Donkeys, mules, and asses are domestic animals of worldwide distribution, found in all regions of Brazil. Although more health data is needed from these species, some sectors of today’s society are exploring alternatives to use these animals for milk production and the use of donkeys in social events and onotherapy. Donkeys (Equus asinus) are used in many everyday activities, but the animals need better welfare conditions. Although it is well known that endoparasite infections (i.e. cyathostomins, Strongylus spp., Parascaris sp.) can harm the clinical condition of the animals, there are limited clinical and laboratory supporting data, including registered therapeutic drugs for their control. The objective of the present work was to review the existing literature about parasite infections of donkeys, including their clinical implications, and the drug efficacy test to help practitioners improve their health management programs. To assist with that, we have developed a questionnaire to identify the risk factors of donkey farming, which is presented here in English and in Portuguese. Lastly, the present article also includes an original simulation using the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model with low, moderate, and severe scenarios to help visualize the risk of parasite infections. The SIR model was based on the disease condition of donkeys in Brazil, using transient interaction levels from 0.0015 to 0.0025, infectivity levels from 0.10 to 0.40, and distinct recovery rates (R) from 0.01 to 0.08. As milk production is an expanding new activity worldwide, we want to emphasize that the first comprehensive studies must take into account differences in animal age, breed, and body condition score, local climate, pasture quality, day of sampling, and the period of lactation within the lactation curve to measure the health condition of donkeys. These data are considered important and will then be correlated to the parasite egg/oocyst (EPG or OoPG) counts in the feces using coproparasitological protocols (McMaster and Mini-FLOTAC), and even DNA-based techniques, to establish a novel data bank for donkeys. Target selective treatment has been proposed to be used as a routine in horses and will also be implemented in donkeys. This technique aims to reduce the number of anthelmintic treatments and, consequently, lessen parasite selection for resistance. The dynamic variations found by the SIR model are discussed in the text and should be taken into account when deciding the best health management implementation and parasite control programs. We think that more studies are needed to evaluate the basic physiological performance of donkeys in tropical areas to better understand their thermal adaptation, assuming that the animals are kept under acceptable clinical, nutritional, and housing conditions to express their resilient behavior. Cases of neglect and ill-treatment of animals must also be studied in infected conditions as well as their negative impacts. These strategies reinforce the concept of holistic farming with the possibility to improve specific informations, thereby improving the welfare of the donkeys.

Growing demand for ejiao – gelatin produced from donkey skin and used in Traditional Chinese Medicine – is putting global donkey populations at risk and threatening the livelihoods of millions of people that depend on them in lower and middle-income countries. Hundreds of thousands of donkeys are slaughtered for their skins and exported annually, mostly from Africa to China. However, the trade is spreading across the globe, including Brazil. This article highlights the appalling welfare conditions for donkeys caught up in both the legal and illegal trade, as well as the effects on vulnerable people and the potential for disease spread and hazards to human health.

The aims of this study were twofold: to assess the welfare of two hybrids of laying hens in conventional cages and to investigate the effects of tier’s level on the integument condition and fearfulness. Two commercial hybrids, white Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL) and brown Lohmann Traditional (LT) at about 18 weeks of age were used in the current study and were housed at three hens / cage. No birds were beak-trimmed. External appearance of the body (scoring of plumage condition and skin injuries at body parts and comb), heterophil-lymphocyte (H-L) ratios and duration of tonic immobility (TI) were used as indicators of well-being. LSL birds showed better plumage condition and low H-L ratios than LT birds while no significant difference was recorded in TI test between the two hybrids. Hens housed in the top tier showed worse feather condition and more wounds than birds in middle and bottom tiers whereas for fear levels, no significant difference was revealed for hens from different tiers of cages. These results suggest that the welfare of LSL birds was relatively good compared to LT. Therefore, conventional cages can be used by the hens to a large extent if birds are properly selected to be specifically adapted to cages.

In 2067 dairy farms in developing countries will be modernized and automated systems will replace much of the manual labour on farms. Traditionally, livestock management decisions have been based on almost entirely on observations, judgement, and experience of the farmer. However, such manual systems are inherently subjective, labour intensive, time consuming, invasive and unreliable. Today technology-oriented approaches are widely in use in animal agriculture. New data obtained using fast, real time, and affordable objective measures are becoming more readily available to aid farm level monitoring, awareness, and decision making. Computer vision technology and image analysis, digital twins, artificial intelligence, sensors, big data, and machine learning are a game changer in the livestock industry. This review aims at highlighting the main areas where digital technologies for improved animal monitoring and welfare are most applicable in dairy animals. In particular, body condition scoring, lameness detection, mastitis diagnosis, oestrus detection and pregnancy diagnosis. The environmental sustainability of digital technologies is also discussed. The application of technology offers new possibilities to realize food safety and quality, efficient and sustainable animal farming, healthy animals, guaranteed wellbeing and acceptable environmental impact of livestock production.

Objective: This experiment was conducted to assess the effects of the housing system on the welfare and growth performance of the Muscovy duck. Materials and methods: A total number of 48 Muscovy duck aged 3-week old were divided ran¬domly into two groups (24 duck on each): deep litter system and cage system. Each group was subdivided into three replicates (8 birds on each) were identified with wing rings. Results: The study showed that feeding and drinking behaviors significantly increased (p < 0.05) in duck reared at the cage system. While there was no noticeable effect on lying and feather peck¬ing, duck raised in the deep litter had better growth performance with a substantial difference, which achieve a higher feed conversion rate with lower feed efficiency. Physical conditions were significantly better at cage management. The level of stress indicating hormones indicating free Thyroxin was increased with the cage. Therefore, the litter system improves duck welfare and their performance. Conclusion: It is concluded that the duck managed under the litter system has more opportunities that facilitate the expression of more natural behavior, and thus improve their health and perfor¬mance, as a result of improved feed conversion rate and feed efficiency. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2020; 7(3.000): 407-413]

Objective: This study assessed personality traits in five cattle breeds (Bos taurus), two cosmopolitan (Holstein Friesian and Brown Swiss) and three endangered Italian autochthonous (Varzese, Rendena, and Modenese). Our aim was to provide an evaluation of the personality dimensions obtained by our questionnaire in order to compare some Italian autochthonous breeds with the cosmopolitan one. Our choice fell upon the comparison of the Varzese, the Modenese, the Rendena, the Brown Swiss, and the Holstein Friesian because the genetic selection at the base of the typical attitudes has induced different characteristics, and as a consequence, detectable differences in personality can be expected between the populations.Materials and methods: A personality questionnaire was completed by milkers/owners for each subject involved in this study. The milking staff involved in the study have been working with cows for over 20 years; they have experience with numerous breeds, and therefore, can be considered expert evaluators since they certainly have an appreciation of the full range of cow behavior. Results: The milkers assessments analysis found breed differences in dairy cattle, showing that certain personality traits are more marked in certain breeds in terms of curiosity, friendliness to milkers, and responses to unknown people.Conclusion: This pilot survey shows the usefulness of questionnaires in cattle personality studies, highlighting some peculiarity of the endangered breeds. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2018; 5(3.000): 315-323]

Objective: This study was carried out to study the influence of gender, neuter status, and training method on police dog narcotics olfaction performance, behavior, and welfare. Materials and Methods: A total of 120 German Shepherds aged 13 years were used for this study. The dogs were separated into two experiments. The first experiment (32 dogs and 28 bitches) was used to study the influence of gender on olfaction and smell to narcotics in police dog perfor¬mance and training methods with behavioral problems and welfare. The second experiment (30 dogs and 30 bitches) was used to study the influence of sexual status (entire or neutered) on the smelling of narcotics in police dog performance by comparing with intact dogs and bitches. Results: We found that there were significant differences in sex in training to detect narcotics. Male German Shepherds were found to be significantly more trainable than females. Neutering causes a difference in trainability in male and female dogs. Gonadectomy had adverse effects on training. The intact male and female German Shepherds were found to be significantly more train¬able than the neutered ones, and the reward-based method was found to be significantly more trainable than punishment. Dog training methods incorporated by punishment result in pain, suf¬fering, emotional instability, symptoms of depression, aggression, unwanted barking, growling at other people, not under control all time, less trainability, increased problematic behavior, and decreased dog welfare. Conclusion: Reward-based method is associated with lower lousy behavior and dogs with good behavior, such as, attachment attention behavior, dogs under the control of handler all times, higher trainability, less problematic behavior, and increased dog welfare. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2020; 7(4.000): 655-662]

Objective: Lighting requirements of birds have to be considered for choosing the optimal light intensity. Therefore, the experiment was carried out to study the effects of the different light intensities on performance, welfare and behavior of turkey poults. Materials and Methods: A total of 81 turkey poults aging 3 weeks were randomly selected and divided into three equal groups. The birds were subjected for 3 different light intensities (5, 25 and 50 lux) with 12 h photoperiod in 3 separate rooms. The growth performance parameters of the poults were measured; the parameters were body weight (BW), average feed intake (FI), average body weight gain (ABWG), relative growth rate (RGR), and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Besides, blood parameters and behavioral characters were observed. Results: Our results revealed that poults reared in low intensity (5 lux) had better performance (body weight gain, relative growth rate and feed intake). Also, final body weight was significantly higher in 5 lux. The cortisol level was lower in 5 lux than other 25 and 50 lux. Behavior of poults is affected by light intensities in our study, where feather preening, feather pecking and aggressive behaviors were significantly higher in birds housed in the highest intensity (50 lux). In the same way, drinking time was significantly higher in 25 lux. The poults tended to lay and rest on perches more under the lowest intensity (5 lux). Conclusion: It was concluded that, it is better to use moderate light intensity to improve previous parameters with avoiding abnormal behavior. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2016; 3(1.000): 18-23]

The domestic rabbit is a commonly kept pet in many countries, including Norway. This study aimed to survey the current health and welfare of pet rabbits in Norway based on recommendations for rabbit keeping put forth by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Norwegian Veterinary Institute. An online questionnaire consisting of 65 questions was shared online. Data collection lasted from March to May of 2021 and yielded 513 responses from pet rabbit owners representing all Norwegian counties. Forty-five percent of the rabbits were female, 53.6% were male and most of the rabbits (76.0%) were neutered. Almost all rabbits (97.5%) had permanent access to hay. Complete pelleted feed was the most fed concentrate (n=492, 95.9%). Almost all rabbits (96.9%) were reported to be healthy at the current moment. Of the surveyed disease conditions, constipation (19.7%), diarrhoea (12.3%), and reduced appetite (17.9%) were the most common. Dental disease was reported in 29 rabbits (5.7%). The veterinarian was a source of information for 49.1% of rabbit owners. Most rabbits (86.2%) were kept in a living space above the recommended 200x300 cm. Although keeping conditions were reported to be of a high standard, pet rabbits were still suffering from preventable husbandry-related diseases. Education of rabbit owners is an important task of the veterinarian and should focus especially on feeding habits, and owner recognition of rabbit behaviour and diseases.

Turkey's production is very profitable due to the growing demand for its products worldwide, however, poultry farming incurs significant economic losses throughout its production life cycle due to various stressors and high energy costs, particularly during the brooding period. Battery cages save housing space that can drastically reduce broodiness energy costs however, it can make birds suffer. Nowadays, Customers demand products derived from poultry reared in the optimal environment to ensure their welfare. However, the producers care about maximizing performance with the lowest production costs. This study was designed in a trial to reduce broodiness energy costs by rearing turkey poults in batteries and evaluate the performance, behavior, and welfare of caged and floor-reared birds. One thousand turkey poults were housed either on the floor or in battery post-hatching at a stocking density of 52 turkey poults/m2. Behaviors, body weight, weight gain, and some welfare indicators were studied. The results revealed that battery-reared turkey poults have significantly increased 4th week weight, weight gain, and cumulative weight gain. It also showed increased body care and drinking behavior, while eating behavior significantly decreased. Additionally, they have a better feather cleanliness score but were more stressed and fearful as indicated by longer tonic immobility (TI) duration, greater fluctuating asymmetry (FA) value of middle toe length, and increased sitting, latency to ambulate in open field test (OFT) as compared with floor reared ones. However, serum levels of cortisol or oxidative stress markers (MDA, GSH) as well as mortality % didn’t differ significantly among the two systems. In conclusion: using batteries in rearing turkey poults may be an applicable strategy to decrease broodiness energy costs, but with some welfare concerns.