Animals, Volume 8, Issue 12

The Australian dairy sheep industry is small and mostly based on a natural grass grazing system, which can limit productivity. The current study tested different plant oil-infused and rumen protected polyunsaturated fats and their interactions with s...

Much of the research on pedigree dog breeding has been directed towards understanding the implications of reduced genetic diversity and the prevalence of inherited disorders. An example is the potential role of the popular sire effect in perpetuating...

Principal component analysis (PCA) is a potential approach that can be applied in multiple-trait genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to explore pleiotropy, as well as increase the power of quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection. In this study, th...

One of the liver functions is copper storage, which can be toxic when in excess. The objective of this retrospective study was to determine the relationship between hepatic copper and pathology conditions in stored samples from 55 post-mortem dogs (3...

The authors would like to add the following statement to the published article [...]

Animal welfare legislation in South Australia underwent amendments in 2008, where all the maximum penalties for animal welfare offences were doubled. This commitment to increased penalties arguably provides evidence of the legislature’s intent...

Airborne transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has been known for a long time. Most experiments were performed using PRRSV-2 strains and fairly little information is available on the airborne spread of PRRSV-1. T...

An important challenge facing the New Zealand (NZ) dairy industry is development of production systems that can maintain or increase production and profitability, while reducing impacts on receiving environments including water and air. Using researc...

The ability of an animal to cope and adapt itself to the changing climate virtually depends on the function of rumen and rumen inhabitants such as bacteria, protozoa, fungi, virus and archaea. Elevated ambient temperature during the summer months can...

This study investigated live animal performance and carcass characteristics of Australian prime lambs fed oil based polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) enriched pellets in a feedlot system. The tested hypothesis was that supplementation of lambs with a...

Citizen concern for the welfare of farm animals is well documented. However, there is a notable gap between people saying they want improved farm animal welfare and how they actually behave as a consumer. This is known as the citizen–consumer attitud...

Although several studies have examined the effects of an owner’s absence and presence on a dog’s physiological responses under experimental conditions over short periods of time (minutes), little is known about the effects of proximity be...

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether zinc (Zn) supplementation protects against hepatic copper (Cu) accumulation in copper-loaded sheep. Forty cross-bred lambs were assigned to five experimental groups. These included the control group (C) a...

Young territorial songbirds have calls to learn, especially calls that may be vital for maintaining territory. Territoriality is largely reinforced and communicated by vocal signals. In their natal territory, juvenile magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) enj...

Nowadays there is an increasing demand for poultry products from alternative rearing systems. These systems, commonly named pastured poultry production (PPP), are more expensive than intensive rearing system but sustain biodiversity, local economies...

Induction and synchronization of estrus and ovulation in sheep is based on intravaginal progestagen-impregnated polyurethane sponges or progesterone-loaded silicon-based devices (CIDR), in either short- (6–7 days) or long-term (12–14 days) protocols....

Sheep are the most bred species in the Central Italy Apennine using the natural pastures as a trophic resource and grazing activity is fundamental to maintain the grassland biodiversity: this goal can be reached only ensuring an economical sustainabi...

Considering the public concern about the welfare of farm animals during routine husbandry practices, this study aimed to determine how husbandry practices are carried out in Chilean farms, sheep farmers’ perceptions of animal welfare and pain,...

The use of molecular techniques in biodiversity research increasingly results in the recognition of multiple divergent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages below the morphospecies level. However, the overlapping distribution of multiple divergent linea...

Wildlife detection dog teams are employed internationally for environmental surveys, and their success often depends on the dog handler. Minimal research is available on the skills that dog handlers believe are important, and no research has been pub...

Little is known about the types of surfaces used during training of Thoroughbred racehorses or methods of exercise used in addition to ridden track-work. Our aims were to (1) describe the types of surfaces used in the training of Thoroughbred racehor...

Veterinary students face several ethical challenges during their curriculum. We used the Animal Ethics Dilemma to study animal ethical views of Finnish veterinary students, and also asked them to score the level of pain perception in 13 different spe...

An individual’s positive or negative perspective when judging an ambiguous stimulus (cognitive bias) can be helpful when assessing animal welfare. Emotionality, as expressed in approach or withdrawal behaviour, is linked to brain asymmetry. The...