Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Behaviours and Welfare of Meriz Goat

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the behaviour of Meriz goats using environmental enrichment technique. Sixteen goats aged two-four years, were divided into two equal groups, one group was placed in a stall without any enrichment (control), while the other group placed in another stall with enrichment. The enriched stall had six objects including canopy, grooming brush, suspended tire, trunk of tree, and plastic PET bottle suspended and freely move on the floor. The goats’ behaviours were observed for eighty minutes in the morning and eighty minutes in the evening for fifteen consecutive days. Focal-animal sampling methods were used to record the behaviours, in which each animal was observed for ten-minutes period each day. Results revealed that the animals of enriched environment group displayed lower frequency of stereotypic and abnormal behaviour than control group. The mean frequencies of the groups were significantly different (P<0.001) for all recorded behaviours except for stall interaction which showed similar behaviours frequencies (P=0.56). The highest percentage of frequency interaction for grooming brush and suspended tire was detected (27%). It was also found that the frequency interaction between the goats and objects of the enriched environment increased daily and showed significant difference between 1 and 15 days (P<0.001). It was therefore concluded that animals on enriched environment express more behaviours, show greater preference for some objects, and spent more time on objects than non-enriched environment.