Motivation in relation to the welfare of enclosed livestock

Abstract

Motivation is the concept used to describe how behavior is both initiated and directed toward a goal. Motivation affects the welfare of enclosed livestock through all the physiological and psychological pathways that relate behavior and welfare, particularly those involved in the body's maintenance of homeostasis and its response to acute and chronic stressors. Increased motivation for locomotion and kinesis in response to chronic deprivation of movement is one of the most readily demonstrable effects of chronic close confinement of livestock. Chronically unsatisfied motivation may be manifested as stereotypies; in livestock species these most often involve movements of the mouth or limbs. The major aspects of livestock housing that affect the welfare of enclosed livestock are the quality, amount and type of space, amount and duration of movement restraint, and sensory deprivation imposed on the animals. Systematic research into the behavioral and physiological effects of these factors, and their variation within and across different species, breeds, sexes and ages of livestock is required if current ethical issues regarding the welfare of enclosed livestock are to be resolved objectively and efficaciously. While the resolution of ethical controversies regarding the welfare of enclosed livestock is ultimately philosophical and the responsibility of human society at large, it is the challenge of applied ethologists and other scientists in related fields to improve our knowledge of significant relationships among motivation, behavior and welfare. The further elucidation of the many and complex factors that influence motivation and the formulation of objective criteria of animal wellbeing that include a reasonable consideration of the animals' probable emotional or subjective experience must also be researched.