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Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: a UK questionnaire survey of signalment risk factors and effects on rabbit welfare and behaviour (2023)
Journal Article
Chivers, B., Keeler, M., & Burn, C. (2023). Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: a UK questionnaire survey of signalment risk factors and effects on rabbit welfare and behaviour. PLoS ONE, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285372

The impacts of ear disease on animal welfare and behaviour are little documented. Ear disease may be common in rabbits, but difficult to recognise, and lop-ears have previously been indicated as a risk factor for ear disease. We aimed to better under... Read More about Ear health and quality of life in pet rabbits of differing ear conformations: a UK questionnaire survey of signalment risk factors and effects on rabbit welfare and behaviour.

Individual Monitoring of Activity and Lameness in Conventional and Slower-Growing Breeds of Broiler Chickens Using Accelerometers (2023)
Journal Article
Pearce, J., Chang, Y. R., & Abeyesinghe, S. (2023). Individual Monitoring of Activity and Lameness in Conventional and Slower-Growing Breeds of Broiler Chickens Using Accelerometers. Animals, 13(9), 1432. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091432

Accelerometers are increasingly being investigated to detect animal behaviour as a method for monitoring individual welfare that overcomes manual challenges associated with time, re-source, and discrete sampling. We investigated the effects of broile... Read More about Individual Monitoring of Activity and Lameness in Conventional and Slower-Growing Breeds of Broiler Chickens Using Accelerometers.

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.

Applying clinical audit for quality improvement in canine dystocia cases seen at a UK primary-care emergency practice (2023)
Journal Article
O'Neill, D., Leicester, L., Reid, A., Marshall, R., & Gilbert, S. (2023). Applying clinical audit for quality improvement in canine dystocia cases seen at a UK primary-care emergency practice. Veterinary Record, https://doi.org/10.1002/vetr.2485

Background: The paucity of published veterinary clinical audits suggests that clinical audit is an under-used tool for quality improvement (QI) in the veterinary profession. Therefore, a continuous QI process was designed and implemented at a UK m... Read More about Applying clinical audit for quality improvement in canine dystocia cases seen at a UK primary-care emergency practice.

Pet owner perception of ferret boredom and consequences for housing, husbandry, and environmental enrichment (2022)
Journal Article
Dancer, A., Diez Leon, M., Bizley, J., & Burn, C. (2022). Pet owner perception of ferret boredom and consequences for housing, husbandry, and environmental enrichment. Animals, 12(23), Article 3262. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12233262

Boredom is a potential chronic but overlooked animal welfare problem. Caused by monotony, sub-optimal stimulation, and restrictive housing, boredom can therefore affect companion animals, particularly those traditionally caged, such as ferrets. We su... Read More about Pet owner perception of ferret boredom and consequences for housing, husbandry, and environmental enrichment.

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.

A Systematic Review of equid welfare at slaughter: existing evidence and evaluation of animal welfare indicators (2022)
Journal Article
Fletcher, K. A., Limon, G., Whatford, L., Grist, A., Knowles, T., & Gibson, T. (2022). A Systematic Review of equid welfare at slaughter: existing evidence and evaluation of animal welfare indicators. Livestock Science, 263, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2022.104988

Guidance surrounding equine slaughter varies globally and lacks published evidence, limiting practical application, causing industry confusion and potentially compromised welfare. Existing research in this field was systematically reviewed, with gaps... Read More about A Systematic Review of equid welfare at slaughter: existing evidence and evaluation of animal welfare indicators.

Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience 32(1) (2022)
Journal Article
Crump, A., Browning, H., Schnell, A., Burn, C., & Birch, J. (2022). Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience 32(1). Animal Sentience, 32, Article 407. https://doi.org/10.51291/2377-7478.1691

We outline a framework for evaluating scientific evidence of sentience, focusing on pain experience. It includes eight neural and cognitive-behavioural criteria, with confidence levels for each criterion reflecting the reliability and quality of the... Read More about Sentience in decapod crustaceans: A general framework and review of the evidence. Animal Sentience 32(1).

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.

Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey (2022)
Journal Article
Dancer, A. M., Díez-León, M., Bizley, J. K., & Burn, C. C. (2022). Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey. Animals, 12, Article 1065. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12091065

Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) are kept and used in multiple sectors of society, but little is known about how they are housed and what environmental enrichment (EE) they may benefit from. We aimed to help guide caretakers about what housing and EE... Read More about Housing and Environmental Enrichment of the Domestic Ferret: A Multi-Sector Survey.

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..

The effect of needle reuse on piglet skin puncture force (2022)
Journal Article
Gibson, T., Blackie, N., & Owen, K. (2022). The effect of needle reuse on piglet skin puncture force. Veterinary Sciences, https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9020090

The study investigated whether repeat-use of needles used to inject piglets with iron, influences the force required to puncture into piglet cadaver skin. Pig units were surveyed on needle reuse and injection practices, these findings informed subseq... Read More about The effect of needle reuse on piglet skin puncture force.

A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., & Popat, R. (2021). A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel. Animal Technology and Welfare, 20, 203-210

Mouse shelters can provide mice with security, help them thermoregulate, offer darkness to prevent damage to their eyes and enable climbing and gnawing opportunities. For laboratory mice, there is a vast array of commercially available cage furniture... Read More about A tunnel is not enough: Mice benefit from in-cage provision of a communal shelter as well as a handling tunnel.

Time to Loss of Behavioural and Brainstem Responses of Ducks Following Non-Stunned Slaughter (2021)
Journal Article
Gibson, T. (in press). Time to Loss of Behavioural and Brainstem Responses of Ducks Following Non-Stunned Slaughter. Animals, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11123531

Non-stunned slaughter has been extensively described for other farmed species but there has been limited research on waterfowl. The study assessed 34 ducks in a non-stunned halal slaughter-house in Brazil for time to loss of consciousness using vario... Read More about Time to Loss of Behavioural and Brainstem Responses of Ducks Following Non-Stunned Slaughter.

Pandemic Puppies: Characterising motivations and behaviours of UK owners who purchased puppies during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic (2021)
Journal Article
Packer, R., Brand, C., Belshaw, Z., Pegram, C., Stevens, K., & O'Neill, D. (2021). Pandemic Puppies: Characterising motivations and behaviours of UK owners who purchased puppies during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. Animals, 11(9), 2500. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11092500

Attempts to control the spread of coronavirus during the COVID-19 Pandemic included periods of ‘lockdown’ in the UK, where many households spent several months at home with limited external social contact. Data from diverse sources suggest unusually... Read More about Pandemic Puppies: Characterising motivations and behaviours of UK owners who purchased puppies during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic.

Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken (2021)
Journal Article
Abeyesinghe, S., Abeyesinghe, S., Chancellor, N., Hernandez Moore, D., Chang, Y., Pearce, J., …Nicol, C. (2021). Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken. animal, 15(7), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.animal.2021.100261

Broiler chickens are prone to a range of complex health and welfare issues. To support informed selection of welfare traits whilst minimising impact on production efficiency and to address a major gap in understanding, we systematically explored asso... Read More about Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken.

An ethical framework for the use of horses in competitive sport: theory and function (2021)
Journal Article
Campbell, M. (2021). An ethical framework for the use of horses in competitive sport: theory and function. Animals, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061725

Growing ethical concern about equestrian sport is reflected in publications by regulatory authorities, animal charities, and the lay press; and in government debate and social media. However, attempts by regulators and stakeholders to address ethica... Read More about An ethical framework for the use of horses in competitive sport: theory and function.

The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic (2021)
Journal Article
Burn, C., Mazlan, N., Chancellor, N., & Wells, D. (2021). The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic. Animals, 11, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11061664

Identification marking mice commonly involves ear-punching with or without anaesthetic, or tail-marking with ink. To identify which is most humane, we marked male BALB/c mice using ear-punching (EP), ear-punching with anaesthetic EMLATM cream (EP+A),... Read More about The pen is milder than the blade: Identification marking mice using ink on the tail appears more humane than ear-punching even with local anaesthetic.