14-07-2010 Pigs learn what a mirror image represents and use it to obtain information
Mirror usage has been taken to indicate some degree of awareness in animals. Can pigs, Sus scrofa, obtain information from a mirror? When put in a pen with a mirror in it, young pigs made movements while apparently looking at...
22-04-2010 Breeders push the biology of dairy cows too hard
There is a huge difference in strength between young Holstein ("milk" breed) and young Angus ("beef" breed) calves. Breeders have overselected so much for milk production that they have created a...
23-02-2010 Pigs want to explore their world!
A scientific study found that pigs living in a seminatural environment spent 52 percent of daylight hours rooting and grazing and another 23 percent walking around investigating the environment. They are driven to explore...
31-01-2010 What is a main reason for why animals are transported so far for slaughter?
In most places around the world, more and more small slaughterhouses are closing down. In America, for example, during the 1980s and 1990s more than 2000 small to middle-sized slaughterhouses were replaced by a handful of...
11-01-2010 The change in genetics of "meat"chickens over the years
From 1935 to 1995, the average weight of broiler (meat) chickens increased by 65 percent, while their time-to-market dropped 60% and their feed requirements dropped 57 percent. To gain a sense of the radicalness of this change,...