Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties
Farmed blue foxes (Vulpes lagopus) are traditionally housed on mesh floors where they are unable to perform certain species-specific behaviours, such as digging, which may compromise the animals' welfare. This study describes how a possibility to use in-cage sand floor affects welfare-related v...
Published in: | International Journal of Zoology |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:18f308d7cddc4036a31eab536a72b424 2024-09-15T18:40:27+00:00 Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties Leena Ahola Tarja Koistinen Jaakko Mononen 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/563252 https://doaj.org/article/18f308d7cddc4036a31eab536a72b424 EN eng Wiley http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/563252 https://doaj.org/toc/1687-8477 https://doaj.org/toc/1687-8485 1687-8477 1687-8485 doi:10.1155/2009/563252 https://doaj.org/article/18f308d7cddc4036a31eab536a72b424 International Journal of Zoology, Vol 2009 (2009) Zoology QL1-991 article 2009 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/563252 2024-08-05T17:48:43Z Farmed blue foxes (Vulpes lagopus) are traditionally housed on mesh floors where they are unable to perform certain species-specific behaviours, such as digging, which may compromise the animals' welfare. This study describes how a possibility to use in-cage sand floor affects welfare-related variables like growth of the claws, adrenal cortex function, and fur properties in juvenile blue foxes. The foxes (N=32) were housed in male-female sibling pairs in an outdoor fur animal shed in cage systems consisting of two traditional fox cages. For the eight male-female sibling pairs of the Control group, there was a mesh floor in both cages of each cage system, whereas for the eight pairs of the Sand group there was a mesh floor in one cage and a 30–40 cm deep earth floor in the other cage. The results show that sand floor is beneficial for the wearing of the claws of foxes. Furthermore, an early experience of sand floor may have positive effects on the foxes' fur development. The results, however, also suggest that there might appear welfare problems observed as disturbed claw growth and increased adrenal cortex activation if foxes that are once provided with clean and unfrozen sand floor are not allowed to enjoy this floor all the time. Article in Journal/Newspaper Vulpes lagopus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles International Journal of Zoology 2009 1 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Zoology QL1-991 |
spellingShingle |
Zoology QL1-991 Leena Ahola Tarja Koistinen Jaakko Mononen Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties |
topic_facet |
Zoology QL1-991 |
description |
Farmed blue foxes (Vulpes lagopus) are traditionally housed on mesh floors where they are unable to perform certain species-specific behaviours, such as digging, which may compromise the animals' welfare. This study describes how a possibility to use in-cage sand floor affects welfare-related variables like growth of the claws, adrenal cortex function, and fur properties in juvenile blue foxes. The foxes (N=32) were housed in male-female sibling pairs in an outdoor fur animal shed in cage systems consisting of two traditional fox cages. For the eight male-female sibling pairs of the Control group, there was a mesh floor in both cages of each cage system, whereas for the eight pairs of the Sand group there was a mesh floor in one cage and a 30–40 cm deep earth floor in the other cage. The results show that sand floor is beneficial for the wearing of the claws of foxes. Furthermore, an early experience of sand floor may have positive effects on the foxes' fur development. The results, however, also suggest that there might appear welfare problems observed as disturbed claw growth and increased adrenal cortex activation if foxes that are once provided with clean and unfrozen sand floor are not allowed to enjoy this floor all the time. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leena Ahola Tarja Koistinen Jaakko Mononen |
author_facet |
Leena Ahola Tarja Koistinen Jaakko Mononen |
author_sort |
Leena Ahola |
title |
Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties |
title_short |
Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties |
title_full |
Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties |
title_fullStr |
Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sand Floor for Farmed Blue Foxes: Effects on Claws, Adrenal Cortex Function, Growth and Fur Properties |
title_sort |
sand floor for farmed blue foxes: effects on claws, adrenal cortex function, growth and fur properties |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/563252 https://doaj.org/article/18f308d7cddc4036a31eab536a72b424 |
genre |
Vulpes lagopus |
genre_facet |
Vulpes lagopus |
op_source |
International Journal of Zoology, Vol 2009 (2009) |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/563252 https://doaj.org/toc/1687-8477 https://doaj.org/toc/1687-8485 1687-8477 1687-8485 doi:10.1155/2009/563252 https://doaj.org/article/18f308d7cddc4036a31eab536a72b424 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1155/2009/563252 |
container_title |
International Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
2009 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
6 |
_version_ |
1810484756831272960 |