The orphan animals

In the sheep production systems there are usually orphaned animals, mainly due to maternal deaths, abandoned offsprings or mothers with insufficient milk for newborn maintenance, in all these situations, with the obvious detriment of the welfare of the young. To solve the problems, the options are artificial rearing, the use of nurse females or the application of fostering techniques. Recently, some fostering techniques have been developed using animal behavior, based on principles leading to confuse the senses involved in the recognition of the newborn from the mother during a short period after delivery, in order to promote the successful exchange of offspring during this time and thus their welfare. Martin et al. (Reference Martin, Price, Wallach and Dally1987) postulated the use of a stockinet that can transfer the smell of a dead lamb to one that will be offered in substitution, or can also be used to add lambs to ewes who have just given birth to single lambs, in an add-on technique removing lambs from ewes that have delivered three or more lambs (Price et al., Reference Price, Dunn, Talbot and Dally1984). Technique that if its applied within 12 h after parturition has >90% rate success.

Breaking the mother–young relationship

The separation of the calf from his mother in the beef cattle production systems, is the main tool to reduce postpartum anoestrus (Galina et al., Reference Galina, Rubio, Basurto and Orihuela2001). During weaning, contact with the mother is suspended abruptly, the type of food is changed, and the physical and social environments where calves used to live are heavily modified, affecting the welfare of the young and udder health of mothers (Orihuela and Hernández, Reference Orihuela and Hernández2007; Fröberg et al, Reference Fröberg, Gratte, Svennersten-Sjaunja, Olsson, Berg, Orihuela, Galina, García and Lidfors2008).

Some alternatives for a gradual break between mother and calf relationship are the use of devices that avoid suckling for several days in the calves, before definitive separation, or the separation of cows and calves in contiguous pastures, where mother and calf can see, smell and hear each other, but nursing is not possible. The latter system appears to affect more those individuals who had a stronger relationship with their mother before separation (Galeana et al., Reference Galeana, Orihuela, Aguirre and Vázquez2007).

Some other options include temporary weaning for 48, 72 or 96 h (usually applied in beef cattle) with different degrees of detriment in the welfare of calves (Acevedo et al., Reference Acevedo, Hernández, Orihuela, Lidfors and Berg2005; Hernández et al., Reference Hernández, Orihuela, Fröberg and Lidfors2006), or restricted suckling (in dual-purpose cattle) where suckling can be allowed once a day, from only one gland of the udder, only the residual milk, only a short amount of milk from the beginning of the milking (milk let down) or allowing suckling only during the day or night periods.

During weaning, mother and young are subjected to heavy stress. In sheep, it has been shown that the sheep undergoes less separation stress from her lambs, if ewes are induced to estrus the day when abrupt weaning is practiced. Sexual motivation for the pursuit of male (proceptive behavior) during this period decreased vocalizations, and cortisol levels normally expressed by the ewes during weaning (Pérez-León et al., Reference Pérez-León, Orihuela, Lidfors and Aguirre2006).

Design of facilities

From the early work of Temple Grandin (Reference Grandin1980), this area has been strongly developed. Nowadays, in addition to some considerations to improve animal handling in the design of cattle facilities (Fraser et al., Reference Fraser, Duncan, Edwards, Grandin, Gregory, Guyonnet, Hemsworth, Huertas, Huzzey, Mellor, Mench, Spinka and Whay2013; Grandin, Reference Grandin2014), we consider the way housing conditions affect animals throughout their life (Rushen et al., Reference Rushen, Passillé, von Keyserlingk and Weary2008).

Avoiding distractions in aisles, pens, scales and squeeze chutes is essential to the smooth flow of animals. To avoid yielding, ropes, electric prods and sticks is crucial for animal welfare and the efficient management of the facilities. The mistreatment of animals is not only unethical, but generates more problems in the subsequent animals in the management order (Orihuela and Solano, Reference Orihuela and Solano1994). Covering the eyes of the animals while handled in the squeeze chute is also a useful tool in nervous cow (Andrade et al., Reference Andrade, Orihuela, Solano and Galina2001).

Another consideration to be taken into account in the design of chutes, aisles and pens, is the orientation and type of roof. It is essential to prevent shadows on the floor alternating with dark and light projected on transit ways as a zebra-like pattern, which for many animals represent an obstacle, given its poor depth perception, this pattern of light and shadow will appear as a ‘cattle guard,’ and animals will hesitate to step on these surfaces.

The construction of protections by the way of divisions on continuous troughs, represent an option to lessen the effect of hierarchy. A separation in a trough will give a submissive animal a safer sensation that will allow him more time to eat. A simple bar at muzzle level, has a significant effect in reducing the effect of dominance.

The sick animal

One of the behaviors particularly involved with animal welfare concerns the behavior of the sick animal (Orihuela and Vázquez, 2008). Recently, this area of knowledge has received particular interest, mainly due to the possibility of detecting diseases through early changes in the behavior of animals, before clinical signs of the disease may arise (Weary et al., Reference Weary, Huzzey and Von Keyserling2009). Today, thanks to the kinetic analysis of a walking cow, we can be more objective in the description of lameness (Flower et al., Reference Flower, de Passillé, Weary, Sanderson and Rushen2005 and Reference Flower, Sanderson and Weary2007). These studies show how the gait of animals changes as foot lesions increased, and how better floors facilitate mobility of cows. Moreover, it has also been found that soft floors favor better walking, especially in cows with foot lesions, because there is an interaction floor type – injury (Flower et al., Reference Flower, Sanderson and Weary2007).

Other similar examples have been published in calves, who through monitoring food consumption have been able to detect gastro-intestinal infections before clinical signs appeared (Svensson and Jensen, Reference Svensson and Jensen2007). Likewise, changes in feeding time can help to identify cows at risk for metritis up to a week in advance (Huzzey et al., Reference Huzzey, Veira, Weary and von Keyserlingk2007), and in pigs, an increase in water consumption can predict some diarrhea outbreaks (Madsen and Kristensen, Reference Madsen and Kristensen2005).

Miscellany

There are many other techniques that can help to increase the welfare of farm animals; exposing young lambs to grain while feeding with their mothers will help them to accept more easily a food supplement as adults; the use of trained animals in feedlots to teach newcomers to eat concentrate from high concrete feeders; the use of solid panels to herd pigs; among others.

In conclusion, a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of the behavior of animals, help us to better understand how they perceive the world and how they react to it, allowing us to use some very simple techniques based on animal behavior that will increase animal production while improving animal welfare.