Lena Skånberg

Lena's research work are all within the field of animal welfare science. Experimental projects have included welfare assessments, with a focus on potential positive alongside negative welfare indicators and included both behavioural (e.g., comfort, play, exploration, micro behaviours, learning, stress-indicators, fear) and physiological measures (e.g., immunology, oxytocin, heart rate variability) in farm and pet species, mainly poultry, dairy cattle and dogs. Lena’s research projects have investigated how different environments along with previous/early experiences can influence the prevalence of potential positive and negative animal welfare indicators. Lena’s PhD project, completed in 2022 (“Preparing for life - Effects of environmental choice and change during rearing on adaptability in laying hens”) explored how varying rearing environments (in space and/or over time) impact hens later ability to cope with challenges and to seize future opportunities.

Lena is also involved in teaching where she, apart from holding shorter lectures and supervising students, is a course leader of the course “Djurhållning, Djurhälsa och Smittskydd”.

Read more about the research projects that I am involved in here:

- The effect of the early rearing environment on later poultry welfare 

• Young broiler breeders
• Feeling secure
• Preparing for the challenges and opportunities of life

- Other research projects

• Using body language to assess emotional states in dairy cows
• FULL - FUnctional Length of Life
• The effect of transport cage size on the welfare of working dogs
• Toilet training heifers

Lena has a bachelor degree in Biology from the Ethology and Animal Welfare program at SLU where her bachelor thesis involved coping strategies in cats when arriving to a cattery. Her masters degree was through Linköping University and the program Applied ethology and Animal Biology. Lena’s masters thesis was within a larger research project at SLU that investigated whether the usage of mechanical brushes could reflect cows’ affective states.

Skånberg L. Holt R. V. [...] Keeling. L.J. Front Vet Sci. (2024). Making the most of life: environmental choice during rearing enhances the ability of laying hens to take opportunities. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1425851

Holt R. V. Skånberg L. [...] Newberry. R.C. Scientific Reports (2024). Resource choice during ontogeny enhances both the short- and longer-term welfare of laying hen pullets. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53039-7

Skånberg L. Newberry R. C.[...] Keeling L. J. Scientific Reports (2023). Environmental change or choice during early rearing improves behavioural adaptability in laying hen chicks. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-33212-0

Skånberg, L. PhD thesis. 2022. Preparing for life : effects of environmental choice and change during rearing on adaptability in laying hens. https://doi.org/10.54612/a.2kbgj76mba

Nazar, F.N., Skånberg, L., McCrea, K., Keeling, L.J., 2022. Increasing Environmental Complexity by Providing Different Types of Litter and Perches during Early Rearing Boosts Coping Abilities in Domestic Fowl Chicks. Animals 2022, 12, 1969, doi: 10.3390/ani12151969.

Skånberg, L., Kjærsgaard Nielsen, C. B. & Keeling, L. J. 2021. Litter and perch type matter already from the start: exploring preferences and perch balance in laying hen chicks. Poult. Sci. 100, DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.11.041

Skånberg, L., Gauffin, O., Norling, Y., Lindsjö, J., & Keeling, L. J. 2018. Cage size affects comfort, safety and the experienced security of working dogs in cars. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 205, 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2018.05.028