Applied Animal Behaviour Science最新文献

{"title":"Escape patterns of companion parrots kept in Brazilian Households","authors":"Rodrigo Mendes Aguiar ,&nbsp;Cristiano Schetini Azevedo ,&nbsp;ChalineNicolas Châline","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106700","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106700","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Uncontrolled escapes of pet psittacine birds present significant risks to individual welfare, public health, and local ecosystems. In Brazil, a country with a strong cultural tradition of parrot keeping, such events are frequent and often poorly managed. This study aimed to describe the dynamics of escape, assess preventive strategies, and evaluate recovery efforts following escape events. An online questionnaire collected data from 865 respondents, yielding 1053 individual bird records. A high escape incidence was reported (63.6 %), with most events occurring indoors, often due to open or unscreened windows. Although 67.4 % of birds had undergone wing clipping at some point, 70.6 % of those that escaped had fully regrown feathers at the time of the event. Birds with clipped wings exhibited a significantly higher escape probability (OR = 7.60, 95 % CI [3.33, 18.37]), possibly due to reduced caregiver vigilance. None of the prevention strategies such as window netting or enclosure confinement were fully effective, and escape rates remained high even in households that reported combined efforts. A total of 57.2 % of escaped birds were recovered, most within 12 h. Recovery was more likely when owners engaged in active search methods, while wing clipping and low effort were associated with delayed retrieval. Thirteen percent of recovered birds were found ill, injured, or died shortly after,reinforcing the need to replace restrictive practices with ethical, behaviorally sound alternatives. These findings highlight the urgency of improving husbandry standards, promoting caregiver education, and adopting science-based, welfare-centered strategies for the management of companion psittacines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106700"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144306815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"","authors":"Irene Camerlink","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106715","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106715","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106715"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144314481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Relative preference for different pecking blocks offered as pairwise comparisons in White and Brown-feathered laying hens","authors":"Tunmise Faith Ehigbor ,&nbsp;Elijah G. Kiarie ,&nbsp;Alexandra Harlander ,&nbsp;Tina Widowski","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106708","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106708","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Different commercially available pecking blocks (PBs) have varying nutrient composition, appearance, and texture. However, the relative preferences of laying hens for different PBs are unknown. We housed 120 Dekalb White and 120 Bovans Brown in twelve (360 cm x 116 cm x 60 cm) test cages from 18 weeks of age. Test cages had two identical sections, each containing a nest, scratch mat, and container. Then, three PB types (A, B, C) were offered in a series of pairwise comparisons over three, 4-week periods (Phase 1). Pairwise comparisons were repeated over three, 2-week periods (Phase 2). Block A mainly comprised mineral + grains, B of mineral + grain + molasses, and C was primarily mineral based. PB use (disappearance) was measured by weekly weighing. Pecking and scratching behaviour was measured at the individual level by live observations of 7 focal birds (per cage) once a week (thrice daily). Behaviour at the group level was measured from video cameras mounted over each PB. The number of birds pecking or scratching at the blocks was counted every 5 min throughout the light period using instantaneous scan sampling (total = 169 scans/day, split into 3 times-of-day (TOD): a.m., mid-day, and p.m.). For phase 1, Browns used the B block more than any other block and strain combination (p &lt; 0.0001). At group level, pair-wise comparison affected pecking or scratching behaviour (p &lt; 0.05). In Whites (p = 0.04), the pair-wise comparison of blocks B and C resulted in more birds pecking or scratching at C. The opposite was observed in Browns, with more birds directing pecks or scratches at B (p = 0.01). Interactions were observed between the time-of-day and PB type (White: p &lt; 0.0001, Brown: p = &lt; 0.0001). The Whites pecked and scratched the C block at p.m. more than any other block at any other TOD. In the Browns, pecking or scratching was directed at the B block at mid-day and a.m. more than any other block at any TOD. The two common strains of laying hens in this study preferred different types of PB (Browns preferred B, Whites preferred C) and used them at different TOD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106708"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144306816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of light spectrum on pig behaviour, health and growth","authors":"Alice J. Scaillierez ,&nbsp;Sofie E. van Nieuwamerongen - de Koning ,&nbsp;Rik P.P.J. van der Tol ,&nbsp;Sabine K. Schnabel ,&nbsp;Eddie A.M. Bokkers ,&nbsp;Iris J.M.M. Boumans","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106711","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106711","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Pigs show preferences to display certain behaviours under specific light spectra. Moreover, adding UVB light to the spectrum might enhance pigs’ vitamin D status. Despite the potential, there are still gaps in understanding the broader effects of light spectrum on pig behaviour, health and growth due to the limited number of studies. Therefore, this study investigated how various light spectra, including exposure to UVB light, influence the behaviour, health and growth of growing-finishing pigs. An experiment with a split-plot design was conducted on a commercial farm, testing four different light spectra in plots (warm white; 2594 K, forest white; 4336 K, cool white; 6235 K, fluorescent tubes; 3787 K), and the addition of UVB light in subplots (UVB or non-UVB). Each light spectrum was tested on 112 pigs divided into two batches of eight pens each. Within each light spectrum, 28 pigs received additional UVB light. Pig behaviour was analysed every two weeks, both manually and using computer vision, while health was assessed weekly. Pigs were weighed at the start of the experiment and before transport to the slaughterhouse. During slaughter, abnormalities on carcasses were scored and blood samples were collected for analysis of vitamin D and bone modelling-related variables. Effects of light spectra on positive and negative social interactions, exploration and play behaviour were inconsistent over time and were mainly found in the first six weeks. Moreover, light spectrum had a varying impact on pig activity, depending on the week. From week 6 onwards, pigs exposed to fluorescent tubes and forest white light spent more time in active postures (i.e. standing and sitting) than other light spectra. However, light spectra had no effect on the distance moved by pigs. Additional UVB light reduced damaging behaviours in week 4 and reduced the severity of ear and lesions on the middle body section throughout the growing-finishing phase. Furthermore, pigs exposed to UVB light had a higher blood vitamin D level than pigs not exposed to UVB light, this had, however, no effect on bone modelling variables. None of the light treatments influenced carcass abnormalities or growth. Overall, results suggest that light spectrum seems to have limited effects on behaviour, health and growth of growing-finishing pigs kept in commercial conditions with limited space and a relatively barren environment. As this is the first study addressing effects of light spectrum on different aspects of pig welfare, further research is needed to corroborate these findings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"291 ","pages":"Article 106711"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144482450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deck height did not affect behavioural measures of ‘natural movements’ and ‘adequate ventilation’ during 8 h and 23 h transport of weaner pigs","authors":"Cecilie Kobek-Kjeldager ,&nbsp;Line D. Jensen ,&nbsp;Leslie Foldager ,&nbsp;Marianne Kaiser ,&nbsp;Karen Thodberg ,&nbsp;Mette S. Herskin","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106714","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106714","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Annually, more than 30 million weaner pigs cross borders between EU member states mainly transported for further production. The current EU regulation states that the internal deck height of the transport vehicles must on no account hinder natural movements and provide adequate ventilation but without including specific norms. The aim of the present study was to examine impact of deck height (60 vs 80 cm and 70 vs 90 cm) on behaviour reflecting natural movements and adequate ventilation during 16 short (8 h) and 16 long (23 h) journeys of 20–25 kg pigs, mimicking commercial conditions. A secondary aim was to describe the behaviour progressed from departure to arrival including the driver break during short journeys. To address the aim, the first task was to select appropriate behavioural measures that could robustly be annotated with the limited vertical space. As a consequence, head butting against the ceiling and drinking behaviour were omitted in pilot observations. The final behaviours were body posture including huddling and huddling location analysed using 15 min interval instantaneous scan sampling. The frequency of aggression and a pig standing on another pig was recorded using continuous sampling during selected 20 min recording sessions (in total 160 and 120 min for short and long journeys, respectively). During short journeys, this included recording sessions placed immediately before, during and after the mandatory break of the livestock driver. Mixed effects models were used to analyse effects of deck height and the following co-variates: hour since departure, microclimatic conditions and vehicle speed.</div><div>No effect of deck height was found on any of the selected behavioural measures. When examining behaviour of the pigs before, during and after the break, no differences in lying behaviour were found, but for one of the vehicle elements, the trailer, an increase in aggressive behaviour was observed during the break. Overall, the results showed a complex pattern of relations affecting the behaviour of the pigs, such as the microclimatic conditions and driving speed interacting with hour since departure. These findings varied to some extent depending on vehicle element (lorry or trailer) and journey duration (8 h or 23 h, with the associated different stocking densities). Taken together, the results showed that increasing the deck height did not lead to detectable changes in the behaviour of the weaner pigs, but that many other factors influenced the behaviour of weaners during transport and may thus also influence their welfare.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106714"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144291617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development of a scale to assess pigs’ immediate behavioural reaction when encountering novel odours","authors":"Rebecca Grut ,&nbsp;Johanna Stenfelt ,&nbsp;Birte L. Nielsen ,&nbsp;Maria Vilain Rørvang","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106713","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106713","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is currently not possible to predict how pigs will perceive novel odours, or whether certain odours might evoke avoidant or exploratory behavioural reactions. This study aimed to develop a reaction scale to assess the immediate behavioural reactions of pigs when encountering an odour for the first time. A secondary aim was to compare if reactions to different odours varied consistently among pigs, which could indicate that the reaction scale could be used to assign odour valence. The experiment included 184 growing-finishing pigs tested in 92 pairs of opposite-sex littermates. All pig pairs were presented with three out of a total of twelve different odours, in a balanced order. The odour samples consisted of six drops of essential oils (undiluted) on filter paper in a plastic container. Each of the three odours was presented along with an odourless control (distilled water). The odour and control samples were available to the pigs during 1-minute trials. The pigs’ behavioural reactions were recorded six seconds after each pig had first approached the sample. The reaction was scored on a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 was exploratory behaviour (e.g., sniffing) and 6 was active avoidance behaviour (e.g., leaving, head shaking). An ordinal mixed-effects model was fitted to the data and showed no effect of sex, age, or odour triad on reaction scores, but an effect of treatment with odour eliciting significantly more exploratory behaviour (lower reaction score) than control (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.001). Pigs expressed large individual differences in reactions to 10 of the 12 odours, but a consistent pattern of significantly more exploratory reactions to vanilla and blood orange (both odours: <em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), which could suggest that pigs may perceive these odours as particularly pleasant. Reaction scores were significantly lower (i.e., pigs performing more explorative behaviour) for the first odour tested compared with subsequent odours (<em>P</em> ≤ 0.04) irrespective of the specific odour. The 6-point scale effectively described explorative and avoidance behaviours that may reflect the valence of the pigs’ reactions. To our knowledge, this is the first scale specifically developed to assess pigs’ immediate behavioural reactions to novel olfactory stimuli in a commercial production environment. The development of the reaction scale and the findings provide useful guidance for future research on odour perception. The observed decrease in interest over time should be taken into account when repeated testing is used.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106713"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144306814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A gentling program decreases fear-related behaviour towards humans but not towards novel objects in broiler chickens","authors":"Theresa Stocker ,&nbsp;Christian Nawroth ,&nbsp;Birger Puppe ,&nbsp;Michael Erhard ,&nbsp;Helen Louton","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106710","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106710","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The human-animal-relationship is a crucial aspect of good animal welfare. Improvements in this regard might be particularly relevant for chickens, as their relationship with humans in commercial husbandry conditions is often limited to brief animal inspections (visual contact) on a daily basis. Regular human contact can potentially reduce fear responses towards humans in chickens, but to achieve this, a long period of several weeks of habituation is usually required. In this study, we investigated whether a short period of ‘gentling’ (i.e. standardised human-animal interactions that the chicks are likely to perceive as positive) within the first 3 days of life would be sufficient to reduce fear responses towards humans in broiler chickens. Six groups of ca. 220 (214 – 254) day-old broiler chicks each were exposed to a gentling program by a human after arrival. The same number of control groups received no human contact apart from routine husbandry procedures. We performed three behavioural tests on the chickens to assess their fear of humans. A stationary person test (SPT) measured the voluntary approach to a standing human, an avoidance distance test (ADT) measured the avoidance behaviour towards an approaching human while a touch test (TT) measured the approach behaviour towards a squatting person followed by the measurement of the avoidance behaviour from the approaching hand. Additionally, a novel object test (NOT) was performed to assess whether a potential fear reduction would be limited to humans. The tests were conducted at three different ages of the chickens (day 7, 21 and 36). In all human-related tests, chickens of the gentled groups showed less avoidance and more approach behaviour towards the human than chickens of the control groups (SPT: <em>p</em> = 0.004, ADT: <em>p</em> = 0.001, TT: <em>p</em> = 0.035). The results of the NOT showed statistically no significant behavioural differences between the gentling and control groups (<em>p</em> = 0.205), confirming that the chicks' fear responses are not generalised but specific to human-related tests. The present study suggests that gentle handling of chickens during the first 3 days of life can improve the human-animal-relationship for at least 36 days.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106710"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144270166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Grooming behavior of rewilded Highland cattle in conservation grazing: Limited evidence of an influence of horsefly presence and temperature","authors":"Jinhwi Kim ,&nbsp;Pius Korner ,&nbsp;Valentin Amrhein ,&nbsp;Lilla Lovász","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106712","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106712","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grooming behavior in domestic cattle serves various functions, including hygiene maintenance, social bonding, and stress alleviation. We examined the grooming patterns of rewilded Highland cattle, to describe their behavioral adaptations and responses to environmental factors in a conservation grazing system. We observed 21 Highland cattle in a French nature reserve from November 2020 to September 2021 using mixed focal and scan sampling methods, recording a total of 1225 grooming bouts. Throughout the observation period, cattle regularly performed grooming, consisting of self-grooming (83 %), tree-grooming (16 %), and social-grooming (1 %). We used linear and generalized mixed effect models to assess the effects of environmental factors such as the presence of horseflies, the Temperature-Humidity Index (THI), and habitat type. Our results showed that grooming behavior was influenced by habitat and group, while environmental stressors such as horseflies and elevated temperatures had only minor observed effects on grooming duration and frequency, and uncertainty was high. This limited response may be attributed to the relatively low density of horseflies in our study area and the opportunity of adaptive behaviors, such as wallowing, to manage heat and ectoparasites. By examining grooming behavior under near-natural conditions, this study provides a baseline for understanding behavioral patterns and adaptations in rewilded cattle, while also serving as a potential reference for identifying behavioral changes in domestic cattle and informing future management practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106712"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144280080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Influences of environmental hatching system factors on multitasking ability and side biases in laying hen chicks hatched on-farm","authors":"Catharina M.H. Broekmeulen ,&nbsp;Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich ,&nbsp;Yamenah Gómez ,&nbsp;Michael J. Toscano","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106709","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106709","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As an alternative to conventional hatcheries, eggs can be placed in a rearing barn on day 18 of incubation (ED18; embryonic development) to hatch on-farm, which eliminates the need of transportation of day-old chicks. In addition, on-farm hatched chicks are exposed to continuous light during late incubation, and have immediate access to feed, water, and litter, which might affect developmental processes. On-farm hatching is currently not commercially implemented in the laying hen sector. However, advancements in <em>in ovo</em> sexing technologies are expected to enable its future adoption. Building on this context, this exploratory study aimed to examine influences of these environmental hatching system factors on the behavioral development, with focus on multitasking abilities and lateralized behavior in layer chicks until eight weeks of age. Hatching eggs (n = 600) were assigned to one of the following treatments from ED18 - ED21 (3 pens/treatment): fully enriched with all factors (ALL), continuous light (L), immediate feed and water access post-hatch (FW), immediate litter access post-hatch (LIT), or fully deprived of all factors (CON). Seventy-five focal chicks (n = 5/pen) were subjected to three behavioral tests: multitasking test at nine days of age, retention test at ten days of age, and step detour test at five and seven weeks of age. Most focal chicks did not meet the multitasking test and retention test criteria, as they did not complete the assigned tasks. Potentially, isolation stress could have overwhelmed the ability of focal chicks to perform during these tests despite habituation. During the step detour test, foot preferences to cross the step and direction preferences to detour the barrier were both affected by week of age (p = 0.06 and p = 0.04, respectively) but not by treatment, with focal chicks showing more preferences at seven than five weeks of age. The lateralized responses during the step detour test involve both motor and visual cognitive aspects. Therefore, visual assessment and motivation to approach the social stimulus might have affected the responses. Additionally, corticosterone secretion in response to chick processing and <em>in-ovo</em> transportation at ED18 might have affected visual lateralization. Our study underlines the dynamic nature and multidimensionality of lateralized behavior in chicks. Currently, it is unclear how the transportation of eggs at ED18 interacted with the hatching system factors during our study and more research is needed to investigate underlying mechanisms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106709"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144270165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shelter use in horses: Time spent indoors and factors of variation – Results from a one-year longitudinal study","authors":"Léa Lansade ,&nbsp;Julie Lemarchand ,&nbsp;Alice Ruet","doi":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106699","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106699","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Stabling is a common lifestyle for horses, yet numerous studies show that it negatively impacts their welfare, leading to behavioural and health issues. In this study, we aimed to determine how much time horses choose to spend inside their stalls when given the option to be inside (in shelters/stalls) or outside at pasture. Using permanently installed night-vision cameras inside the stalls, we recorded 53 horses across 20 sites in temperate climates (France, Belgium) over a full year. We analyzed their stall presence and activity (lying down, observe, stand at rest, eat, etc.) for 72 consecutive hours each month over 12 months. The results show that, on average, horses spend only 3 h per day inside, and not consecutively (entering 2.5 times per day). There is a strong seasonal effect: horses spend twice as much time in their stalls in summer than in winter. This finding is notable as it contrasts with the usual advice of stabling horses in winter and turning them out to pasture in summer. In winter, horses predominantly return to their stalls late at night (00:00–06:00) to eat and lie down, while in summer, they return in the afternoon (12:00–18:00) to rest standing. Contrary to expectations, presumably rustic breeds (ponies) spent more time inside, and age had no effect on this, indicating that stalls are essential for all types of horses. Additionally, the larger the shelter (in sq m per horse), the more it is used. Stalls fully enclosed with a single access door are also associated with higher usage in summer, winter, and autumn, compared to an open shelter. The use of blankets in winter or fly masks in summer is not associated with a reduction of the time spent in the stalls, suggesting that these accessories do not substitute for shelter. There is also significant inter-individual variability among horses: the ideal is to allow them the freedom to come and go as they please in order to best respect their agency and individual needs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8222,"journal":{"name":"Applied Animal Behaviour Science","volume":"290 ","pages":"Article 106699"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144263326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}