Farm Animal Behaviour: Characteristics for Assessment of Health and Welfare

Animal behavior is the basis for ascertaining welfare and is a topic of ever growing importance. This undergraduate-level textbook is organized into three sections covering all major farm animals of the world, both mainstream and specialist: large farm animal species (horses, cattle, swine, sheep and goats), poultry and farmed birds and non-domesticated animals such as deer. Each chapter describes the elements of behavior of a particular species in a clear and uniform format. Background to domestication, innate and learned behavior, social behavior, mating behavior, activity patterns, senses, behavior in the young animal, vision and hearing are all covered for each species. Understanding of ethological knowledge is necessary both as an aid for diagnosis, and for the assessment of health and welfare in the single animal or a group of animals, making the book valuable for veterinary practitioners as well as students at university and tertiary level.