[Group housing for two to eight week old fattening calves]. / Gruppenhaltung über zwei bis acht Wochen alter Mastkälber.

The effect of three different feeding techniques (electronic automated feeder, teat bucket and bucket with floating teat) on oral activities, skin condition, health and performance of 144 German Holstein group housed veal calves was investigated. About 21% of the observed time over 24 hours was spent on oral activities and only about 1% with the particularly health-relevant activities at prepuce, navel or scrotum. As a consequence of sucking activities at pen mates in most cases reddening of the skin and, with low incidence (about 7%), additional loss of hair could be found. Altogether about 74% of the calves were affected with the highest incidence in the electronic automated feeder groups. Calves of these groups had, moreover, higher disease incidences and a lower weight gain and feed conversion rate than those fed by teat bucket or by bucket with floating teat. Altogether results show that in terms of behaviour and health it is possible to keep calves at the age of two weeks in groups, even in conventional veal calf production, when satisfactory management is applied. The electronic automated feeder still needs further technical development for use with veal calves.

[Space required for sheep during transport]. / Untersuchungen zum Platzbedarf von Schafen beim Transport.

Space required for different body, positions was investigated for sheep of different weight and genetic background in undisturbed housing conditions. Body temperature, as stress indicator, was measured at different intervals during transport. The loading situation caused a distinct increase; a slight increase was measured after unloading. During transport, the values did not reach those taken before loading. Concerning the space required for resting, the present results indicate that sheep (weighing between 32 and 35 kg) being transported with a space allowance of 0.16, 0.26, 0.27, 0.42 and 0.45 m2/animal showed an appreciable amount of resting behaviour only at lower densities, i.e. with space allowance of more than 0.40 m2. The recommended space allowance by the EU of 0.21 to 0.23 m2 for sheep of this weight group has to be considered as too low to permit effective resting behaviour. The problem of supplying sheep with water and feed during transport has not yet been solved. The question is not only how much space the animals need for feeding but also a matter of the technical equipment for supplying feed and water so that all animals are able to reach it.

[Ethological investigations in various housing of broiler chickens]. / Ergebnisse ethologischer Untersuchungen bei verschiedenen Haltungsbedingungen von Masthähnchen.

Ethological observations showed an increase of moving activity, comfort and social behaviour as well as improvement of resting behaviour when stock density is reduced and the light program contains splitted phases of darkness.

[Genetic behavioral aspects of agricultural animals]. / Verhaltensgenetische Aspekte bei landwirtschaftlichen Nutztieren.

This paper reviews some experimental methods used in the study of genetic fixed behaviour, some examples of investigations in farm animals as well as some results of the author's studies on the emotionality in pigs are given. Many investigations have been made on the estimation of heritability of behaviour patterns in cattle, pigs, poultry and dogs. Behaviour patterns such as temperament, aggressiveness, and nervousness showed relatively high h2-values; other behaviours like trainability, emotionality, and pre-laying showed relatively low values. Selection experiments were carried out in poultry and dogs. The results showed that after a few generations remarkable differences in behaviour patterns between the new lines and the original populations were obvious. Besides the selected traits, modifications occurred in other behaviour patterns and in physiological responses. The emotionality in pigs was investigated with the open field test in 3 genetic groups: German Landrace (DL), Duroc (DU), and cross-breeding between these breeds (DU x DL). Increasing emotionality was displayed by increasing ambulatory activity and vocalization. The lowest activity was observed in the pure breeds, DU showed less signs of emotionality than DL, whereas DU x DL showed the highest of emotionality.

[Color perception in domestic goats (Capra hircus L.)]. / Zum Farbsehvermögen von Hausziegen (Capra hircus L.).

Tests on male goats were designed to determine their capacity for colour vision. The colours yellow, orange, blue, violet and green were tested against gray nuances of like brightness. Goats were found to be able to distinguish between colours and gray nuances. The rate of errors increased in the order: orange, green, red, yellow, violet, blue.