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Meal frequency and stereotypic behaviour in stabled horses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

J J Cooper ,
S Johnson ,
N McCall  and
N Davidson
J J Cooper
Affiliation:
Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Park, Riseholme, Lincoln LN2 2LG UK, Email: [email protected]
S Johnson
Affiliation:
Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Park, Riseholme, Lincoln LN2 2LG UK, Email: [email protected]
N McCall
Affiliation:
Animal Behaviour, Cognition and Welfare Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lincoln, Riseholme Park, Riseholme, Lincoln LN2 2LG UK, Email: [email protected]
N Davidson
Affiliation:
Equine Studies Group, Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, Waltham–on–the–Wolds, Leicestershire, UK
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Extract

Locomotor stereotypies such as weaving and nodding are commonly observed as pre–feeding activity in stabled horses (Cooper, McDonald and Mills, 2001), whilst oral activities such as crib–biting and woodchewing may be associated with the post–feeding period (McGreevy and Nicol, 1998) particularly in horses fed a low–fibre concentrate (Nicol et al., 2002). In this study, we investigated the effect of increasing the number of meals of concentrate whilst maintaining the same daily concentrate intake, on the behaviour of stabled horses with particular reference to stereotypic activities such as weaving and crib–biting. The study was carried out on a working equestrian yard with stables for up to 50 horses.

A pilot study was used to record incidence of stereotypic behaviour and to select subjects for the main study. In this, the behaviour of 30 warm–blooded horses was recorded during their morning (0830h) and afternoon (1630h) concentrate meals. Each meal consisted of 0.5kg of a commercial feed, mixed with 1kg of soaked sugar beet pulp and 0.5kg of chopped hay and straw mixed in a bucket.

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Posters
Information
BSAP Occasional Publication , Volume 32: Emerging Equine Science , 2004 , pp. 165 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Production 2004

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References

Cooper, J.J, McDonald, L and Mills, D.S. (2000). The effect of increasing visual horizons on stereotypic weaving: implications for the social housing of stabled horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 69: 67–83.Google Scholar
McGreevy, P.D, and Nicol, C.J. (1998). The effect of short term prevention on the subsequent rate of crib-biting in Thoroughbred horses. Equine Veterinary Journal Supplement , 27: 30–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicol, C.J., Davidson, H.P.D., Harris, P.A., Waters, A.J. and Wilson, A.D. (2002). Study of crib-biting and gastric inflammation and ulceration in young horses. The Veterinary Record , 151: 658–660. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed