BSc (Hons) Animal Management & Welfare

Students at the Riseholme Park campus have all the benefits of city living and a convenient rural campus whilst studying and learning within the peaceful, unspoilt and natural environment of a beautiful parkland campus just 3 miles north of Lincoln city centre



The Riseholme Park Estate comprises a total of 200 hectares of parkland and mixed farm pastures with herd of rare Lincoln Red cattle, a large flock of Lleyn sheep and a herd of pigs. There is also a fishing lake and landscaped gardens. This diversity of habitats supports a great variety of animal and plant life, including rare species of dragonfly and butterfly and over 60 species of birds and wild mammals. These natural resources provide a backdrop to the programmes delivered at Riseholme and are an invaluable resource for teaching and research. In 2002 the University of Lincoln invested 2.2 million pounds in new animal facilities, including purpose built animal care unit, and accommodation for over 50 horses. Building continues with the recent addition of Cat Welfare Centre, refurbishment of kennels and equine treadmill building to support both teaching and research.



Teaching quality is high (National Student Survey 2009) and lecturing staff hold post-graduate teaching and/or research qualifications. Our large body of research staff contribute to teaching according to their subject expertise. We are involved in important projects in biological and veterinary related disciplines, contribute to government advisory bodies, publish in international journals and textbooks, provide industrial consultancy and support two chairs in behaviour and animal science:-



Chair in Rare Breed Diversity and Conservation: Professor Stephen Hall champions the application of genetics to livestock development and conservation.



Chair in Companion Animal Behavioural Problems: Professor Daniel Mills is the country’s first specialist in veterinary behavioural medicine to be recognised by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Level 1

Comparative Anatomy
This unit is concerned with developing an understanding of the basic principles of anatomy across taxa. It aims to demonstrate how animals are both different, yet often share similar features.

Animal Husbandry and Welfare
Good animal management should aim to safeguard animal welfare and not simply exploit animals as a resource. This unit introduces the principles behind the husbandry and protection of captive animals to increase awareness of the issues involved in animal management. Particular emphasis is given to the approaches used to evaluate and protect an animal’s well being. Topics include the approaches used in assessing health and welfare, environmental enrichment, and normal and abnormal responses to captivity. The management of a range of species including companion, laboratory, farm and exotic species is examined. Practical sessions focus on animal handling, welfare assessment and the evaluation of animal management systems.

Animal Physiology
Physiology is the study of the biological mechanisms and systems required by animals in order to function successfully in their environment. A familiarity with these systems is essential for students to be able to understand and interpret aspects of physical performance, environmental and social responses and other complex behaviour patterns. This unit introduces students to the principal physiological systems with particular reference their role in maintenance of organism homeostasis.

Cell Biology and Immunology
Cells form the basic building blocks of all living organisms from the simplest unicellular animals to the largest mammals. This unit starts with the cell, describing its structure and physiology with an emphasis on the role of the cell membrane in maintaining cell homeostasis and regulating cell function. The immunology component provides the basic knowledge of the body’s disease defence systems and is developed further in units such as veterinary microbiology and Animal Disease.

Conservation Biology
Successful conservation requires the interplay of many academic disciplines - notably biology, geography, sociology, economics and philosophy. Students are introduced to the use of a wide range of scientific and other techniques in understanding and solving conservation problems, in a programme of lectures and seminars.

Evolution, Genetics and Domestication
The diversity of living things arose by evolutionary processes. Natural selection is the best known to the public generally, but other factors are equally or more important in specific cases. Domestication and the emergence of breeds of animals is an example, where human selection has led to extreme forms, for example the dachshund and the St. Bernard which both evolved from the wolf. The genetics section covers the principles of the structure and storage of nucleic acids the genetic code and how this information is translated via protein synthesis. This leads to how genetic traits are passed from on generation to the next and how genetic variability and genetic disorders arise.

Introduction to Animal Behaviour
Animals exhibit a huge variety of behaviours from the simple movements of a sea slug to the higher mental capacities of primates. Given this bewildering diversity it can be difficult to know where and how to begin to understand animal behaviour. This unit introduces the notion that behaviour can be studied using a variety of approaches and that the approach adopted depends on what you want to understand about the observed behaviour.

Research Methods and Biometrics
There are a number of basic skills that are essential for all scientists to possess in order to carry out a programme of research either as a practical experimenter or critically assessing the literature of a particular topic. These skills include laboratory and field skills and the ability to interpret and communicate findings. The unit equips the student with skills required for a science career including clear scientific writing style, appropriate use of standard units, good investigative methods and statistical analysis.

Level 2

Animal Learning and Training
An ability to understand the scientific principles of animal training is essential to the production of flexible programmes suitable for different individuals. Animal training depends not only on the application of learning theory, but also intra-specific communication skills. This unit develops both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary for the planning execution and evaluation of animal training programmes, through a series of lectures, demonstrations and practical classes using the university's specialist animal facilities. Students will also learn the latest results from the university's ongoing international research programme into science of animal training.

Animal Protection and Legislation
Our treatment of animals is restricted in many different circumstances by law and a number of pieces of legislation exist to regulate and to police the welfare of both domestic and wild species. This unit explores the background and history of legislation relating to animals; the political, legal and social pressures involved in making law; and examines the difficulties inherent in identifying and assigning responsibility for, mistreatment of animals.

Applied Statistics
Experimental science relies on sound experimental design and correct statistical analysis of data. This unit emphasises the importance of good, sound experimental design and the principle of probability in analysing the results of experiments. Students are introduced to the principles of experimental design, sample size accuracy and precision of measurements. The appropriate use of a range of statistical tests is discussed. This is a core unit that prepares students for their research project carried out in year three.

Practical Feeding and Nutrition
As well as understanding the principles of nutritional science, it is important to be aware of how to meet nutrient requirements through provision of suitable rations. This unit combines the scientific principles of nutrition with practical feeding. It focuses on the basic nature and function of the constituents of a foodstuff. Digestion of nutrients is considered for a range of species and an appreciation of the practical considerations of feeding to meet nutrient requirements is developed.

Reproduction and Breeding
Reproduction is one of the fundamental processes that define living organisms, involving events at the biochemical, cellular, organism and population levels it encompasses amongst a wide range of disciplines aspects of genetics, physiology, endocrinology, neurobiology and behaviour. This unit explains the basic components of the reproductive process considers some specific examples in more depth and introduces the concepts of heredity and population genetics.

Veterinary Microbiology
Microbes play a key role in all life on earth. In animals, for example, they are essential for healthy digestion and immunity and are also involved in many disease processes. Understanding their biology within and around the animal is vital to animal health and welfare. This unit will provide the student with a thorough knowledge of animal microbiology. The student will come to appreciate the importance of microscopic organisms in animal health especially in relation to equine and companion animal infectious diseases. The unit will include basic microbiology of viruses, bacteria and fungi and will provide insight into their importance in veterinary medicine.

Animal Behaviour and Ethology (Option)
The two traditional approaches to the study of animal behaviour, (ethology versus psychology) have sometimes come into academic conflict and so it is important to appreciate the principles underpinning each, in order to gain a balanced approach to some of the challenges involved in this discipline. Ethological questions about animal behaviour tend to focus around its mechanism, development, function and/or evolution, while Psychological questions have focussed on the common rules governing the working of the mind. This unit examines the ethological and psychological concepts underlying the study of animal behaviour and their application for the study of captive and wild animals and their environments. Field skills associated with collection of behavioural data and the testing of the principles of animal behaviour are essential skills which are developed within this unit.

Livestock Systems (Option)
Livestock are fundamental to the traditional British countryside and are of very great commercial significance. At the same time the ways in which they are farmed often cause concern for welfare, food safety, conservation and economic reasons. Using Riseholme Park Farm and other resources, students learn how livestock systems operate in Britain and what the prospects are for the harmonious interaction of farm animals and the natural environment.

Ecology (Option)
Behavioural ecology is a meeting point for behaviour, ecology and evolution. Animals must act out their behaviours on the ecological stage, whilst natural (and sexual) selection selects those best able to survive, reproduce and pass on their successful genes to future generations. This unit examines this adaptionist paradigm in great detail and asks just how far such a paradigm goes in explaining animal and human behaviour.

Practical Conservation (Option)
Conservation biologists need to know how to put knowledge into practice. Clearing ponds of choking vegetation, making and installing nest boxes for birds bats and bumblebees, planning and operating habitat surveys, restoring landscapes - these are all activities which graduates of this course are likely to become involved in. The resources of Riseholme and its neighbourhood are exploited to develop students' portfolios of skills.

Level 3

Animal Management Systems
Good husbandry depends on an appreciation of the animal’s biological requirements in captivity. These extend beyond the requirements for physical health and productivity. This unit explores the principles underpinning the design of animal friendly housing, animal enrichment, and the practical assessment of animal welfare. It examines the contributions of animal scientists, welfare organisations, legislators, the animal industries and consumers to the design and running of captive animal environments. Particular emphasis is given to the biology of animal requirements and the implementation of good husbandry practice within farm, laboratory, zoo and companion animals.

Animal Welfare Science
Animal welfare issues are often enveloped by emotional and or political interpretations of the available evidence and it is important to be able to distinguish between scientific evidence and personal opinion. This unit therefore develops an understanding of the scientific study of animal welfare. Particular attention is paid to the methodological and interpretative issues relating to this discipline. Common misunderstandings and popular misconceptions which hinder the objective assessment and improvement of welfare are examined so that students are able to develop their own defendable stance on these often emotive issues. The unit will cover the historical development of the field, the use of behavioural and physiological measures to assess well-being and/or psychological state and modern approaches to evaluating an animal’s conscious experience of its environment. The unit engages leading experts currently working in animal welfare research and evaluates current issues affecting the quality of life of companion, farm, zoo, laboratory and wild animals.

Project and Dissertation (double unit)
This unit is based upon individual, supervised student activity that provides an opportunity for an in-depth study of a particular topic and to demonstrate original and critical thought. A wide range of subject expertise exists within the department, which gives students a varied choice of areas to study.

Clinical Nutrition
Nutrition can be used to successfully manage a range of diseases in companion animals. This unit provides the student with a thorough understanding of clinical applications of nutrition and the utilisation of biochemical compounds to enhance animal well-being through nutritional supplementation. The unit applies knowledge from nutrition, health and biochemistry units and is taught through a series of lectures, tutorials and practical work.

Animal Disease
To successfully manage the animal’s health, it’s important that we know how a disease causes illness in the animal. This allows us not just to identify a problem, e.g. symptoms, but also provides a better chance of treatment and prevention. This unit furthers the understanding of biological, environmental and physiological contributors to health and disease and their application in preventing and controlling animal disease. It will apply knowledge on veterinary microbiology and parasitology, immunology, epidemiology and disease prevention to a variety of animal species. It will provide the student with a detailed understanding of a range of infectious and non-infectious diseases affecting companion and production animals.

Problem Behaviour Management (Option)
Behaviour problems are the most common reason for an owner to rehome or euthanize a pet. Managing these problems involves a combination of history taking and evaluation skills as well as the ability to apply appropriate solutions. This unit equips the student with the necessary skills to investigate and evaluate the most common behaviour problems affecting companion animals and implement effective treatment programmes for their resolution. This unit is delivered through a series of lectures, seminars and practicals, including live relay sessions from the University's Animal Behaviour Clinic and access to its digital case archive.

Selection and Breeding (Option)
All breeding programmes involve elements of selection, to maximise livestock production traits, to improve athletic performance or for endangered species to conserve genetic diversity. There are many different approaches to assessing an individual’s breeding value and to deciding which specific animals should be paired with each other. The strengths and weaknesses of different methods for selecting breeding stock are discussed in this unit.

Wild Vertebrates of the British Isles (Option)
The variety of British vertebrates deserves special attention because of their varied history and the role of humans in shaping their environment and biology. The range of different species, from fish through to mammals, is described in the context of their habitats. Emphasis lies in understanding the natural history of species over the past 15,000 years and how they will fare in the years to come.

Animal Cognition (Option)
This Unit is currently being revised.

Each year consists of 120 credits made up of 8 x 15 credit modules or equivalent divided between two semesters. Year 1 involves an introduction to 8 core subjects and the development of academic study skills and knowledge.

Year 2 is more detailed development of scientific concepts and evidence based research, and consists of 6 core units plus a choice of 2 out of 4 options. These cover more detailed scientific concepts and develop technical skills used in evidence based research.

Year 3 involves the practical application of knowledge and understanding, and consists of a 30 credit dissertation project, 4 core modules and a choice between our specialised double module in Animal Behaviour Counselling or more generally applicable modules in animal management.

Animal Care Unit

Our animal care unit houses a wide range of companion animals. We have kennel accommodation for 14 dogs, a modern cattery, and specially designed indoor and outdoor housing for rabbits to cover the 3 most popular pet species. We also house rats, mice, guinea pigs, degus, hamsters, gerbils, chinchillas, ferrets, parrots, quail, chickens, reptiles, amphibians, tropical and temperate fish, insects, spiders and molluscs in animal friendly housing. Our exotic collection includes common marmosets housed in highly enriched indoor and outdoor enclosures. Our range of species continues to grow and our most recent development is an aviary for rescued parrots and outdoor paddocks for rabbits. Our animal carers have extensive experience of animal management and veterinary nursing and would be happy for students to work on the unit to develop their skills and knowledge in animal care. The animal care unit also supports our work in welfare of companion animals including the welfare of dogs, cats, horses and rabbits. Recent research includes RSPCA project to investigate spatial needs of rabbits, projects into the efficacy of dog training programmes and cognitive abilities of pets.

Behaviour Clinic

The department hosts the only Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons approved behaviour speciality clinic investigating problem behaviour in cats, dogs, rabbits and horses. The clinic is run under the direction of one of only two current RCVS recognised specialists in Veterinary Behavioural Medicine, and supports our internationally recognised research in companion and farm animal behaviour and welfare, behavioural consultancy and problem behaviour management.

Equine Facilities and Stud

Riseholme Campus has large, modern equine facilities, including a high speed treadmill, 2 outdoor and 1 indoor arena (newly resurfaced), on-site tracks, indoor demonstration area, weighbridge, up to 28 school horses and 20 DIY boxes, and a BHS Stage 3 level cross country course. The University of Lincoln developed the Equine Stable mirror for enriching the lives of singly stabled horses as well as working on treatment of head-shaking, weaving and cribbing.

We operate a Cleveland Bay stud, including broodmares, young stock and stallions. This operates in close association with the Cleveland Bay Horse Society.

Analytical Facilities

The University has excellent analytical, anatomy, physiology and behaviour laboratories as part of the Lindsey Laboratory. We have facilities for the analysis of tissue culture and microbiology, DNA extraction and amplification, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry, as well as video laboratory for the analysis of behavioural data and entomology laboratory investigating the sex lives of beetles. These facilities support research into molecules, organisms, populations and communities in order to understand animal management problems and implement practical solutions.

Students may apply for membership of the Association for Study of Animal Behaviour, the British Society for Animal Science, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, and the International Society for Applied Ethology. On completion of the BSc (Hons) students may apply for membership of the Institute of Biology. Students completing the degree with options in animal behaviour and animal consoling may seek accreditation from the Association for Study of Animal Behaviour.

The course features an underpinning of fundamental sciences as they are applied to the care and management of animals. The course would best suit students intending to work in animal-based careers, or who want a good science-based degree with an emphasis on captive animal biology.

We assume incoming students will be equipped with either a good grounding in science-based subjects, or will have good practical skills from working with animals, or good academic skills in non-science subjects. As this can include a wide and diverse skill set, the first year aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary for understanding animal management, before focussing in more depth and more detail on animal-based issues in the second and third year.

The majority of assessment is coursework aimed at developing practical, analytical and presentation skills, with end of term exams to assess depth and breadth of knowledge.

You will gain knowledge and an understanding of the fundamentals of biology, psychology and animal science as they relate to the care of animals. You will also be equipped with the practical and academic skills necessary for managing animals or the people who care for animals.

The UCAS entry requirement is detailed in the course information at the top of this page. Of those points, 80 points or equivalent are derived from Biology, Psychology or a related science subject. A National Diploma or related course (e.g. Animal care or Animal Science) will require a Merit Profile.

320 points is acceptable in any subjects for applicants without 80 points or equivalent in a science-related subject.

Mature students and students with good non-science qualifications with an interest in animal behaviour and welfare are strongly advised to apply, and will be considered following interview.

We are looking for students who are interested in the lives of animals and aspire to a scientifically valid but open minded approach to their care.

The Department of Biological Sciences has an exceptional record in placing students in animal-based careers. Graduates will typically find employment in careers including animal care, humane animal research, welfare organisations, animal training and the management of domestic, companion and zoo animals. Graduates may also follow careers in education, media or the development, marketing and sales of animal products.

The course also offers a route to enter specialised postgraduate courses such as companion animal science, problem behaviour management and applied animal behaviour and welfare.

For further information and funding your studey please see our Fees & Funding pages.

Fees and Funding