Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Group

Animal Behaviour & Welfare Research Group

This interdisciplinary team has expertise in a range of animal industries, including farmed animals, equines, zoo and exotic animals housed in zoological collections, wild animals, companion animals and veterinary settings.

Specifically, our team has expertise in:

Applied animal behaviour
Welfare assessment including development of welfare assessment protocols
Use of technology in animal industries (e.g. precision behaviour monitoring)
Small animal veterinary practice
Companion animal and livestock health (including the use of behaviour to predict health outcomes)
One Health and One Welfare
Human animal interactions
Participatory science initiatives including working with stakeholders and provision of citizen science opportunities
Evidence based management of animals (including early rearing environments for livestock, provision of goal-based enrichment and cooperative care methodologies)
The pedagogy of animal welfare science.

Contact us

Research contact 01952 81 5113
Monday to Friday: 9am - 5pm

animalbehaviourandwelfare@harper-adams.ac.uk

Centre lead

Professor Mark Rutter
Professor of Applied Animal Behaviour
01952 815463

Highlights

Blog Midlands Integrative Biosciences Training Partnership (MIBTP) PhD opportunities with the Animal Behaviour & Welfare Research Group

Blog Hosting a summer school for the North Carolina State University

Blog New publications from the Behaviour and Welfare Research Group!

What can we do for you?

This research team has a wealth of experience in multidisciplinary research and would be delighted to co-develop research projects or undertake consultancy in any of our areas of expertise. If you would like to work with us on any projects, please email us.

Training

The animal behaviour and welfare research group are proficient in the development of educational courses and can tailor short courses or training courses for all aspects of animal behaviour and welfare including: an introduction to animal welfare; development and implementation of animal welfare assessment protocols; guidance for undertaking applied animal behaviour and welfare research. The research group also has a strong track record in hosting workshops which facilitate networking and co-development of solutions to industry-relevant problems.

天美视频 has a suite of facilities on site which support delivery of these training opportunities including:

The Future Farm: a working farm which includes a pig unit, poultry unit, dairy, beef, and sheep units. The main dairy houses upwards of 400 cows.
The Companion Animal House: an animal unit comprising approximately 120 animals of 28 different species, including both domestic (e.g. rats, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits and horses) and exotic (e.g. ferrets, leopard geckos and chinchillas) species.
Veterinary facilities
Lecturing facilities including three lecture theatres which seat from 94 to 262 delegates, smaller classrooms for breakout group discussions and exhibition spaces

The research group is able and willing to host training events and workshops both on and off site, with opportunities being developed to suit your needs. If you are interested in training tailored to your own requirements, please email us to discuss this further. Costs are dependent on the needs of the team and level of support required in hours/days.

Consultancy

The animal behaviour and welfare research group has undertaken consultancy in a range of areas including animal housing and husbandry, welfare audits, systematic reviews, support for research development, applying evidence-based management protocols, training in welfare assessment and data analysis. Please email us if you would like to discuss opportunities in relation to consultancy. As above, costs are dependent on the needs of the team and level of support required in hours/days.

Media presence and invited talks

Knowledge exchange is a key aspect of the work of the animal behaviour and welfare research group. Our staff are available to support knowledge exchange activities through media presence or invited talks. An overview of other recent knowledge dissemination by the research group is available on request. For media-specific enquiries please contact our Press team. For invited talks or other events please email us directly.

Current research projects and specific areas of interest

The Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Group, which sits within the Animal Science Research Centre, works with other research groups within 天美视频 and with external collaborators to deliver projects using multidisciplinary methods across species. Within 天美视频, we regularly collaborate with:

Research on farm

Behavioural, physiological and production effects of dairy cow-calf rearing systems (PhD project – Dr Gemma Charlton, Dr Emma Bleach, Olivia Bolton)
Delayed cow-calf separation: addressing critical knowledge gaps to inform industry best practices (Dr Annabelle Beaver; US Department of Agriculture, partnership with Cornell, Penn State, and Michigan State Universities)
Fulfilling the 'promise of precision'? A user-centred study of sensor technology for farm animal welfare (PhD project – Dr Gemma Charlton, Professor David Rose, Joanne Sharpe)
Exploitation of volatile organic compounds (VOC) detection at abattoir as a non-invasive method of improving animal welfare, red meat quality, and operative health and safety in the meat supply chain (PhD project – Dr Karim Farag, Dr Lynn McIntyre, Dr Gemma Charlton, Ellie Gannon)
Feeding strategies towards enhancing well-being through the weaning transition of dairy-bred calves (PhD project – Dr Emma Bleach, Dr Gemma Charlton, Dr James McCaughern, Ffion Lewis)
Enriching the lives of dairy heifers (MRes project – Dr Gemma Charlton, Dr Holly Vickery, Giorgia Cavalli)
Validation of the Faire location tracker of dairy cows (industry project – Dr Gemma Charlton, Professor Mark Rutter)

Research in zoos

Participatory science initiatives in zoos (PhD and industry project - Dr Ellen Williams, Professor Mark Rutter, Professor David Rose, Daniel Wright)
Elephant welfare in zoos (Industry project - Dr Ellen Williams)
Development of positive welfare indicators for zoo housed callitrichids (Dr Ellen Williams)
Human-animal interactions in zoos (PhD project - Dr Ellen Williams)

Research in educational settings

Understanding the experiences of animals used in educational establishments including the impacts of animal personality on animal experiences (PhD project - Dr Ellen Williams, Dr Holly Vickery, Mrs Jennifer Sadler, Alice King)
The use of animals used in veterinary education – guidelines for animal handling (Industry project - Dr Holly Vickery, Dr Ellen Williams)

Veterinary/animal health research

Cryptosporidium in neonatal calves. Long term implications and disinfectant efficacy. (Dr Hannah Shaw)
Parasites in drinking and recreational water. (Dr Hannah Shaw)
The impact of canine obesity on health and welfare and owner understanding and awareness.

Wild animal research

Land manager-mesocarnivore interactions in South Africa: benefits, challenges and conservation impacts (Dr Ellen Williams, Professor Nicola Randall)
Avian ecology and conservation (PhD project – Sophie Rabone, Dr Ellen Williams, Dr John Reade)

Funded postgraduate research opportunities will be shared via our research blog however if you would like to discuss an idea for a research project please email us.

Research publications

Publications from the research group can be found in our and on individual staff profiles.

Meet the team

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Professional memberships within the research group

We are officially represented in the following professional societies and working groups:

Animal Welfare Research Network
Association of the Study of Animal Behaviour
American Dairy Science Association
British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums Research Committee
British Small Animal Veterinary Association
European Association of Zoos and Aquariums Animal Welfare Working Group
International Society of Applied Ethology
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
Royal Society of Biology
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare
UK Animal Care Technicians.

For further information please see individual staff profiles.

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