Expert assessment of the impact of ship-strikes on cetacean welfare using the Welfare Assessment Tool for Wild Cetaceans (2023)
Journal Article
Rae, F., Nicol, C., & Simmonds, M. (2023). Expert assessment of the impact of ship-strikes on cetacean welfare using the Welfare Assessment Tool for Wild Cetaceans. Animal Welfare Journal, 32, Article e18. https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2023.7

Human activities are increasingly impacting our oceans and the focus of attention tends to be on their environmental impacts, rather than consequences for animal welfare. Global shipping density has quadrupled since 1992. Unsurprisingly, increased le... Read More about Expert assessment of the impact of ship-strikes on cetacean welfare using the Welfare Assessment Tool for Wild Cetaceans.

Piling behaviour in British layer flocks: Observations and farmers' èxperiences (2022)
Journal Article
Winter, J., Stratmann, A., Toscano, M. J., Cardwell, J. M., & Nicol, C. J. (2022). Piling behaviour in British layer flocks: Observations and farmers' èxperiences. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 253, Article 105686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2022.105686

Smothering of laying hens, defined as death due to suffocation when hens tightly pile together in layer barns, is a well-known problem affecting the British loose-housed layer industry. However, knowledge about mechanisms contributing to piling in Br... Read More about Piling behaviour in British layer flocks: Observations and farmers' èxperiences.

Assessing Animal Welfare: A triangulation of preference, judgement bias and other candidate welfare indicators (2022)
Journal Article
Paul, E., Browne, W., Mendl, M., Caplen, G., Trevarthen, A., Held, S., & Nicol, C. (2022). Assessing Animal Welfare: A triangulation of preference, judgement bias and other candidate welfare indicators. Animal Behaviour, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.02.003

To assess the welfare of captive animals, validated measures – so called “welfare indicators” - are required. We used a triangulation approach to investigate the extent to which different measures converged to provide corroborating evidence of welfar... Read More about Assessing Animal Welfare: A triangulation of preference, judgement bias and other candidate welfare indicators.

The effect of hard pecking enrichment during rear on feather cover, feather pecking behaviour and beak length in beak-trimmed and intact-beak laying hen pullets. (2022)
Journal Article
Baker, P. E., Nicol, C. J., & Weeks, C. A. (2022). The effect of hard pecking enrichment during rear on feather cover, feather pecking behaviour and beak length in beak-trimmed and intact-beak laying hen pullets. Animals,

Injurious Pecking, commonly controlled by beak trimming (BT) is a widespread issue in laying hens associated with thwarted foraging. This controlled study compared the effect in intact and beak-trimmed pullets of providing pecking pans to 8 treatment... Read More about The effect of hard pecking enrichment during rear on feather cover, feather pecking behaviour and beak length in beak-trimmed and intact-beak laying hen pullets..

Social buffering in horses is influenced by context but not by the familiarity and habituation of a companion (2021)
Journal Article
C, R., CJ, N., T, R., & DS, M. (2021). Social buffering in horses is influenced by context but not by the familiarity and habituation of a companion. Scientific Reports, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88319-z+

Social buffering applies when a companion can help to reduce the subject’s stress response during a stressful event and/or help to recover more quickly from a stressful event. The aim of this study was to determine if the social buffering function of... Read More about Social buffering in horses is influenced by context but not by the familiarity and habituation of a companion.

Exploratory behaviour towards novel objects is associated with enhanced learning in young horses (2021)
Journal Article
Winther Christensen, J., Peerstrup Ahrendt, L., Malmkvist, J., & Nicol, C. (2021). Exploratory behaviour towards novel objects is associated with enhanced learning in young horses. Scientific Reports,

The mechanisms underlying individual variation in learning are key to understanding the development of cognitive abilities. In humans and primates, curiosity has been suggested as an important intrinsic factor that enhances learning, whereas in domes... Read More about Exploratory behaviour towards novel objects is associated with enhanced learning in young horses.