II Jornadas científicas redCIBA : el comportamiento natural como factor clave para el bienestar animal : [book of abstracts]

Abstract

[EN] The welfare of an animal depends on its health and on the extent to what its biological needs are met. Biological needs can be roughly divided into two main groups: (1) those related to nutrition and physical and thermal comfort, and (2) those related to mental health and behaviour, including a varied and stimulus-rich environment, a perception of control and agency, and the possibility to engage in highly motivated behaviours. This paper will deal with the importance of this last need for the welfare of farm animals. The term “behavioural need” was defined a few decades ago based on motivational theory. The two main traits that define a behaviour as a “behavioural need” are that (1) its onset depends mainly or solely on internal factors, such as changes in hormone levels, and (2) its motivation only disappears when the animal has performed the behaviour and therefore it is relatively independent of its functional consequences. Several early studies on behavioural needs used the nesting behaviour of sows as an example. As behavioural needs are controlled by internal factors - as opposed to external stimuli-, their motivation is independent of the environment where the animal is kept. Furthermore, animals must perform the behaviour, as otherwise its motivation will remain high. More recently, the concept of “behavioural needs” has been criticized on the grounds that many behaviours that do not fit its definition are still important for welfare, as they contribute to the physical or mental health of animals. In this paper, the term “behavioural need” will be used in a wide sense to refer to all behaviours that, independently of their precise motivation, are important for welfare.