Applıcatıon of PLS-SEM ın assessment of the effect of anımal welfare

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of welfare on growth, physical activity, biological stress, physiological stress, biological variables, and the immune system in Japanese quails. Moreover, the study aimed to evaluate the practical applicability of these latent variables within the framework of welfare modeling in Japanese quails. To achieve these objectives, a data set comprising blood variables from 126 Japanese quails was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The model employed a hierarchical component model (HCM), where welfare was designated as the high-order component (HOC), while physiological variables were treated as lower-order components (LOC). The results of the modeling revealed that welfare significantly influenced physical activity, immune system, and growth in Japanese quails, with path coefficients of 0.791, 0.567, and 0.903, respectively. The model also yielded R² values for the endogenous latent variables, indicating that welfare explained 62.6% of the variance in physical activity, 32.1% in the immune system, and 81.6% in growth. These findings underscore the importance of welfare in shaping key ğhysiological and biological outcomes in Japanese quails. The study not only enhances our understanding of how welfare impacts these variables but also provides a robust framework for predicting the effects of animal welfare on related latent variables in Japanese quail.