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Keeping turkeys with intact beaks is a welfare goal but also one of the biggest challenges in conventional turkey farming in Germany. Beak trimming is commonly used in hatcheries in Germany to minimise serious injuries caused by pecking. In order to achieve this goal, cooperation of all stakeholders is necessary as promoted by the on-farm study MuD animal welfare project #Pute@Praxis. The aim was to reduce feather pecking and cannibalism by means of single elements such as straw bales, hay baskets, raised levels, metal mobiles, pecking stones, etc. The study was conducted on a total of six farms, four conventional farms and two alternative farms with turkey hens (25 flocks, 8 with beak trimmed, 18 with intact beaks). In the conventionally beak-intact flocks, the total losses during rearing and fattening averaged 6.3%, 1.5 times higher than in the beak-trimmed flocks with 4.35%. An analysis shows that the losses due to massive pecking injuries in the beak-intact flocks were 2.9 times higher than in the beak-trimmed flocks (2.6% vs. 0.91%) (Fig. 1). On the alternative farms, the average losses were 9.9%, where losses due to pecking tended to play a subordinate role. In general, animals had to be separated from the flock due to their injuries. In the beak-intact flocks, separation was, with an average of 14.7%, 2.7 times higher than in the beak-trimmed flocks, with 5.5%. In general, the effects and the frequency of separation in the beak-intact flocks were very individual and subject to large variability. The results show that injurious pecking cannot be prevented. Keeping turkeys with intact beaks is and remains a major challenge despite the intensive care and measures used. In addition to increased losses, a high separation effort and considerably more injuries in the flock along with the emotional burden for the farmers should not be underestimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ants are the dominant group of animals in many habitats, particularly in tropical rainforests. High abundance and formation of large colonies convert them into a potential food source for a broad spectrum of animals. In this paper we review myrmecovory (consumption of ants) in Neotropical primates. Myrmecovory has been reported from 57 taxa (species + subspecies) out of 217 species of Neotropical primates, representing 18 out of 22 genera. The proportion of ants in the animal portion of the diet is highest amongst members of the genera Cebus, Sapajus, Cheracebus and Plecturocebus, but generally low in callitrichids, large pitheciids (Cacajao, Chiropotes) and atelids. Ants from seven subfamilies of Formicidae (out of 13 subfamilies found in the Neotropics) are consumed, including taxa with and without functional sting and with varying other defences. Foraging technics employed in myrmecovory range from picking ants from open substrates to extractive foraging involving the destruction of ant nests or shelters, but tool use has not been reported. We conclude that myrmecovory is widespread amongst Neotropical primates but on average contributes only a minor proportion of the diet. The diversity of foraging technics employed and lack of tool use in Neotropical primate myrmecovory, even for ants with functional stings and aggressive biting, suggests that tool use for myrmecovory in hominids has not evolved in response to ant defences but is a consequence of enhanced cognitive skills that evolved under other selection pressures., (© 2021. The Author(s).)