Background In recent decades there has been a growing concern about animal stress on
intensive pig farms due to the undesirable consequences that stress produces in the normal …

Aggression between unfamiliar pigs at mixing is a major animal welfare problem in
commercial farming. It has been studied since the 1970s and remains an important topic in …

Farm animals are social species with a strong tendency to form groups. Living in groups has
associated costs and benefits. The costs refer mostly to competition for food, or access to …

It is often assumed and demanded that for a good welfare, farm animals should be given
“the freedom to express their natural behaviour”. This demand is problematic for at least two …

The effect of the pre-weaning housing system on play behaviour before weaning and
agonistic behaviour after weaning and during the fattening period was investigated in …

Understanding the relationships between social stress and the gastrointestinal microbiota,
and how they influence host health and performance is expected to have many scientific and …

The aim of this review is to discuss the impact of group size on damaging behaviours,
aggression, fear and stress in farm animals and to identify housing-and management …

Farm animals are confronted with major changes in their environment as they go through
different phases of the production system. Examples include introduction to a new housing …

Abstract Background According to the Norwegian animal welfare regulations, it has been
forbidden to build new tie-stall barns since the end of 2004. Previous studies have shown …

The objective of the present study was to investigate how group size and familiarity influence
daily activity and social interactions in regrouped dairy calves. A total of 84 calves were …