Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The meeting was held at the USDA National Soil Erosion Laboratory, Purdue University Campus, West Lafayette, IN, in conjunction with the North American Regional Meeting of the International Society for Applied Ethology. Chair Don Lay called the meeting to order at 8:40 a.m. Introductions were made, followed by Don Beermann?s administrative report, which summarized last year?s activities, including the previous year?s meeting at Austin, TX. o Additionally, Beermann reviewed the structural components of NCR 131 and reported that a writing committee was put together which consisted of Don Lay, Inma Estevez, Jeremy Marchant-Forde and Ed Pajor. He noted that in 2003, it was decided to change the title of NCR 131 to Applied Animal Behavior. o Beermann also reported that he must submit an assessment of impact and progress of NCR 131. He then reviewed the approval process for NCR 131 members. The goal of NCR 131 is to have a common umbrella project with collaborating 131 members. Rich Reynnells then gave his report. o The "Future Trends in Animal Agriculture" meeting is to be held in Washington, D.C. September 22, 2004. The meeting is open to the public and consists of a broad group of individuals. o Reynnells then discussed the move to modify the animal welfare act. The recent amendment modifies the definition of the term, animal and states; ?To make the definition of animal in the regulations consistent with the definition of animal in the AWA, this final rule amends the regulations by narrowing the scope of the exclusion for birds to only those birds bred for use in research.? o Reynnells also noted that there is an effort to move the animal welfare judging contest, led by Zanella to the 4H FFA arena. o In addition to a number of other documents that are available, Reynnells has a summary of animal welfare legislation in Europe available to interested persons. o A summary of the OIE ad hoc group on the slaughter of animals for human consumption guidelines for animal welfare was circulated; comments can be submitted to APHIS (?) This is strictly a USDA internal document. o The OIE meeting on Compassion in World Farming video on transport is also available through Reynnells. Station reports began at 9:15 am. Individuals giving reports: Pajor, Katz, Haley, Millman, Croney, Zanella (is seeking collaborators for a lameness study with dairy cows), Estevez, and Lay. Station reports concluded at 12:25 p.m., at which point the group broke for lunch. *Note for future agenda planning: average station report time is 15 minutes (20 mins if questions are included)! The meeting resumed at 2:30 p.m. o The group began working on the process of re-writing the proposal for the NCR 131 project. A question was raised about the omission of the term ?welfare? from the group?s title. Beermann pointed out that we need to differentiate the 131 group from other research groups, especially others that work with animal behavior. Lay will reword objectives to include welfare. Suggested wording for NCR 131 project objectives offered by Reynnells was: "Development, integration and validation of behavioral tests and physiological measurements related to animal welfare and productivity." For example, current and novel management practices, social environmental effects, physical environment, and characterize the adaptive and welfare state of animals relative to production. The group decided that the project we should collaborate on is validation of methods to characterize animal subjective states. Years 1-2. Evaluate validity of test(s) that assess fear/anxiety. Years 3-4. Evaluate validity of test(s) that assess pleasure/pain Year 5. Write manuscript/white paper Possible tests (indicators of fear/anxiety) that were discussed: -Isolation - Open field - Tonic immobility - Back test - Alarm call communication - Freeze response - Startle - Social Challenge - Emergence - Predator/vigilance - Return to refuge/use of cover - Flight These tests could be systematically conducted with different species using the following paradigm: Test Species Approach Predator surprise Business meeting: 1. 2005 meeting location. The group decided to aim for a 2-day retreat Feb 11-12, 2005. A possible location is New Orleans. 2. Election of officers. Officers voted in for 2004-2005 were: Chair: Croney; Secretary: Zanella. 3. New members. New members voted in unanimously included Suzanne Millman, Larry Katz, Brad Imwalle, Aaron Moore and Jeremy Marchant-Forde. 4. 2006 NA regional meeting of ISAE. The group was informed that the 2006 is to be held in Vancouver. It was suggested that NCR 131 meet in conjunction with the NA regional ISAE meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Candace Croney Secretary, NCR 131

A vigorous discussion of the draft of a manuscript entitled "Test-retest reliability of behavioural test of fearfullnses: a critical review" was conducted, and this served as a basis for developing specific objectives for the new project porposal. A major conclusion was that fear test measures in quail are unstable over an 18-day interval. Critical factors that affect reliability of animal behavior test measurements and results were identified and were used to define work planned for the new project. Inclusion of results in station reports in these discussions also contributed to definition of work planned. Basic and applied behavioral research was conducted and reports given to share this information. New participants became aware of existing project participants and commited to collaborations in the future. Requests for collaboration were also shared during reports.

Marchant-Forde, J.N. 2003. Housing the sow without crates ? challenges and solutions. J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 1):124. Marchant-Forde, J.N. and Pajor, E.A. 2003. The effects of dietary sodium bicarbonate on abnormal behavior and heart rate in sows. J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 1):158. Marchant-Forge, R.M., Marlin, D.J., and Marchant-Forde, J.N. 2003. Validation of 24h Polar RR recorder for measuring heart rate variability in pigs. J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 1):322. Damm, B.I., Pedersen, L.J., Marchant-Forde, J.N., and Gilbert, C.L. 2003. Does feed-back from a nest affect prepartum and partum behaviour and circulatory oxytocin, cortisol, 17ß-oestradiol in gilts? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 83:55-76. Pedersen, L.J., Damm, B.I., Marchant-Forde, J.N., and Jensen, K.H. 2003. Effects of feed-back from the nest on maternal responsiveness and postural changes in primiparous sows during the first 24 hours after farrowing onset. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 83:109-124. Willard, S., Ryan, P., Bailey, R., Lawrence, M., Estill, C., Gandy, S., and Lay, Jr., D.C. 2002. Development of a novel paradigm for the real-time monitoring of bacterial pathogenicity in swine. J. Anim. Sci. 85(Suppl. 1):31. Lay, Jr., D.C., Stabel, T.J., Toscano, M.J., and Vote, B.A. 2003. Effect of mixing and transportation on behavior and cortisol response in relation to Salmonella infection in swine. J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 1):323. Toscano, M.J., Scott, K.A., Smith, H.K., Cunnick, J.E., Daniels, M.J., and Lay, Jr., D.C. 2003. Effects of pre-natal stress on immunological response and weight gain during the grower finisher period. J. Anim. Sci. 81(Suppl. 1):157. Cheng, H.W., Horn, H., and Wilcox, S. 2004. Infrared beak treatment vs hot-blade beak trimming effects on laying hen well-being. Proceedings of the 38 International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology, August 3-7, 2004. Gustafon, L., Cheng, H.W., Pajor, E., and Mench, J.A. 2004. Effects of bill-trimming on the welfare of muscovy ducks. Proceedings of the 38 International Congress of the International Society for Applied Ethology, August 3-7, 2004. Pohle, P. and Cheng, H.W. 2004. Housing effect on behavior and physiology during a feed-withdrawal molt in laying hens: furnished cages vs conventional cages. Poult. Sci. July 25-29, 2004. Jefferson, L.D., Muir, W.M., and Cheng, H.W. 2004. Effects of acute stress on physical and hormonal responses in three genetic strains of laying hens. Poult. Sci. July 25-29, 2004. Dennis, R., Estevez, I., and Cheng, H.W. 2004. Marked for stress! North American Regional International Society for Applied Ethology, June 18-19, 2004. Cheng, H.W. and Freire, R. 2004. Behavior of chicks after beak trimming: indicators of pain and welfare. World Poultry Congress, p. 207. Pohle, K. and Cheng, H.W. 2003. Housing effect on behavior and production performance of laying hens: furnished cages vs conventional cages. Poult. Sci. 82(Suppl. 1):59. Kopka, M.N., Cheng, H.W., and Hester, P.Y. 2003. Bone mineral density of laying hens housed in enriched versus conventional cages. Poult. Sci. 82(Suppl. 1):29. Daniels, K.J., Townsend, J.R., Donkin, S.S., Eicher, S.D., Fahey, A.G., and Schutz, M.M. 2003. The effect of prepartum milking on the health and well being of first calf heifers. Midwest ADSA/ASAS abstracts:22. Eicher, S.D., Johnson, T.R., and McMunn, K.A. 2003. In vitro modulation of acute phase cytokines and toll-like receptor expression by bovine blood leukocytes stimulated with beta-glucan and ascorbic acid. J. Dairy Sci. 86(Suppl. 1):15. Oral Presentation. Johnson, T.A. and Eicher, S.D. 2003. Effects of age at transport on health and development of neonatal dairy calves. J. Dairy Sci. 86(Suppl. 1):192. Johnson, T.A. and Eicher, S.D. 2003. Expression of bovine toll-like receptors 2 and 4 after in-vitro stimulation with beta-glucan, lipopolysaccharide, and peptidoglycan. Proceedings of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases. #101. Eicher, S.D., Patterson, J.A., Wilcox, C.S., Johnson, T.A., and Schutz, M.M. 2003. Thermal imaging indication of elevated body temperatures during a Salmonella Dublin Challenge. Proceedings of the Conferences of Research Workers in Animal Diseases. #P52. Poster Presentation. Xiao, Y., Eicher, S., Cheng, H.W., Cheng, J.F., Skinner-Nober, D., and Zhang, G. 2003. Identification and characterization of a beta-defensin gene cluster in the chicken. Proceedings of the Conferences of Researcher Workers in Animal Diseases. #P82. Graduate Student Poster Competition 1st Place. Johnson, T.A., Eicher, S.D., Marchant Forde, J.N., and Wilcox, C.S. 2004. Age at transport effects on behavioral responses in dairy calves to novel stimuli. North American ISAE Regional Meeting. June 19, 2004. W. Lafayette, IN. Nobis, W., Ren, X., Suchyta, S.P., Suchyta, S.R., Zanella, A.J., and Coussens, P.M. 2003. Development of a porcine brain cDNA library, EST database and microarray resource. Physiol. Genomics, October 2003; 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00099.2003. Poletto, R., Siegford, J., Nobis, W., and Zanella, A.J. 2003. Differential expression of genes in the hippocampus of early-weaned piglets when examined using a cDNA microarray. International Symposium for Animal Functional Genomics, Michigan State University. Siegford, J., Nobis, W., Poletto, R., Ren, X., Coussens, P., and Zanella, A.J. 2003. Development and validation of a porcine brain cDNA library and microarray resource using the hippocampus of early-weaned pigs. Soc. Neurosci. Abs. 29:758.19.