Watch: Animal Behaviour and Welfare student Ella teaches us how to train Guinea Pigs!

At Harper Adams University, we have a range of state-of-the-art facilities that help aid practical learning. The Companion Animal House (CAH) is one of them, home to a wide range of small mammals and exotic species.

Fourth year BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare student Ella Kus used the CAH facilities for her dissertation research into stress indicators in guinea pigs.

We caught up with Ella, who told us more about her research and findings.

"I looked at behavioural indicators of stress in Guinea Pigs when they're being physically handled versus target trained to go into their carriers.

"I got some students to come and do that too and got their opinions on it to see how that works in an educational setting as well.

"I use the clicker training to get them to follow a stick to go into their carrier so it means that you don't have to pick them up and hold them because that can be stressful for them and it was all done using positive reinforcement which is just lots and lots of treats."

 

 

 

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Ella explained how target training is beneficial to guinea pig welfare, saying: "It's really good because it can improve the human animal bond, so if you have a guinea pigs at home then this is a really nice way to interact with them.

"It's also a form of enrichment because they have to work out what to do, what the task is.

"And it's really good for cooperative care, things like this where you don't have to handle them and you can use it to get them to walk onto scales to be weighed."

As her studies are coming to an end, we asked Ella what her highlight has been studying at Harper Adams.

"Genuinely doing my dissertation has probably been one of my favourite things because I really like the practical element.

"It's one of the reasons why I chose Harper because I knew that we had the Farm and we had the Companion Animal House. I really like doing things with the animals and so my dissertation gave me the opportunity to be practical with everything and work with the animals which is great.

"And the lecturers here are really great - I've had a brilliant supervisor this year."