On
7 August the GroupHouseNet COST action and FareWellDock – Network organised a one-day
satellite meeting, which was the day before the 2017 annual congress of the
International Society for Applied Ethology. This brought together researchers
working within the field of damaging behaviour in both pigs and poultry. The meeting
focused on two main themes: ‘Mechanisms underlying the link between health and
damaging behaviour’, and ‘Predisposing factors for damaging behaviour during
early development’. Both themes were introduced by two invited experts, who are
involved in writing review papers on their respective areas of expertise. These
were followed by short research presentations by four participants per theme. After
the presentations within each theme, participants were randomly assigned to 6 sub-groups,
all including experts in both species, where they discussed and addressed four
key questions:
- Was anything missing/unclear/not
logical in the two plenary review talks? Did they raise any specific questions?
- Which similarities/differences
between species (pigs/poultry) did you identify?
- Which are the main gaps of
knowledge in pigs/poultry?
- What research approach could help
fill in these gaps?
Each group then presented key
points from the results of their discussion, and provided feedback to the
experts who are involved in preparing review papers on their topics.
Not only did the meeting help in
dissemination of the most up to date research in the area of damaging behaviour,
but the feedback from the participants will help to ensure the review papers
are of the highest scientific standard. Moreover, it provided a fantastic
opportunity for networking between researchers working in the area of damaging
behaviour, and helped to introduce the COST action to potential new
participants. Many thanks to the sponsors of the meeting (RSPCA, Topigs Norsvin, and COST) for their support!
Presentations from the day are available to view here