Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
J Equine Vet Sci. 2023 Dec;131:104936. doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2023.104936. Epub 2023 Oct 7.
Keeping horses in single stalls can lead to the development of abnormal and stereotypic behaviors (ASB). Opportunities for social interactions and stall architecture can influence behavior. The current study aimed to identify how three different stall architectures influenced time-budget and physiological parameters in horses. Stall types included: (1) 3.2 × 3.7 m with tactile contact between horses (B1); (2) 2.6 × 3.5 m with visual contact between horses and outside view (B2); (3) 2.3 × 3.4 m with visual contact and outside view (B3). Ten horses from B1 and B3, and nine from B2 were randomly selected, filmed for 24 hours and the video was analyzed with continuous behavioral sampling. Nine horses from B1, 8 from B2 and 7 from B3 were randomly selected for blood sampling used to determine cortisol levels, cortisol circadian rhythm (CCR), white blood cells (WBC) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio. The effects of different stall architectures were analyzed by ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test. B1 had higher social interaction time (2.77% of the time-budget) (P = .020), with no other differences. Time spent eating represented a low proportion of horses' time-budget (14.31%) and all horses demonstrated ASB behaviors (21.10% of the time-budget). Twenty-five percent of the horses presented low WBC, 38% of the horses had high cortisol levels, and 29% of the horses had an altered CCR. Those alterations along with high prevalence of ASB indicate that horses were in a state of chronic stress. The stalls' architecture did not affect the presence of abnormal behaviors or indicators of stress.
将马养在单个马厩中可能会导致异常和刻板行为（ASB）的发展。社交互动和马厩结构的机会会影响行为。本研究旨在确定三种不同的马厩结构如何影响马的时间预算和生理参数。马厩类型包括：（1）3.2×3.7 m 马之间有触觉接触（B1）；（2）2.6×3.5 m 马之间有视觉接触和外部景观（B2）；（3）2.3×3.4 m 马之间有视觉接触和外部景观（B3）。从 B1 和 B3 中随机选择了 10 匹马，从 B2 中随机选择了 9 匹马，对它们进行了 24 小时的拍摄，并使用连续行为采样对视频进行了分析。从 B1 中随机选择了 9 匹马，从 B2 中随机选择了 8 匹马，从 B3 中随机选择了 7 匹马进行血液采样，以确定皮质醇水平、皮质醇昼夜节律（CCR）、白细胞（WBC）和中性粒细胞/淋巴细胞比值。通过方差分析和事后 Tukey 检验分析了不同马厩结构的影响。B1 具有更高的社交互动时间（时间预算的 2.77%）（P=.020），没有其他差异。马花在进食上的时间占其时间预算的比例较低（14.31%），所有马都表现出异常刻板行为（时间预算的 21.10%）。25%的马白细胞计数较低，38%的马皮质醇水平较高，29%的马 CCR 发生改变。这些变化以及高比例的异常行为表明，马处于慢性应激状态。马厩的结构并没有影响异常行为的存在或应激的指标。
