Research

Sanctuary-Based Research

Farm Sanctuary researcher with cotton swap next to large brown cow in a large grass field Join our 2026 Community Science Project!

Research

Sanctuary-Based Research

Highlights

Learn more about our ongoing community science research on cow social bonds!

Our groundbreaking research was featured on the front page of The New York Times science section! Read the story here.

Farm Sanctuary’s sanctuary-based research program is a multidisciplinary program that, within a sanctuary framework and through a social justice lens, draws upon animal ethology, philosophy, animal welfare science, veterinary medicine, multi-species ethnography, and other disciplines. Our research aims to:

  1. support human understanding of the nature and lived experience of farm animals, as individuals and species;
  2. explore the mutually liberatory potential for human-animal relationships and community in a sanctuary setting; and
  3. support holistic emotional, social, physical, and community care; and explore radical modes of listening, observing, and understanding the expressed desires and agency of farm animals.

We recognize that research methods have the potential to perpetuate oppressive hierarchies and systemic inequity and injustice if researchers are not intentional about engaging in counter-oppressive research practices. Our mission is grounded in a commitment to continuously interrogate and evolve our methodology to counter potential harm and the perpetuation of oppression. That commitment includes, but is not limited to, working to ensure that our research approach counters practices that reflect the logic of human and white supremacy by centering racial justice and the care, needs, and interests of animal residents.

Original research is conducted at the sanctuaries and remotely by both our research staff and external researchers in alignment with Farm Sanctuary’s research ethics guidelines. All research at Farm Sanctuary must be designed and carried out with the animal residents’ needs, preferences, desires, health, and safety as top priorities and will either improve welfare, restore agency to the residents, or both. Research should be designed in such a way as to avoid instrumentalization of animal subjects. For example, many research projects highlight the ways that nonhuman animals are similar to humans, but this notion serves to create a hierarchy that places humans at the top and suggests that nonhuman animals who are more like humans are more deserving of our compassion. Research with sanctuary residents should express equal respect for all species as well as individual differences between members of the same species.

Research with the Animals Advisory Committee

Farm Sanctuary has convened a Research with the Animals Advisory Committee to guide our research program by ensuring high levels of scientific rigor and alignment with our research ethics guidelines.

Melisa Choubak

Melisa Choubak

PhD

Alan McElligott

Alan McElligott

PhD

Jim Reynolds

James Reynolds

DVM

Current Research

What happens when cows get to choose their companions?

Snickerdoodle cow grooms Michael Morgan calf's face

For 40 years, Farm Sanctuary caregivers have witnessed the deep and lasting bonds shared by our resident cows. Now, we’re inviting volunteers to help us document these meaningful connections as part of our Community Science Project!

By welcoming people from across the globe to take part in our compassionate research, we can analyze more data and gather unique perspectives and observations.

After completing a short virtual training on Zooniverse.org, you will review flagged footage and log detailed behavioral data that feeds directly into our research findings. Whether you contribute three hours or thirty, every observation brings us closer to understanding the bonds formed by the rescued cows at Farm Sanctuary.

You can read more about this ongoing study here, or click here to join the Community Science Project on Zooniverse!

Previous Research

Do residents who have histories of trauma exhibit symptoms of PTSD?

Farm Sanctuary researcher with cotton swap next to calf in a large grass field

Over the past two decades, researchers have explored the existence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in nonhuman animal species. However, these investigations have focused primarily on species that remind us of ourselves, namely elephants and chimpanzees.1–4 In humans, PTSD is defined by exposure to one or more traumatic events (i.e., exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence) followed by one or more characteristic symptoms, including recurrent, distressing memories, dreams or flashbacks and intense or prolonged psychological distress or physiological reactions at exposure to cues that resemble an aspect of the traumatic event.5 The life of an average industrially farm animal allows for many of these traumatic events that could trigger PTSD symptoms. Farm Sanctuary provides a home for hundreds of chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle, sheep, goats, and ducks, many of whom likely experienced trauma prior to arriving at sanctuary. This research seeks to utilize behavioral observations as well as caregiver reports to identify whether sanctuary residents exhibit symptoms in line with the DSM-V criteria for PTSD in humans.

If farm animals are found to be capable of suffering from PTSD, what might that mean for the way society views and treats them?

Please contact [email protected] if you are associated with a farmed animal sanctuary and are interested in participating in our study.

Pecking up Optimism: Learning Opportunities Improve Mood for Sanctuary-Living Cornish Cross Chickens (Prasad-Shreckengast et al., 2024)

Infrared side profile image of a chicken with bright red colors around head and blue around body

Understanding what someone wants is imperative to providing them the opportunity to have a good life. For nonhuman animals in captivity, those responsible for their care and well-being must strive to understand the interests and motivations of those they care for.6,7 Historically, caregivers and welfare scientists have focused on the physical elements of animals’ environments; however, we now know that learning opportunities are essential to an individual’s overall well-being.8 Empirical evidence of the motivation and desire to learn has been recorded in many species. Rhesus monkeys engaged with a puzzle box, even in the absence of rewards, and their engagement decreased as their error rate during solving attempts approached zero.9,10 In other words, the monkeys became less interested in solving the task when there was nothing new to learn. Learning success has also been shown to correspond with measures of positive emotion in cattle,11 goats,12 and pigs.13 Researchers have observed that cows express behaviors that may indicate joy or excitement during what appear to be “Aha!” moments in learning.11 Cows who had success in learning had higher heart rates, moved more quickly toward the reward, and jumped, bucked, and kicked more than those who did not have the opportunity to learn. Positive emotions, such as joy, are an essential component of positive welfare and necessary to provide captive animals with a life worth living.7,14

Chickens, like other animals, experience both positive and negative emotions,15 though research on this topic has been limited 16 and largely focused on emotions like fear.17 In general, scientists attach a positive valence to emotions in situations where an individual approaches or seeks out the stimulus (e.g., mealworms are sought out by chickens and are thus thought to elicit positive emotion18). Conversely, a negative valence is ascertained in situations where the individual avoids the stimulus (e.g., a puff of air19). Chickens are also capable of learning to solve problems.20,21 Yet, their emotional responses to their own learning have not yet been rigorously explored. This study aims to address that gap in knowledge by investigating chickens’ emotional responses to learning.

If chickens experience joy while learning, what might that mean for the way society views and treats chickens in the animal agriculture industry?

Curious to learn more about our feathered friends? Read the full study here!

Infrared side profile image of a chicken with bright red colors around head and blue around body

Animal Emotion in Farmed Animal Welfare Assessment (Torgerson-White, 2021)

Sheep herd

Many animals, including farmed animals like chickens, cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep, experience emotions such as fear and happiness. Despite our understanding of the complex emotional lives of farmed animals, historically, their emotional states have rarely been considered when evaluating welfare. Furthermore, farmed animals are often housed in conditions that prohibit and even punish emotional expression, putting their welfare at serious risk. Thus, understanding the emotional lives of individual animals is crucial to enhancing their well-being and enabling them to live fulfilling lives.

Eager to learn more about the emotional lives of farmed animals? Read the full study here!

Looking beyond the Shoal: Fish Welfare as an Individual Attribute (Torgerson-White & Sánchez-Suárez, 2022)

A school of fish

Research has shown that fishes are complex individuals with unique needs, abilities, and preferences. However, the sheer number of individuals kept in a single enclosure and the false notion that fishes lack individuality both contribute to poor welfare outcomes. These beings deserve equal consideration and attention to their needs and preferences, and more research must be done to enhance their welfare at both the group and individual level.

Want to dive a little deeper into the depths of fish welfare? Read the full study here!

A school of fish
Tori and Greg steer

To date, Farm Sanctuary has published four white papers on the inner lives of domestic pigs, chickens, cows, and sheep, exploring their relationships, emotions, social complexity, capacities, personalities, and more. Our hope is to inspire more people to see farmed animals as someone, not something, and to create a more compassionate world for animals, people, and the planet.

References

  1. Bradshaw, G. A., Schore, A. N., Brown, J. L., Poole, J. H. & Moss, C. J. Elephant breakdown. Nature vol. 433 807 (2005).
  2. Bradshaw, G. A., Capaldo, T., Lindner, L., Grow, G. & Director, S. Building an inner sanctuary: Complex PTSD in chimpanzees. J. Trauma Dissociation 9, 9–34 (2008).
  3. Ferdowsian, H. R. et al. Signs of mood and anxiety disorders in chimpanzees. PLoS One 6, e19855 (2011).
  4. Rizzolo, J. B. & Bradshaw, G. A. Prevalence and patterns of complex PTSD in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). Asian Elephants in culture and nature 291–297 (2016).
  5. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
  6. Franks, B. What do animals want? Anim. Welf. 28, 1–10 (2019).
  7. Yeates, J. W. & Main, D. C. J. Assessment of positive welfare: a review. Vet. J. 175, 293–300 (2008).
  8. Franks, B. & Higgins, E. T. Effectiveness in Humans and Other Animals: A Common Basis for Well-being and Welfare. in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (eds. Olson, J. M. & Zanna, M. P.) vol. 46 285–346 (Academic Press, 2012).
  9. Harlow, H. F., Harlow, M. K. & Meyer, D. R. Learning motivated by a manipulation drive. J. Exp. Psychol. 40, 228–234 (1950).
  10. Harlow, H. F. Learning and satiation of response in intrinsically motivated complex puzzle performance by monkeys. J. Comp. Physiol. Psychol. 43, 289–294 (1950).
  11. Hagen, K. & Broom, D. M. Emotional reactions to learning in cattle. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 85, 203–213 (2004).
  12. Langbein, J., Nürnberg, G. & Manteuffel, G. Visual discrimination learning in dwarf goats and associated changes in heart rate and heart rate variability. Physiol. Behav. 82, 601–609 (2004).
  13. Zebunke, M., Langbein, J., Manteuffel, G. & Puppe, B. Autonomic reactions indicating positive affect during acoustic reward learning in domestic pigs. Anim. Behav. 81, 481–489 (2011).
  14. Mellor, D. J. Updating animalwelfare thinking: Moving beyond the “five freedoms’’ towards “A lifeworth living”. Animals 6, (2016).
  15. Zimmerman, P. H., Buijs, S. A. F., Bolhuis, J. E. & Keeling, L. J. Behaviour of domestic fowl in anticipation of positive and negative stimuli. Anim. Behav. 81, 569–577 (2011).
  16. Marino, L. Thinking chickens: a review of cognition, emotion, and behavior in the domestic chicken. Animal Cognition 20, 127–147 (2017).
  17. Jones, R. B. Fear and adaptability in poultry: Insights, implications and imperatives. Worlds. Poult. Sci. J. 52, 163–174 (1996).
  18. Moe, R. O. et al. Trace classical conditioning as an approach to the study of reward-related behaviour in laying hens: A methodological study. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 121, 171–178 (2009).
  19. Edgar, J. L., Lowe, J. C., Paul, E. S. & Nicol, C. J. Avian maternal response to chick distress. Proc. Biol. Sci. 278, 3129–3134 (2011).
  20. Marley, E. & Morse, W. H. Operant conditioning in the newly hatched chicken. J. Exp. Anal. Behav. 9, 95–103 (1966).
  21. Hazel, S. J., O’Dwyer, L. & Ryan, T. ‘Chickens Are a Lot Smarter than I Originally Thought’: Changes in Student Attitudes to Chickens Following a Chicken Training Class. Animals (Basel) 5, 821–837 (2015).