Graduate research explores emotional depth of calves
A study led by Heather Neave, the first to use a cognitive bias test to address the emotional response to pain in non-human species, found calves showed signs of pessimism after having their horns removed.
New protocol for automated measures of lying behaviour
Measures of lying behaviour can be used to track the early onset of illness and provide insight into how comfortable the environment is for the animals; research at the UBC’s AWP has shown that cows that stand up for longer are at a higher risk of becoming lame, and once they are lame, they lie […]
AWP student wins scholarship to present research results in China
As part of her PhD research, AWP student Gosia Zobel has been investigating the use of automated measures to help in the early identification of sick dairy goats. Gosia received a highly competitive travel scholarship from the organizers of the World Conference on Animal Production to present her results in Beijing last week (October 15 […]
MSc Thesis: Cognitive bias as a method of pain assessment following hot-iron dehorning of dairy calves
MSc student Heather Neave’s paper on assessing pain before and after calf de-horning is now available for download. Abstract: Pain is one of the most highly studied emotions in animals, and the interaction between pain and cognitive processes is well documented in humans. Recent research has attempted to use changes in cognitive processes as a method […]
Congratulations to Khan on new position
Muhammad Ajmal Khan, Post-doctoral fellow in UBC’s Animal Welfare Program, has recently accepted a new position as Senior Scientist with AgResearch in New Zealand. AgResearch is a crown research institute with the purpose of enhancing the value, productivity and profitability of New Zealand’s agricultural sector. Khan will be part of the Animal Nutrition & Health […]
Sustainability of the US Dairy Industry
Nina von Keyserlingk and other experts recently completed a review the sustainability of the U.S. Dairy industry, arguing that certain practices (see Figure) are problematic. Nina contributed especially to discussions around animal welfare and provided leadership in writing the paper.
Two papers featured on JDS top-cited list
Two Animal Welfare Program papers, Effects of milk ration on solid feed intake, weaning, and performance in dairy heifers and Lying behavior as an indicator of lameness in dairy cows, were today recognized by the Journal of Dairy Science in their list of the 100 top-cited papers since 2010. Kiyomi Ito, first author of top-cited […]
Early separation of cow and calf
Newly published in the Journal of Dairy Science is an article by Beth Ventura and colleagues with UBC’s Animal Welfare Program describing attitudes toward the common practice of separating the dairy cow and calf and birth. Results suggest that this practice is a highly contentious. Opponents of early separation contended that it is emotionally stressful […]
Better methods for drying off dairy cows
Cows are healthiest when they are given some downtime between lactations. When human mothers stop breastfeeding, they typically do it gradually, but standard practice on many dairy farms is to dry off cows abruptly. In a new study just published in the Journal of Dairy Science, UBC Animal Welfare Program researchers compared methods and found […]
Plenary presentation on animal suffering
The Animal Welfare Program’s Dan Weary gave a plenary presentation at the 47th Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology. Dan’s presentation was entitled ‘A new science of animal suffering’. Click here to read more about the ideas presented.