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Marini D, Meuleman MD, Belson S, et al. Developing an Ethically Acceptable Virtual Fencing System for Sheep. Animals (Basel). 2018;8(3)doi: 10.3390/ani8030033.
Marini, D., Meuleman, M. D., Belson, S., Rodenburg, T. B., Llewellyn, R., & Lee, C. (2018). Developing an Ethically Acceptable Virtual Fencing System for Sheep. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 8(3), . https://doi.org/10.3390/ani8030033
Marini, Danila, et al. "Developing an Ethically Acceptable Virtual Fencing System for Sheep." Animals : an open access journal from MDPI vol. 8,3 (2018). doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani8030033
Marini D, Meuleman MD, Belson S, Rodenburg TB, Llewellyn R, Lee C. Developing an Ethically Acceptable Virtual Fencing System for Sheep. Animals (Basel). 2018 Feb 27;8(3). doi: 10.3390/ani8030033. PMID: 29495478; PMCID: PMC5867521.
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Animals (Basel). 2018 Feb 27;8(3). doi: 10.3390/ani8030033.

Developing an Ethically Acceptable Virtual Fencing System for Sheep.

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI

Danila Marini, M Dennis Meuleman, Sue Belson, T Bas Rodenburg, Rick Llewellyn, Caroline Lee

Affiliations

  1. School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia. [email protected].
  2. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Agriculture and Food, Locked Bag 1, Armidale NSW 2350, Australia. [email protected].
  3. Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, 6700 Wageningen, The Netherlands. [email protected].
  4. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Agriculture and Food, Locked Bag 1, Armidale NSW 2350, Australia. [email protected].
  5. Adaptation Physiology Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, 6700 Wageningen, The Netherlands. [email protected].
  6. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Agriculture and Food, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia. [email protected].
  7. School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia. [email protected].
  8. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Agriculture and Food, Locked Bag 1, Armidale NSW 2350, Australia. [email protected].

PMID: 29495478 PMCID: PMC5867521 DOI: 10.3390/ani8030033

Abstract

To ensure animal welfare isn't compromised when using virtual fencing, animals must be able to associate a benign conditioned stimulus with an aversive stimulus. This study used an associative learning test to train 30, four-year-old, Merino x Suffolk ewes, to associate an audio cue with an electric stimulus. Collars manually controlled by a GPS hand-held unit were used to deliver the audio and electric stimuli cues. For the associative learning, when sheep approached an attractant at a distance of three m from the trough, an audio cue was applied for one s. If the sheep stopped or changed direction, the audio cue ceased immediately and no electrical stimulus was applied. If the sheep did not respond to the audio cue it was followed by a low-level electrical stimulus. Approaches to the attractant significantly decreased from day one to day two. It took a mean of three pairings of the audio cue and electrical stimulus for a change in behaviour to occur, after which sheep that approached the attractant had a 52% probability of avoiding the electrical stimulus and responding to the audio cue alone. Further research is required to determine whether sheep can be trained to associate an audio cue with a negative stimulus for use in group grazing situations.

Keywords: associative learning; sheep management; technology; virtual fencing; welfare

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and

References

  1. Animal. 2017 Nov;11(11):2045-2050 - PubMed

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