This paper reviews the possibilities of adapting laying hens to cages by means of genetic selection. By selecting separately for rate of lay and longevity using a kin selection method, a strain of laying hen has been developed that shows much less feather pecking and cannibalism than a control strain, and with no decrease in productivity. This experimental strain enjoys a higher level of welfar...

The effects of wisanine and dihydrowisanine were studied on stereotyped and aggressive behaviour induced by apomorphine (0.5 mg/kg s.c.) in chicks. Pretreatment of chicks with wisanine (0.3-0.6 g/kg i.p.) and dihydrowisanine (0.2-0.4 g/kg i.p.) dose dependently antagonised fighting episodes and pecking of the chick's own feet and those of other chicks. It has been suggested that the antagonism ...

In this paper we deal with the capital structure problem in the pharmaceutical industry that has recently changed its business model because of the biotechnology advent. We propose a set of hypotheses that explains the drivers of capital structure decision in this industry and then we test their validity over a sample of 50 biopharmaceutical firms. The obtained results show that pecking order t...

Prevention of brain injury in woodpeckers under high deceleration during the pecking process has been an intriguing biomechanical problem for a long time. Several studies have provided different explanations, but the function of the hyoid bone, one of the more interesting skeletal features of a woodpecker, still has not been fully explored. This paper studies the relationship between a woodpeck...

This study investigates how two competing capital structure theories: the pecking order and the static trade-off models, impact financing decisions in multinational interand intra-firm innovation collaborations. The results show that for the pecking order model, debt repayment, working capital, capital expenditure and operating cash flow are the main variables determining a deficiency in intern...

This research examined three explanations for the "superstitious" behavior of pigeons under frequent fixed-time delivery of food: accidental response-reward contingency, stimulus substitution, and elicited species-typical appetitive behavior. The behavior observed in these studies consisted of occasional postfood locomotion away from the food hopper, and a predominant pattern of activity direct...

Like many teleost fishes, bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) are characterized by sole male parental care of offspring. In addition, bluegill parental males experience cuckoldry by specialized parasitic male morphs. This cuckoldry has previously been shown to influence the expression of parental care behavior. To better understand some of the proximate mechanisms mediating parental behavior, we exa...