Operant technology applied to solving farm animal problems. An assessment

Abstract The number of published studies which use operant conditioning techniques with farm animals is rapidly increasing. A wide range of journals carry such articles and some of the information is in abstract form only. This paper provides an overview of the scientific work done with cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, dogs and hens and includes a general section where technological reports or papers on operant methods and apparatus designed for farm species are cited. The progress at Ruakura where the operant techniques have been directly applied to a range of on-farm problems is outlined, as are the lessons learned from such work. A bibliography covering the field of practical and theoretical operant papers with farmed species contains references additional to those cited in the overview.

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