Dr Antonia Patt

Antonia joined ARU’s School of Agriculture, Animal and Environmental Sciences in 2026. She holds a veterinary degree from Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, and a PhD in Agricultural Science from ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Prior to joining ARU, she held postdoctoral research positions at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and the University of Maryland, USA, before taking up a position as Senior Scientist at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut in Germany.

Her work focuses on understanding and improving the welfare of farm animals. She is interested in how animals interact with and respond to their environment, and how these responses can be used to identify and address health and welfare challenges. Alongside her teaching and research activities, she supervises postgraduate research students and has contributed to knowledge-exchange and advisory work involving policymakers and competent authorities at national and European level.

• English
• German

• Animal Welfare
• Behavioural Needs
• Abnormal Behaviour
• Gut Microbiota
• Automated Early Detection

• EBVS® European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law, Dip ECAWBM (AWSEL)
• PhD Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
• Veterinary Medicine, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany

Selected publications, for a full list, please see Google Scholar or ORCID

Das S, Halle I, Fuchs TM, Dudde A, Krause ET, Patt A (2026) Dietary fiber content influences small intestinal histomorphology and cecal microbial composition of laying hens. Poultry Science 105: 107292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2026.107292

Eisermann J, Shahid H, Diers S, Janssen H, Küstner L, van Asten AL, Schrader L, Patt A (2026) Pigs on the move: classifying days with tail lesions using motion sensor data. Frontiers in Animal Science 7:1791213. https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2026.1791213

Eisermann J, Schomburg H, Diers S, Janssen H, Küstner L, van Asten AL, Schrader L, Patt A (2025) Bite-o-Mat: a device for the early detection of tail biting in pigs. Smart Agriculture Technology 11:101010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atech.2025.101010

Patt A, Halle I, Dudde A, Olbrich A, Sieburg-Rockel J, Krause ET (2022) Influence of different dietary fibre contents in the diet on feather pecking, locomotor activity and performance of laying hens. British Poultry Science 63: 571-580. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071668.2022.2076212

Eusemann BK, Baulain U, Schrader L, Thöne-Reineke C, Patt A, Petow S (2018) Radiographic examination of keel bone damage in living laying hens of different strains kept in two housing systems. PLoS ONE, 13(5): e0194974. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194974

Hintze S, Smith S, Patt A, Bachmann I, Würbel H (2016) Are eyes a mirror of the soul? What eye wrinkles reveal about a horse's emotional state. PLoS ONE 11(10): e0164017. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0164017

Patt A, Gygax L, Wechsler B, Hillmann E, Langbein J, Keil NM (2016) Context specificity of the stress response: data of heart rate variability complement earlier findings of HPA-axis and behavior during two regrouping experiments in goats. Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Animal Behavior and Welfare 3 (58). https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2016.00058

Johns J, Patt A, Hillmann E (2015) Do bells affect behaviour and heart rate variability in grazing dairy cows? PLoS ONE 10(6): e0131632. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131632