Identifying and monitoring pain in farm animals: a review

Prunier, Armelle; Mounier, Luc; Neindre, Pierre Le; Leterrier, Christine; Mormède, Pierre; Paulmier, Valérie; Prunet, Patrick; Terlouw, Claudia; Guatteo, Raphaël R.

doi:10.1017/s1751731112002406

Cited by 96 publications

(117 citation statements)

References 138 publications

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“…Numerous studies corroborate the significance of cortisol as a relevant parameter to evaluate stress and pain in pigs (Keita et al, 2010;Prunier et al, 2012). Langhoff (2008) ascertained that the level of cortisol correlates with pain-dependant changes in behaviour.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Ear tagging in piglets: the cortisol response with and without analgesia in comparison with castration and tail docking

Numberger¹,

Ritzmann²,

Übel³

et al. 2016

Animal

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The objectives of the present study were to compare the cortisol response caused by ear tagging piglets with the distress caused by other known painful husbandry procedures (e.g. castration and tail docking) and to evaluate the effectiveness of analgesia with meloxicam to reduce the cortisol response caused by these procedures. In total, 210 male piglets were randomised to equal numbers (n = 30) into one of seven groups: a control group which was only handled (H), an ear tagged group that received no analgesia (ET), an ear tagged group with analgesia (ETM), a castration group with no analgesia (C), a castration group with analgesia (CM), a tail-docked group with no analgesia (TD) and a tail-docked group with analgesia (TDM). The procedures were carried out on day 3 or 4 after farrowing. Five blood samples were taken from each piglet: 30 min before the respective procedure (baseline value), and 30, 60 min, 4 and 7 h after processing, to assess cortisol concentrations. Means as well as the area under the curve (AUC) value were analysed and the effective sizes of the procedures were established. At 7 h after the experimental treatment, cortisol concentrations had returned to base values in all groups. ET evoked a greater cortisol response than H piglets at 30 min (P < 0.001) and 60 min (P = 0.001). The cortisol response to ET was lower than C at 30 min (P = 0.001) but did not differ significantly at the other sample times. The mean cortisol response was similar between ET and TD piglets over all sample times. Taking both intensity and duration of the cortisol response into account (AUC), ET evoked a greater response than TD. Analgesia (ETM) resulted in significantly lower cortisol levels than ET at 30 and 60 min post-procedure. Castration (C) provoked the highest cortisol response of all procedures; a significant analgesic effect (CM) was shown only at 4 h post-procedure. TD resulted in significantly higher cortisol levels than H piglets only at 30 min; analgesia (TDM) significantly reduced the cortisol response at 30 min. We conclude that ear tagging causes a dramatic increase in cortisol levels compared with handling alone in piglets, which suggests that this procedure causes substantial distress. However, further research is needed to confirm these results.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Ear tagging in piglets: the cortisol response with and without analgesia in comparison with castration and tail docking

Numberger¹,

Ritzmann²,

Übel³

et al. 2016

Animal

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“…Animals that perceive pain may adopt certain postures like abnormal lying or standing, in order to reduce the sensation of pain. They may remain prostrated, or may lick or scratch the painful site or vocalise (Grandin, 1998;Prunier et al, 2013).…”

Section: Box 3 Pain As a Cause For Negative Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal Consciousness

Neindre¹,

Bernard

Boissy

et al. 2017

EFSA Supporting Publications

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After reviewing the literature on current knowledge about consciousness in humans, we present a state-of-the art discussion on consciousness and related key concepts in animals. Obviously much fewer publications are available on non-human species than on humans, most of them relating to laboratory or wild animal species, and only few to livestock species. Human consciousness is by definition subjective and private. Animal consciousness is usually assessed through behavioural performance. Behaviour involves a wide array of cognitive processes that have to be assessed separately using specific experimental protocols. Accordingly, several processes indicative of the presence of consciousness are discussed: perception and cognition, awareness of the bodily-self, selfrelated knowledge of the environment (including social environment). When available, specific examples are given in livestock species. Next, we review the existing evidence regarding neuronal correlates of consciousness, and emphasize the difficulty of linking aspects of consciousness to specific neural structures across the phyla because high-level cognitive abilities may have evolved independently along evolution. Several mammalian brain structures (cortex and midbrain) are involved in the manifestations of consciousness, while the equivalent functional structures for birds and fishes would likely be the pallium/tectum and midbrain. Caution is required before excluding consciousness in species not having the same brain structures as the mammalian ones as different neural architectures may mediate comparable processes. Finally, specific neurophysiological mechanisms appear to be strongly linked to the emergence of consciousness, namely neural synchrony and neural feedback. Considering the limited amount of data available and the few animal species studied so far, we conclude that different manifestations of consciousness can be observed in animals but that further refinement is still needed to characterize their level and content in each species. Further research is required to clarify these issues, especially in livestock species.

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“…Difficulties in coping or failing to cope with the environment are both indicators for poor welfare (Broom, 1991). Mental and physical aspects are both included in animal welfare, which allows animals to have all freedoms, including freedom to express normal behaviours (Dolins, 1999;Prunier et al, 2013). Therefore, comprehending the behaviour of an animal is an important aspect in animal welfare.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Using Two Music Types on Non-Pregnant Non-Lactating Arabi Ewes Behaviour As a Tool for Welfare Improvement

Meshabaz

Hussein

Mersham

et al. 2017

SJUOZ

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ABSTRACT:The present study was designed to determine whether playing two music types will improve behaviour of non-pregnant, nonlactating Arabi sheep. Thirty Arabi ewes, aged 2 -3 years, were included in the study. Ewes were divided into three groups, 10 ewes each. The groups were: Control (with no music exposure); Classic music exposure and Fast music exposure. The sound level for classic and fast music groups was 80 dB with the frequency of 1 KHz. The behavioural data were collected using direct observations for six respective days. Results revealed that using music, both classic and fast, significantly decreased the frequency of aggressive behaviours (P < 0.001), vocalization (P < 0.01), defecation (P < 0.05) and walking behaviour (P < 0.05). In addition, there were significant effects of music on the average time spent standing (P < 0.01), lying and feeding (P < 0.001). Whereas no significant difference was found on the average time spent drinking. It was shown that there were significant differences in time spent lying (P < 0.01) and time spent feeding (P < 0.01) over time. Finally, there was a significant difference in the proportion of time spent lying (P < 0.001) as well as in the proportion of time spent feeding between control and music groups (P < 0.01). From this study, it can be concluded that exposing non-pregnant, non-lactating ewes to classical music is beneficial for ewes' welfare, due to the reduction of aggressive behaviour.

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Identifying and monitoring pain in farm animals: a review

Cited by 96 publications

References 138 publications

Ear tagging in piglets: the cortisol response with and without analgesia in comparison with castration and tail docking

Ear tagging in piglets: the cortisol response with and without analgesia in comparison with castration and tail docking

Animal Consciousness

Effect of Using Two Music Types on Non-Pregnant Non-Lactating Arabi Ewes Behaviour As a Tool for Welfare Improvement

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