On Wednesday, May 8, members of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare participated in the 15th Annual Research Symposium at the University of Guelph Arboretum Centre.
Following an interesting day of 15 presentations and several research poster displays, awards were given for the best of the best.
Afternoon presentations by Caleigh Copelin and Prathipa Anandarajan tied to take home the prize for best delivery of the day while Steely Ellis won best research poster. All prize winners took home $350 in prize winnings each. Thanks to Charles River Laboratories for their generous contribution of prizes for this year’s symposium.
Steeley Ellis takes home top prize for her research poster
A research poster by Steeley Ellis won best overall design and presentation at the symposium, sharing a summary of research on how issues like keel bone injuries (fractures and deviations) and footpad problems (like hyperkeratosis and bumblefoot) affect laying hen’s preferences for different perch types, whether that be wire platform, round perch or a flattened oval perch. The poster also touched on how chickens get to and from the perches, either by ramps provided or by aerial ascent/descent.
“These problems are extremely prevalent in commercial facilities and the results of my study will hopefully be able to inform producers on how housing systems can be adjusted to promote these birds comfort,” Steeley says.
Caleigh Copelin presents her findings on identifying risk factors for conflict behaviours in Canadian riding lesson horses
Caleigh’s presentation focused on her research on the risk factors for conflict behaviours in Canadian riding lesson horses, which involved an incredibly robust surveying process to collect data from across the country with 157 riding lesson facilities participating representing just over 1,500 horses.
“Riding lesson horses are suggested to have poorer welfare, illustrated by higher levels of abnormal behaviour, ‘depressed-like’ posture, injuries and health issues compared to pleasure horses,” reads Caleigh’s research abstract. “To understand current management practices, an online survey was distributed to the operators of Canadian riding lesson facilities to collect demographic information about the respondents, facilities, lesson horse populations, management strategies and observed behaviours in their horses.”
Some of the key findings include:
- Smaller lesson herds showed lower levels of horses who were reactive when tacking up, bit their handlers, bucked, and pinned their ears under saddle compared to larger lesson herds.
- Facilities with larger herds were also more likely to have longer maximum daily working hours which were associated with higher levels of kicking out under saddle.
- Use of restrictive tack such as flash nosebands, standing martingales and side reins was associated with increased levels of conflict behaviours, including horses kicking out at handlers and under saddle, evading rider aids and bolting under saddle
- Standing martingale use was associated with higher levels of horses evading rider aids and kicking out under saddle.
- Lesson barns reported significant levels of crop use in their programs, which was associated with increased levels of biting handlers, pinning ears on the ground, kicking out and bucking under saddle.
“These results identify herd size, daily workload and equipment use as risk factors for conflict behaviours in lesson horses. In particular, lesson facilities with smaller herds may be able to better attend to the individual needs of their horses.”
Caleigh’s presentation skills recently earned her the top prize at ISES Conference in New Zealand.
Prathipa Anandarajan presents her findings on how cage quality affects male mouse attractiveness to females
Prathipa’s presentation, titled “Swipe left, swipe right and she found her Mr. Right” shared her research from the Mason Lab on how cage quality affects male mouse attractiveness to females.
Opening her slides with an engaging question to her audience, Prathipa showed black and white photos of two men, asking the audience which one they would date if given the opportunity. All but one selected the more visually-attractive image before Prathipa revealed the two images were actually of the same person, just presented completely differently.
The exercise led perfectly into the background of her presentation noting that animals have evolved to choose their mates, and that females are generally choosier about the partners they select due to their greater investment in gametes and offspring care. Science tells us that females will choose males with traits that enhance their offspring genetically which includes health, fitness, courtship displays and ability to provide physical resources.
“In captivity, stress is common in animals housed sub-optimally (e.g. in small, barren cages), which could explain why in rats, mink, and even Drosophila, raising males in higher-quality conditions enhances their success with females,” Prathipa shares in her research summary.
Her study tested whether housing quality can affect male attractiveness in mice, predicting that “females will treat males from conventional small cages as lower-quality, preferentially courting with males from well-resourced ‘enriched’ conditions, known to enhance welfare.” In fact, many might not know that mice will sing as a part of their courtship display, similar to birds.
Prathipa tested her hypothesis using 12 female sister pairs who were each presented with a brother pair in a T-maze mate choice test that lasted 30 minutes. The results showed that females spent on average 1.5 times longer near well-resourced males than their conventionally-caged brothers and sniffed them for twice as long.
The next step in the research process for the Mason Lab is to investigate which housing-sensitive traits, like body size, song quality or other, are influential.
