Automated Virtual Fencing Can Effectively Contain Sheep: Field Trials and Prospects.

Virtual fencing technology uses on-animal devices to communicate boundaries via a warning audio tone and electrical pulse signals. There is currently limited validation work on sheep. This study used modified cattle eShepherd virtual fencing neckbands on reduced-wool sheep with clipped necks to enable automated trials with small groups across both day and night.

Beef Cattle Preference and Usage of Environmental Enrichments Provided Simultaneously in a Pasture-Based Environment.

Environmental enrichment can improve livestock welfare through increasing environmental complexity to promote a greater range of natural behaviours. However, there is limited understanding of the need for and impacts of enrichments for extensively managed beef cattle that can sometimes be kept in grassed paddocks devoid of additional natural and artificial features, i.e.

Behavior and welfare impacts of water provision via misting in commercial Pekin ducks.

Ducks will access water to maintain feather condition and exhibit natural water-related behaviors such as wet preening. Providing water to ducks commercially is challenging as it may reduce litter and air quality leading to higher duck mortality or illness. This research aimed to measure the behavioral and welfare impacts of water provision via a misting system for commercial Pekin grower ducks in Victoria, Australia.

Relationship between sunlight and range use of commercial free-range hens in Australia.

In Australia, summer brings intense, bright sunlight with high ultraviolet (UV) radiation and hot temperatures, which might impact free-range hens' ranging outside. To determine how range use was correlated with different sunlight variables and weather factors, a study was carried out on three commercial free-range layer farms during the summer/autumn period (December-May) across diverse regions of Australia in Tasmania (TAS), Queensland (QLD), and Western Australia (WA). Hens' range distribution was determined by counting the number of hens in the direct sunlight ('sun') or 'cloud' and shaded areas ('sun-shade' or 'cloud-shade', in sunny or cloudy conditions, respectively) using image snapshots taken at 30 min intervals from video recordings of a portion of one shed comprising 20,000-30,000 hens on each farm during the production phase of the laying cycle.

Commercial Free-Range Laying Hens' Preferences for Shelters with Different Sunlight Filtering Percentages.

Extreme sunlight might be aversive to free-range laying hens, discouraging them from going outside. Range enrichment with artificial shelters may protect hens from sunlight and increase range use. The preferences of 34-40-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens for artificial shelters were assessed by counting the number of hens under three densities of individual shelters (three replicates/density) from video recordings for 14 to 17 days for two flocks.

Impacts of Rearing Enrichments on Pullets' and Free-Range Hens' Positive Behaviors across the Flock Cycle.

Enrichment during the indoor rearing of pullets destined for free-range systems may optimize pullet development including increasing motivated natural behaviors (termed 'positive behaviors') including foraging, dust bathing and chick play. Hy-Line Brown® chicks ( = 1700) were floor-reared indoors across 16 weeks with three enrichment treatments ( = 3 pens/treatment): (1) standard control, (2) weekly novel objects-'novelty', (3) perching/navigation structures-'structural'. At 16 weeks, pullets ( = 1386) were transferred to nine identical pens within rearing treatments with outdoor range access from 25 to 65 weeks.

Virtual Fence Responses Are Socially Facilitated in Beef Cattle.

Group-living can be socially advantageous where the behavior of individuals may be modified by group members through socially facilitative processes. Virtual fencing contains cattle by providing audio and electrical signals via a neckband device. However, little is known about social influences on learning to appropriately respond to the virtual fence (VF) cues.

Analysis of Cattle Social Transitional Behaviour: Attraction and Repulsion.

Understanding social interactions in livestock groups could improve management practices, but this can be difficult and time-consuming using traditional methods of live observations and video recordings. Sensor technologies and machine learning techniques could provide insight not previously possible. In this study, based on the animals' location information acquired by a new cooperative wireless localisation system, unsupervised machine learning approaches were performed to identify the social structure of a small group of cattle yearlings (n=10) and the social behaviour of an individual.

Virtual Fencing Technology Excludes Beef Cattle from an Environmentally Sensitive Area.

The eShepherd virtual fencing system being commercialized for cattle has the potential to exclude cattle from environmentally sensitive areas. Animals are given audio cues to indicate a fence line via a neckband device. An electrical pulse is administered if the animal continues moving forward following an audio cue.

Virtual Fencing Is Comparable to Electric Tape Fencing for Cattle Behavior and Welfare.

Virtual fencing technology restricts animal movement via communicated signals without physical boundaries. Specifically, the eShepherd™ automated virtual fencing system operates via GPS technology and provides stimuli via a neckband device. An audio warning tone is emitted at the virtual boundary which is followed by an electrical pulse if the animal continues moving forward.

Temporary Exclusion of Cattle from a Riparian Zone Using Virtual Fencing Technology.

Grazing cattle can both negatively and positively impact riparian zones, dependent on controlled grazing management. Virtual fencing technology, using collar devices that operate via GPS can provide audio cues and electrical stimuli to temporarily exclude cattle from specified areas as desired. An early experimental prototype automated virtual fencing system was tested in excluding ten cattle from a riparian zone in Australia.

Relationship between Rectal Temperature and Vaginal Temperature in Grazing Heifers.

This study evaluated the relationship between rectal temperature (T, °C) and vaginal temperature (T, °C) in grazing heifers, to develop an understanding of the reliability of these measures as estimates of core body temperature. Nineteen Angus heifers (BW = 232.2 ± 6.

Tech-Savvy Beef Cattle? How Heifers Respond to Moving Virtual Fence Lines.

Global Positioning System (GPS)-based virtual fences offer the potential to improve the management of grazing animals. Prototype collar devices utilising patented virtual fencing algorithms were placed on six Angus heifers in a 6.15 hectare paddock.