Internal

Assessing the impacts of environmental enrichment on Dairy calf welfare

Environmental enrichment can be used to decrease undesired behaviours and to improve animal welfare. This project will form part of an ongoing team project to investigate whether improving the environment of dairy calves successfully improve calf welfare. This project will focus on how enrichment use changes with the age of the calves.

Department: Animal Sciences

Supervised by: Kate Johnson

The Placement Project

Animal welfare and behaviour research at the university Centre For Dairy Research (CEDAR) has been a growing topic for the Animal Science department with several PhD students now working on animal welfare. This placement will be working with one of our current PhD students focusing on enrichment. Dairy heifer calves are usually reared in small groups with access to water, forage and fed milk twice each day. All baby mammals need to explore and play to learn behaviours that they will need for their adult lives. Where behavioural opportunities are limited animal welfare can be limited and undesired behaviours may develop for example, stereotypic behaviours. In dairy heifer calves the main undesired behaviour observed is cross sucking. This behaviour can cause skin damage to other calves and suggests that we aren't meeting calves' behavioural needs. As part of an existing project we have offered calves additional environmental enrichment. We are then observing their behaviour to see how frequently they interact with the enrichment and whether provision of enrichment reduces undesired behaviours. The wider project is ongoing at CEDAR and we will be able to take part in some practical work, if desired. But the main data set that the student should analyse with be CCTV recording collected Spring 2023. The aim of the UROP student project will be to investigate if enrichment use and behaviour varies as the calves grow from 1 to 8 weeks of age.

Tasks

- Learn to use the BORIS software for behavioural recording - Use BORIS software to record behaviour from recording of calves made in Spring 2023 - Assist in practical work ongoing at CEDAR (this aspect of the work can vary depending on the student's interests) - Analyse the behavioural data - Prepare a report on how calf ago impacts behaviour in the experiment

Skills, knowledge and experience required

- Some knowledge of statistics (and some willingness to learn) - It would be helpful if they student knew something about animal behaviour and welfare, though these skills can also be taught.

Skills which will be developed during the placement

- Use of BORIS software (the standard application used for behavioural research) - Improved statistical skills - Practical, on-farm data collection skills (if wanted, this placement is also open to students that prefer theoretical work)

Place of Work

The student can work in the Agriculture department (Whiteknights Campus) and at the CEDAR

Hours of Work

Flexible

Approximate Start and End Dates (not fixed)

Saturday 01 July 2023 - Friday 01 September 2023

How to Apply

The deadline to apply for this opportunity is Monday 3rd April 2023. Students should submit their CV and Cover Letter directly to the Project Supervisor (click on supervisor name at the top of the page for email). Successful candidates will be invited for an interview.


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