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An Interpretation of Farmed Mink's Motivation for a Water Bath

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An Interpretation of Farmed Mink's Motivation for a Water Bath CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by University of Lincoln Institutional Repository AABS revision 28-5-2010 1 Title: 2 To swim or not to swim: An interpretation of farmed mink’s 3 motivation for a water bath. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Running headline: 11 Swimming water for farmed mink 12 13 14 Authors: 15 VINKE, C.M., HANSEN, S.W., MONONEN, J., MASON, G.J., KORHONEN, H., COOPER, J.J., 16 MOHAIBES, M., BAKKEN, M. SPRUIJT, B.M. 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Correspondence to: 31 C.M. Vinke. Ethology & Welfare Group, Department of Animals, Science & Society, Faculty of 32 Veterinary Medicine, University of Utrecht, P.O. Box 80166, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands. 33 T: ++ 31.30.2534373 34 F: ++ 31.30.2539227 35 Email: [email protected] 1 AABS revision 28-5-2010 36 Summary 37 38 How an animal’s behavioural (ethological) needs can be met is a pivotal issue in the assessment 39 of welfare for captive animals. The value of swimming water for farmed mink is an example how 40 scientific and societal questions relating to animal welfare can be answered. A number of studies 41 have addressed the issue of the indispensability of swimming water for mink; however, so far with 42 inconclusive evidence. In this paper, the results of these studies and related literature are 43 reviewed. 44 First, the biological definition of need is discussed. Subsequently, attention is paid to the effects of 45 the presence, absence and the removal of swimming water on behavioural and physiological 46 correlates of well-being including stereotypic and anticipatory behaviour and urinary cortisol. 47 Thereafter we discuss individual differences in the use of swimming water, the price animals pay 48 for access to a water bath, and the effect of access to swimming water on juvenile play. 49 The main conclusions of the literature review are that 1) the use of a water bath for mink is 50 most likely related to foraging behaviour (foraging areas: land and water); 2) absence of 51 swimming water, without prior experience, does not lead to consistent changes in level of 52 stereotypic behaviour, or anticipatory responses; 3) removal of a previously experienced water 53 bath may induce short-term stress as indicated by behavioural parameters and elevated cortisol 54 responses; 4) mink work hard for access to a swimming bath and running wheel in consumer 55 demand studies. Other cage modifications such as tunnels and biting objects, may also provide 56 environmental enrichment, if they are added to otherwise impoverished conditions; 5) There are 57 individual differences in the use of swimming water: these are related in part to variation in prior 58 experience of aquatic resources.; 6) As prior experience is important both with respect to 59 individual use of swimming water and the response to deprivation, swimming water can not be 60 described as biological need in the sense of a fixed requirement for survival. As swimming water 61 appears to act as an incentive that induces its own motivation a more accurate term may be an 62 “incentive induced or environmentally facilitated need”. Given the available evidence, it is not 63 possible to conclude whether mink that have never experienced swimming water, suffer as a 64 consequence of its absence. However, it is possible to predict that mink with access to water have 65 improved quality of life, due to increased behavioural opportunities, in comparison to farmed mink 66 without access to swimming water. In practical terms, it is still open to debate whether mink 67 should be provided with swimming water, or if alternative, less valued, but easier to install and 68 maintain forms of environmental enrichment, should be provided in mink housing. 69 To clarify these issues a number of future studies would be valuable. These include; 1) whether 70 specific environmental cues affect motivation to swim, such as the form of drinking water delivery 71 systems ; 2) whether prior experience of swimming water affects its incentive value; in other 72 words “can you miss what you never experienced?”; 3) do behavioural parameters such as 73 stereotypic behaviour; rebound effects and vacuum activity have any general utility in assessing 2 AABS revision 28-5-2010 74 the value of absent resources; 4) what are preferences for and the value of alternative resources 75 which may act as substitutes for swimming water. In addition we would recommend further work 76 investigating: relationship between access to swimming water and positive indicators of welfare 77 such as play and/or anticipatory behaviour; the effects of preventing the performance of rewarding 78 behaviours and deprivation of a previous experienced resource; and health and hygeine issues 79 related to provision of a water bath. In future work, it would be desirable to present be the actual 80 percentages of animals using a water bath during the experiment and the use of power analyses, 81 to aid their interpretation. 82 83 84 Keywords: farmed mink, animal welfare, biological need, motivation, swimming water, animal 85 housing 3 AABS revision 28-5-2010 86 1. Introduction 87 88 The deprivation of behavioural or ethological needs is a key feature of poor welfare of animals 89 kept in captivity (see Dawkins 1988; Friend, 1989; Rushen et al., 1993). Animals have a certain 90 degree of plasticity to adapt their behavioural repertoire to environmental demands, in which case, 91 hey can acquire new behaviours (learning), omit non-adaptive behaviours or adapt behavioural 92 strategies to available resources. However, where behavioural plasticity is limited and the animal 93 is equipped with pre-programmed specific behavioural strategies ("standard answers") to cope 94 with “standard” demands of the environment to which the species has been adapted during 95 evolution, the capacity to adapt to captive animals may be restricted (see for coping strategies: 96 e.g. Fokkema et al., 1995; Koolhaas et al., 1999). 97 The role of swimming water for farmed mink has elicited much debate with respect to 98 scientific and the societal concerns regarding animal welfare and related ethical issues associated 99 with this agriculture activity in some European countries.Whether access to swimming water 100 represents a behavioural need for farmed mink, thus far has not been resolved conclusively. 101 Therefore, a concerted action of a combined set of studies was launched to attempt to resolve this 102 issue: Is swimming water an indispensable stimulus, a conditional need, or is swimming water no 103 need at all for farmed mink? 104 This paper aims to discuss the main results and conclusions of these studies (the separate 105 full studies are published elsewhere) as well as other available literature on the meaning of 106 swimming water for farmed mink. Attention is paid to the effects of the presence, the absence and 107 the removal of swimming water (deprivation) on stereotypic behaviour, anticipatory activity, levels 108 of urinary cortisol, individual differences in use of water resources, preference and consumer 109 demand studies, and the effect of swimming water on juvenile play as a potential positive indicator 110 of animal well being. The present paper does not address animal management issues such as 111 the economic consequences of the introduction of swimming water on farms, the potential 112 legislation to cover swimming water delivery in different countries, or the effect of swimming water 113 on reproduction, pelt quality and health. Nor does this paper discuss the ethical aspects on the 114 purpose wherefore mink is commercially bred. 115 116 The paper starts with a short summary on the concept of behavioural needs, followed by 117 minks’ natural habitats on land and water, and the use swimming behaviour by captive mink.. 118 Subsequently, we discuss: the development of stereotypies in farmed mink in the presence and 119 absence of swimming water; consumer-demand tests and substitutability of alternative resources; 120 the importance of prior experience with swimming water; anticipatory and juvenile play behaviour 121 in the presence and absence of a water bath; and the effects of deprivation and challenges 122 involved in the study of behavioural deprivation. Finally, we question why mink might be motivated 4 AABS revision 28-5-2010 123 to have swimming water, draw conclusions on the necessity of providing swimming water to 124 farmed mink, and provide advice for future research and for farming practice. 125 126 2. Behavioural needs and reward 127 128 Behavioural needs: definitions, concepts and some characteristics 129 Behavioural needs or “what is indispensable to an animal”, have been described in various ways. 130 One approach is to reflect on the wild or natural environment and suggest all elements animals 131 that are denied in captivity can be described as lacking or deprived (Thorpe, 1965; Martin, 1979). 132 This approach has been largely rejected by animal welfare scientist, citing the organism’s 133 behavioural plasticity and the effects of domestication and humans’ selective breeding programs 134 (e.g. Dawkins, 1980, 1983; Poole, 1992; Veasey et al., 1996 Price, 1999) who concluded that it 135 would be inappropriate to assume captive animals would require the same elements in their 136 environment as their wild conspecifics. 137 138 A more classical definition of behavioural needs can be found in “Who needs behavioural 139 needs?” by Jensen and Toates (1993). They defined a behavioural need as a specific behavioural 140 pattern that should be performed, irrespective of the environment, even when the physiological 141 needs related to this essential behaviour have been met. The biological relevance or adaptive 142 value of performance of these types of behaviours may reside in long-term benefits for the 143 individual or its offspring (e.g.
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