians and other health professionals talked about fear. The article speaks about the relationships between fear and welfare in farmed animals. [less ▲]

Impact of the temperament of young stallions on their stress reactions when subjected to a standardised veterinary examination

Poster (2010, July 31)

Comparison between blood and salivary cortisol levels in horses (Equus caballus) using an ACTH challenge

Poster (2009, July)

Gaseous emissions associated to a high-fibre diet fed to gestating sows group-housed on deep litter

in Proceeding of the XIV ISAH Congress (2009)

Gaseous emissions from weaned pigs raised on different floor systems

in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (2009), 130

Gaseous emissions from agriculture contribute to a number of environmental effects. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are greenhouse gases taking part to the global problem of ... [more ▼]

Gaseous emissions from agriculture contribute to a number of environmental effects. Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are greenhouse gases taking part to the global problem of climate change. Ammonia (NH3) emissions are responsible of soil acidification and eutrophication and contribute also to indirect emissions of N2O. This work evaluated the influence of the type of floor on the emissions of these gases in the raising of weaned pigs. Two trials were carried out. In the first trial, the animals were kept either on fully slatted floor or on straw-based deep litter and, in the second one, either on fully slatted floor or on sawdust-based deep litter. For each trial and on each type of floor, 2 successive batches of weaned pigs were raised without changing the litter or emptying the slurry pit between the 2 batches. The rooms were automatically ventilated to maintain a constant ambient temperature. The performance of the animals was not significantly different according to the floor type. In trial 1, the nitrogen contents of the straw deep litter (including the substrate) and slurry were respectively 276 and 389 g pig-1. In trial 2, the sawdust deep litter and slurry nitrogen contents were respectively 122 and 318 g pig-1. Raising pigs on straw deep litter produced proportionately around 100% more NH3 than raising pigs on slatted floor (0.61 vs. 0.31 g NH3-N d-1 per pig; P<0.05). Differences in CO2, H2O and CH4 emissions were not significant between systems. Raising pigs on sawdust deep litter produced also proportionately more NH3 (+52%; 0.55 vs. 0.36 g NH3-N d-1 per pig; P<0.01) but also more CO2 (+25%; 427 vs. 341 g d-1 per pig; P<0.001) and H2O (+65%; 981 vs. 593 g d-1 per pig; P<0.001) and less CH4 (-40%; 0.52 vs. 0.86 g d-1 per pig; P<0.001) than raising pigs on slatted floor. Practically no N2O emission was observed from rooms with slatted floor while the N2O emissions were 0.03 and 0.32 g N2O-N d-1 per pig for the straw and sawdust deep litter respectively. The warming potential of the greenhouse gases (N2O + CH4), were about 22, 34 and 168 g CO2 equivalents per day and per pig on fully slatted floor, straw or sawdust deep litter respectively. In conclusion, pollutant gas emissions from rearing of weaned pig seem lower with fully slatted plastic floor system than with deep litter systems [less ▲]

Analyse des modalités d'utilisation d'un distributeur automatique de concentré (DAC) par des truies gestantes logées en groupe dynamique

in 41èmes Journées de la Recherche porcine (2009)

Behavioural and physiological assessment of stress level in hospitalized horses: correlation between parameters

Poster (2008, August)

Effects of space allowance on the welfare of dry sows kept in dynamic groups and fed with an electronic sow feeder

in Applied Animal Behaviour Science (2008), 112(3-4), 284-296

The minimal legal space allowance for grouped pregnant sows in the EU is 2.25 m(2)/sow. The effect of higher space per animal on agonistic behaviour and social stress of animals living in dynamic groups ... [more ▼]

The minimal legal space allowance for grouped pregnant sows in the EU is 2.25 m(2)/sow. The effect of higher space per animal on agonistic behaviour and social stress of animals living in dynamic groups is not known. Two groups of 34 pregnant Belgian Landrace sows were housed in two pens of respectively 102 m(2) (3 m(2)/sow) and 76.5 m(2) (2.25 m(2)/sow). Each sow lived there for 15 weeks. Sows were fed through an electronic sow feeder. According to the dynamic system, one third of each group (i.e. 11 or 12 nearly parturient sows) was replaced every 5 weeks by the same number of recently inseminated sows. Welfare indicators were collected during six of these 5 week-periods: performance, agonistic behaviour, skin lesion score and salivary cortisol. No differences were observed for production parameters, or for fighting activity. However, the mean number of one-way aggressions, when observed during 2 h-periods at 3 and 8 days after grouping, was significantly lower in the large pen than in the small one (respectively 16 +/- 2 versus 26 +/- 3, p < 0.01, and 10 +/- 2 versus 20 +/- 5, p < 0.05). The mean number of injuries was also lower with the 3 m(2) space allowance, when collected on the introduced sows one, 2 and 3 weeks after grouping. Some contradictory differences in salivary cortisol were noted 2 and 26 h after mixing, but without reaching statistical significance. An available area 33% higher than the EU legal minimum reduced agonistic behaviour and consecutive wounds and thus induced better welfare conditions for sows living in dynamic groups and fed with an electronic sow feeder. The impact on productivity and social physiological stress need further research. [less ▲]