Fritha Langford

Newcastle University | NCL · School of Natural and Environmental Science

Sleep is important for cow health and shows promise as a tool for assessing welfare, but methods to accurately distinguish between important sleep stages are difficult and impractical to use with cattle in typical farm environments. The objective of this study was to determine if data from more easily applied non-invasive devices assessing neck mus...

Providing continuously-housed dairy cows with a loafing area may allow them space to express behaviours that are affected by the housing environment. The aim of this study was to investigate whether dairy cows had a preference for loafing area type and if loafing area type affected behaviour performed within it. Three groups of 12 and one group of...

Simple Summary Over the last ten years, the UK (United Kingdom) puppy trade has moved almost entirely online. Breed demand and impulse buying have made puppies lucrative commodities in an industry driven by profitability. To compensate, production levels have risen, feasibly fuelled by unethical breeding, poor husbandry/handling practice, and reduc...

Many veterinary practices around the world do not meet basic post-operative cat care, thereby compromising cat welfare. Understanding why the appropriate care is not always given is important. The current study used a mixed methods approach of two phases, to investigate the barriers Malaysian veterinarians face in seeking to provide good cat care i...

Although sheep are commonly transported long distances, and sheep welfare during transport is a topic of research and policy discussion, the subject of their fatigue during transport has been under-researched. The current qualitative study, focused on the EU and UK, aimed to critically analyse stakeholder views on issues relating to sheep fatigue,...

China’s poultry industry faces challenges in adopting and sustaining cage-free systems for poultry production. Effective interventions are crucial to support producers transitioning from cages to alternative systems or maintaining cage-free systems to improve animal welfare. However, little is known about how Chinese poultry producers perceive anim...

Animals show behavioural responses to their environments based on the integration of their underlying emotional, cognitive and motivational processes, with the ultimate goal of fulfilling needs that promote survival. Attempts to improve welfare involve understanding these needs and the factors affecting them. Assessing behaviour is one of the major...

Knowing that animals can feel pain does not necessarily mean that veterinarians will be able to manage pain. This study aimed to assess Malaysian and British veterinarians for their knowledge and attitude towards pain in cats. An online questionnaire (SurveyMonkey ®) was developed to assess knowledge of-and attitudes towards cat pain and distribute...

Quality sleep is important for physical health and welfare in animals. However, we know little about dairy cow sleep, and how much they need. Practical techniques are needed to monitor sleep in cows to determine how different management practices affect their sleep and their welfare. It is impractical to use ‘gold standard’ electrophysiological - p...

Syamira Syazuana Zaini1, Claire Phillips1, Jill MacKay1 and Fritha Langford2 1. Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. The University of Edinburgh. Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian. EH25 9RG. United Kingdom. 2. Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). West Mains Road, Edinburgh. EH9 3JG, United Kingdom.

Affiliation: 1Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian. EH25 9RG. United Kingdom. 2 Scotland's Rural College (SRUC). West Mains Road, Edinburgh. EH9 3JG, Scotland, United Kingdom. 3. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan. Malaysia Key messages: .

Changes to the amount and patterns of sleep stages could be a useful tool to assess the effects of stress or changes to the environment in animal welfare research. However, the gold standard method, polysomnography PSG, is difficult to use with large animals such as dairy cows. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) can be used to predict...

This study aimed to identify the risk factors for aggressive behaviour in domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) in Mainland China. This information has never been estimated before for owned dogs in China, therefore, there has been a lack of information to help guide veterinarians and dog behaviourists when giving advice to owners of dogs considered to h...

This 183-paged book covers ways to improve welfare in situations where there is no large corporate buyer to enforce standards. Many of the chapters in the book cover working equids or village dogs. This requires a totally different approach compared to working with corporate supply managers. Many of the chapters describe successful work in low-inco...

Despite the importance for both animal welfare and scientific integrity of effective welfare assessment in non-human primates, there has been little or no consensus as what should be assessed. A Delphi consultation process was undertaken to identify the animal- and environment-based measures of welfare for laboratory-housed macaques and to determin...

The aim of this study was to assess the welfare of culled dairy cattle sent to an auction in the UK and identify associations between animal-based measurement and economic gain. The population of cull dairy cows sold at a Scottish livestock market were assessed on ten occasions for measures including body condition, mobility, hair loss and lesions,...

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate whether Australian cat owners are effectively meeting their cats’ environmental needs and to identify areas of deficiency that may have an impact on the cats’ health and welfare. Methods An online survey investigating lifestyle factors and provision of environmental resources was distributed to A...

The teaching of animal welfare in Indian veterinary education is limited. Current knowledge and attitudes to animal welfare and euthanasia, and the effect of a targeted educational intervention, were assessed in 84 Indian national and 49 non-Indian veterinarians attending a 2-week training course run by the Worldwide Veterinary Service in Tamil Nad...

This study examined the licensing system that permits seal shooting in Scotland, which was established under Part 6 Conservation of Seals of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Four approaches were used: data were collated and analyzed from both the Scottish Government and Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme; a survey was sent to current license ho...

Dairy cows that are no longer productive are often culled by sending them to market to go to slaughter. Buyers have limited time to see the cows in pens prior to the sale and the in the ring during the sale. Buyers could use weight, visual body condition, mobility, general demeanour and behaviour in the ring to judge how much to offer. We hypothesi...

"Animal Behavior and Welfare" was a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) hosted on Coursera as a free introductory animal welfare course. Through interrogating Coursera data and pre-/post-course student experience surveys, we investigated student retention, student experience, changes in attitudes, and changes in knowledge. The course ran for 5 weeks...

Dietary composition and presentation impacts on the behaviour of animals, and failure to provide a suitable diet can lead to reduced welfare through the development of poor health, the inability to express normal behaviours and the development of abnormal behaviours. This study assessed the effects of two commonly fed pet rabbit diets (extruded nug...

Jill MacKay, Fritha Langford and Natalie Waran were three of the lecturers on the University of Edinburgh's massive open online course (MOOC) on animal welfare and behaviour that began in July. Here, they assess its global appeal and judge its success

This paper presents a summary of results from a 2012 survey that investigated feeding and housing management regimens currently adopted by dairy farmers in Britain. Responses from 863 farms provide a snapshot of dairy industry structure and a description of the range of management systems currently in operation. Outcomes highlight a diversity of ma...

There is concern that cows that are continuously housed year-round may lack the opportunity to express a full range of natural behaviour. Providing these cows with a loafing or exercise area may allow them the space to express a greater behavioural repertoire. Little is known about the factors that affect the use of loafing areas. The aim of this s...

Involuntary culling (IC) is where a cow is disposed of due to injury, poor health or infertility. The main reasons for IC are infertility, mastitis and lameness. These reasons have differing age profiles in when they affect cows, cost variable amounts to treat and have an effect on the value of the cow at market. They also reduce cow welfare in dif...

A key indicator of resource use within farming is technical efficiency, which measures the amount of physical output attainable from a given set of inputs. The social aspects, in particular the treatment of animals, have generally been ignored within these measurement schemas. In addition, animal welfare will affect the production technology under...

The behavior of groups of housed, lactating dairy cattle was observed over 2 winter housing periods on 20 organic farms and 20 conventional farms in the United Kingdom. Three methods were used: (1) 6 video-clips of 10 min duration were captured of cows feeding at sections of the feed-bunk face during the peak feeding period (0 to 90 min) and contin...

Behavioural indices for pain in donkeys are believed to be more subtle than in horses. Therefore, more sensitive behavioural indices for pain recognition and quantification are needed. An ethogram of behaviours involving postures and events with predefined criteria was used in this tool to identify and quantify pain-related behaviours in donkeys. T...

Methods to assess changes in the mental state of animals in response to their environment can be used to provide information to enhance animal welfare. One of the most profound changes of mental state observable in mammals is the change between wakefulness and sleep. Sleeping mammals have characteristics that are similar to one another and are meas...

Information on (changes in) standing and lying behaviour of cows can be used for oestrus detection, early diagnosis of disorders and to evaluate welfare consequences of changes in housing and management. Data sets on lying and standing behaviour were collected from cows with IceTag™ sensors fitted to the leg. Data were obtained with 10 late-pregnan...

The numbers of organic dairy farms are increasing in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the world. On organic farms, the use of veterinary medicines is restricted. Because of this, there is concern that cow health is poorer on these farms. As udder health is primarily maintained by the use of antimicrobials, the effect of organic status on ma...

NEGATIVE energy balance is common in modern high genetic merit dairy cows during early lactation, when milk production is high and appetite is reduced. European Union organic management regulations place restrictions on the source and type of feed (most pertinently the proportion of the diet fed as

There have been increases in the number of organic dairy farms in the UK in recent years. However, there is little information on the impact of organic regulations on cow welfare. As part of a larger study, we aimed to investigate differences between organic and non-organic farms in management practices and winter housing quality. Forty organic and...

The presence of hock injury was assessed in the milking herds of 80 dairy farms (40 organic, 40 nonorganic) across the United Kingdom. A wide range of information on farm management and husbandry was gathered via interview to assess the factors contributing to hock damage for all 80 farms, and a comprehensive building appraisal was conducted for 40...

This study aimed to compare the prevalence of lameness on organic and non-organic dairy farms in the United Kingdom (UK) and to assess which cow and farm factors influenced lameness levels. Forty organic and 40 non-organic dairy farms across the UK were repeatedly visited over a 2.5 year period. On each visit all milking cows were locomotion scored...

Three experiments were undertaken to assess the effects of potentially aversive husbandry procedures on subsequent sleep. These consisted of a) movement to a novel environment; b) an 8-h road transport journey and c) a 29-h space Thesis Abstract restriction period (simulating times and space allowances used during road transport). Changes were seen...

Dairy calves are commonly fed milk from cows treated with antibiotics. The concentration of beta-lactam antibiotic residues found in milk from treated cows was used to determine the range of concentrations of penicillin used in a dose-regulated experiment. Thirty-one Holstein calves were randomly assigned to milk with penicillin G added at concentr...

Endocrine and environmental factors control reproduction of the polynoid scale worm Harmothoe imbricata. We confirmed that the rate of vitellogenesis was greater in winter specimens transferred from ambient regimes of photoperiod and temperature to a light:dark (LD) photoperiod of 16:8 at 10 degrees C and showed that the number of females spawning...