Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:33:55.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Validating owner-reporting of feather condition of pet Psittaciformes using photographs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

EL Mellor ,
M Mendl ,
G Mason ,
C Davison ,
Y van Zeeland  and
IC Cuthill
EL Mellor*
Affiliation:
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
M Mendl
Affiliation:
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
G Mason
Affiliation:
College of Biological Science, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
C Davison
Affiliation:
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
Y van Zeeland
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 108, 3584 CM Utrecht, The Netherlands
IC Cuthill
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
*
* Contact for correspondence: emma.mellor@bristol.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Reporting of outcome variables by caregivers in welfare studies is commonplace but is open to subjective bias and so requires validation. Biases can occur in either direction: familiarity with an animal allows a deeper insight into welfare problems, but also can lead to reticence in admitting that an animal in one's care is experiencing problems. Here, we aim to validate owner-reporting of plumage condition of pet parrots, including those with self-inflicted feather-damaging behaviour (FDB), by comparing owners’ scores of feather condition with those of two independent raters, blind to the owners’ and each other's assessments. We surveyed pet parrot owners to collect data on basic demographics and feather condition, and requested four standardised photographs of birds. We received 259 responses (17% of the 1,521 people contacted); 78 sets of images of appropriate quality for assessment by raters were provided. Mean percentage agreement between owners’ and raters’ scores was mostly fair to substantial using Cohen's kappa; however, raters scored a greater proportion of feather damage than did owners. Overall, our results indicate owner-reporting of feather condition, including FDB, to be generally reliable and consistent with independent assessment of photographs. As the use of photographs can be limited by image quality, a failure to represent the long-term state of a parrot, and the potential for incorrect recording if assessed without relevant information (eg on moulting), this evidence that owner-reports can be reliable opens the door for larger-scale surveys of the extent of welfare-relevant problems.

Keywords

animal welfarefeather-damaging behaviourfeather pickingfeather pluckingplumagepsittacine
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , May 2022 , pp. 163 - 173
Copyright
© 2022 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Bangdiwala, SI 1985 A graphical test for observer agreement. In: Bishop, YMM, Fienberg, SE and Holland, PW (eds) Proceedings of the 45th International Statistical Institute Meeting pp 307–308. SpringerLink: Berlin, GermanyGoogle Scholar
Bergman, L and Reinisch, US 2006 Parrot vocalisation. In: Luescher, AU (ed) Manual of Parrot Behaviour pp 219–223. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470344651.ch19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burn, CC 2011 A vicious cycle: A cross-sectional study of canine tail-chasing and human responses to it, using a free video-sharing website. PLoS One 6: e26553. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0026553CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carpenter, CR 1934 A field study of the behavior and social relations of howling monkeys (Alouatta palliata). Comparative Psychology Monographs 10: 1–168Google Scholar
Courcier, EA, Mellor, DJ, Thomson, RM and Yam, PS 2011 A cross-sectional study of the prevalence and risk factors for owner misperception of canine body shape in first opinion practice in Glasgow. Preventive Veterinary Medicine 102: 66–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2011.06.010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crawley, MJ 2013 The R Book. John Wiley & Sons Ltd: Chichester, UKGoogle Scholar
Cribari-Neto, F and Zeileis, A 2010 Beta Regression in R. Journal of Statistical Software 34: 1–24. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v034.i02CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finnegan, SL, Volk, HA, Asher, L, Daley, M and Packer, RMA 2020 Investigating the potential for seizure prediction in dogs with idiopathic epilepsy: owner-reported prodromal changes and seizure triggers. Veterinary Record 187: 152. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.105307CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gamer, M, Lemon, J, Fellows, I and Singh, P 2019 irr: Various Coefficients of Interrater Reliability and Agreement. R package version 0.84.1. www.CRAN.R-project.org/package=irrGoogle Scholar
Garner, JP, Meehan, CL, Famula, TR and Mench, JA 2006 Genetic, environmental, and neighbor effects on the severity of stereotypies and feather picking in orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona ama-zonica): An epidemiological study. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 96: 153–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.09.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giammarino, M, Mattiello, S, Battini, M, Quatto, P, Battaglini, LM, Vieira, ACL, Stilwell, G and Renna, M 2021 Evaluation of inter-observer reliability of animal welfare indicators: Which is the best index to use? Animals 11: 1445. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051445CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Greenwell, PJ and Montrose, VT 2017 The gray matter: Prevention and reduction of abnormal behavior in companion gray parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Journal of Veterinary Behavior 20: 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2017.06.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gwet, KL 2008 Computing inter-rater reliability and its variance in the presence of high agreement. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology 61: 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1348/000711006X126600CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harrison, GJ and Harrison, LR 1986 Clinical Avian Medicine and Surgery, Including Aviculture. Saunders: Philadelphia, USGoogle Scholar
Honess, PE, Gimpel, JL, Wolfensohn, SE and Mason, GJ 2005 Alopecia scoring: The quantitative assessment of hair loss in captive macaques. Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 33: 193–206. https://doi.org/10.1177/026119290503300308CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lutz, CK, Coleman, K, Worlein, J and Novak, MA 2013 Hair loss and hair-pulling in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 52: 454–457Google ScholarPubMed
Malalana, F, McGowan, TW, Ireland, JL, Pinchbeck, GL and McGowan, CM 2019 Prevalence of owner-reported ocular prob-lems and veterinary ocular findings in a population of horses aged ≥15 years. Equine Veterinary Journal 51: 212–217. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.13005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P and Bateson, P 2007 Measuring Behaviour: An Introductory Guide. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511810893CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, G 2006 Stereotypic behaviour in captive animals: Fundamentals and implications for welfare and beyond, In: Mason, G and Rushen, J (eds) Stereotypic Animal Behaviour: Fundamentals and Applications to Welfare Second Edition pp 325–367. CAB International: Wallingford, UK. https://doi.org/10.1079/9780851990040.0325CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBride, SD and Long, L 2001 Management of horses showing stereotypic behaviour, owner perception and the implications for welfare. Veterinary Record 148: 799–802. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.148.26.799CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meehan, CL, Garner, JP and Mench, JA 2003a Isosexual pair housing improves the welfare of young Amazon parrots. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 81: 73–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(02)00238-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meehan, CL, Garner, JP and Mench, JA 2004 Environmental enrichment and development of cage stereotypy in orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica). Developmental Psychobiology 44: 209–218. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.20007CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meehan, CL, Millam, JR and Mench, JA 2003b Foraging opportunity and increased physical complexity both prevent and reduce psychogenic feather picking by young Amazon parrots. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 80: 71–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(02)00192-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellor, E 2014 Can we use biological risk factors for stereotypic behaviour in parrots to predict husbandry risk factors? MSc Thesis, School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UKGoogle Scholar
Mellor, E, McDonald Kinkaid, H and Mason, G 2018 Phylogenetic comparative methods: Harnessing the power of species diversity to investigate welfare issues in captive wild ani-mals. Zoo Biology 37: 369–388. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21427CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellor, EL, McDonald Kinkaid, HK, Mendl, MT, Cuthill, IC, van Zeeland, YRA and Mason, GJ 2021 Nature calls: intelli-gence and natural foraging style predict poor welfare in captive parrots. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 288: 20211952. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1952CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, PK, Harris, PA, Maltin, CA, Grove-White, D, Barfoot, CF and Argo, CM 2017 Perceptions of obesity and management practices in a UK population of leisure-horse owners and managers. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 53: 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2017.01.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller, DW, Lackey, LB, Streich, WJ, Fickel, J, Hatt, JM and Clauss, M 2011 Mating system, feeding type and ex situ conservation effort determine life expectancy in captive ruminants. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278: 2076–2080. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.2275CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orosz, SE 2006 Diagnostic work-up of suspected behavioural problems. In: Luescher, AU (ed) Manual of Parrot Behavior pp 195–210. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford. UK. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470344651.ch17CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollard, D, Wylie, CE, Verheyen, KLP and Newton, JR 2017 Assessment of horse owners’ ability to recognise equine laminitis: A cross-sectional study of 93 veterinary diagnosed cases in Great Britain. Equine Veterinary Journal 49: 759–766. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.12704CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollard, D, Wylie, CE, Verheyen, KLP and Newton, JR 2019 Identification of modifiable factors associated with owner-report-ed equine laminitis in Britain using a web-based cohort study approach. BMC Veterinary Research 15: 59. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-019-1798-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Polverino, G, Manciocco, A and Alleva, E 2012 Effects of spatial and social restrictions on the presence of stereotypies in the budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus): a pilot study. Ethology Ecology & Evolution 24: 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2011.582045CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potter, S, Bamford, N, Harris, P and Bailey, S 2016 Prevalence of obesity and owners’ perceptions of body condition in pleasure horses and ponies in south-eastern Australia. Australian Veterinary Journal 94: 427–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/avj.12506CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Potter, S, Bamford, N, Harris, P and Bailey, S 2017 Incidence of laminitis and survey of dietary and management practices in pleasure horses and ponies in south-eastern Australia. Australian Veterinary Journal 95: 370–374. https://doi.org/10.1111/avj.12635CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
R Core Team 2021 R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing: Vienna, Austria. www.R-project.org/Google Scholar
Rose, PE, Brereton, JE, Rowden, LJ, de Figueiredo, RL and Riley, LM 2019 What's new from the zoo? An analysis of ten years of zoo-themed research output. Palgrave Communications 5: 128. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0345-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmid, R, Doherr, MG and Steiger, A 2006 The influence of the breeding method on the behaviour of adult African grey par-rots (Psittacus erithacus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 98: 293–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.09.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van, ZeelandYRA, Bergers, MJ, van der Valk, L, Schoemaker, NJ, and Lumeij, JT 2013 Evaluation of a novel feather scoring system for monitoring feather damaging behaviour in parrots. The Veterinary Journal 196: 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tvjl.2012.08.020Google Scholar
van Zeeland, YRA, Spruit, BM, Rodenburg, TB, Riedstra, B, van Hierden, YM, Buitenhuis, B, Korte, SM and Lumeij, JT 2009 Feather damaging behaviour in parrots: A review with con-sideration of comparative aspects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 121: 75–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2009.09.006CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viera, AJ and Garrett, JM 2005 Understanding interobserver agreement: the kappa statistic. Family Medicine 37: 360–363Google ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Mellor et al. supplementary material
Download undefined(File)
File 307.2 KB
Supplementary material: File

Mellor et al. supplementary material
Download undefined(File)
File 364.2 KB