Kalnins Lisa, Krüger Oliver, Krause E Tobias
Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany.
Institute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Celle, Germany.
Front Vet Sci. 2022 Apr 14;9:791412. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.791412. eCollection 2022.
The well-being of animals kept by humans in laboratories, farms, or as pets should always be of the highest importance, and a prerequisite for this is adequate housing. To assess the potential indicators for animal well-being, ideally simple, non-invasive, and reliable methods are necessary. Here, we propose a novel plumage scoring system for small songbirds, using the example of the Zebra Finch, and examine its reliability in comparison with a well-known body condition index, that is, the fat score. We used up to five different observers of different experience levels to assess inter- and intra-observer reliability of the proposed plumage score and also the fat score. We found substantial inter-observer reliability for the proposed novel plumage score, and lower inter-observer reliability for the fat score, which seems to require more training of observers. The intra-observer reliability of the experienced observer who trained the others also showed a very strong reliability for the plumage score and for the fat score. Thus, we conclude that our proposed novel plumage score is a simple, reliable, and non-invasive way to estimate an important indicator of captive Zebra Finches' well-being. Furthermore, the plumage score can be reliably taught to other observers. The plumage score, maybe in combination with the fat score, may be an important tool to reliably assess well-being on a regular basis in captive populations in zoos, laboratories, or pet stocks.
人类饲养在实验室、农场或作为宠物的动物的福祉应始终是最重要的，而充足的居住环境是实现这一点的前提条件。为了评估动物福祉的潜在指标，理想情况下需要简单、非侵入性且可靠的方法。在此，我们以斑胸草雀为例，提出一种针对小型鸣禽的新颖羽毛评分系统，并将其与一种知名的身体状况指数（即脂肪评分）相比较，检验其可靠性。我们使用了多达五名经验水平不同的观察者来评估所提出的羽毛评分以及脂肪评分在观察者间和观察者内的可靠性。我们发现所提出的新颖羽毛评分具有较高的观察者间可靠性，而脂肪评分的观察者间可靠性较低，这似乎需要对观察者进行更多培训。培训其他观察者的经验丰富的观察者的观察者内可靠性对于羽毛评分和脂肪评分也显示出非常高的可靠性。因此，我们得出结论，我们所提出的新颖羽毛评分是一种简单、可靠且非侵入性的方法，可用于估计圈养斑胸草雀福祉的一个重要指标。此外，羽毛评分可以可靠地传授给其他观察者。羽毛评分，或许与脂肪评分相结合，可能是一种重要工具，可用于定期可靠地评估动物园、实验室或宠物群体中圈养动物的福祉。
