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Individual Variation in Response to Stressors in Farm Animals: Implications for Experimenters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

X Manteca  and
J M Deag
X Manteca*
Affiliation:
Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Veterinary Faculty, Universität Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain
J M Deag
Affiliation:
Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, Veterinary Faculty, Universität Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, UK
*
† Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints
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Abstract

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Physiological and behavioural responses to stressors may affect experimental results. Since individual animals differ in their pattern of response to stressors, it is suggested that stress during experiments has the potential for increasing variability in responses to experimental treatments. Evidence supporting this is given from experiments carried out on farm animals. The main factors accounting for individual differences in response to stressors such as handling are habituation, early experiences and genetic background. Several ways of reducing stress during experiments are suggested and the need for skilful and humane handling is emphasized. It is concluded that reducing stress during experiments will have welfare benefits and may reduce the number of animals that need to be used.

Keywords

animal welfarefarm animalsindividual differencesstressvariability
Type
Short Communication
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , August 1994 , pp. 213 - 218
Copyright
© 1994 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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