Cribbing is an oral stereotypy, tends to develop in captive animals as a means to cope with stress, and may be indicative of reduced\nwelfare.Highly energetic diets ingested in a short time are one of themost relevant risk factors for the development of cribbing. The\naim of this study was to verify whether feeding cribbing horses through a dispenser that delivers small quantities of concentrate\nwhen activated by the animal decreases cribbing behaviour, modifies feeding behaviour, or induces frustration. Ten horses (mean\nage 14 y), balanced for sex, breed, and size (mean height 162 cm),were divided into two groups of 5 horses each: Cribbing and Control.\nAnimals were trained to use the dispenser and videorecorded continuously for 15 consecutive days from 1 h prior to feeding to 2 h\nafter feeding in order to measure their behaviours. The feed dispenser, Quaryka, induced an increase in time necessary to finish\nthe ration in both groups of horses (
Loading....