Cows are highly motivated to access a grooming substrate

McConnachie, Emilie; Smid, Anne-Marieke C.; Thompson, Alexander; Weary, Daniel M.; Gaworski, M.; Keyserlingk, M.A.G. von

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0303

Cited by 62 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…A grooming device increases the total time spent by dairy cattle scratching their body parts [8]. Cows are highly motivated to access a grooming device [10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grooming Device Effects on Behaviour and Welfare of Japanese Black Fattening Cattle

Ninomiya

2019

Animals

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In livestock farming, a stark or barren environment compromises animal welfare. Environmental enrichment has been used to address the issue. For this study, after fattening cattle were provided with a grooming device (a brush), its effect on animal self-grooming and welfare were investigated. For Research trial 1 and 2, respectively, 28 and 11 Japanese Black steers were observed. Three or four of the animals were group-housed in a pen. For Trial 1, half of the animals were provided with a brush. The animals’ behaviour, carcass weight, and Viscera disease were recorded. Enrichment animals (E) performed self-grooming and scratching of the animals’ body on the brush and pen structures more than control animals (C) did (mean time budgets, 3.34% (SD = 2.48) in E and 0.89% (SD = 0.81) in C, GLMM, z value = 8.28, p < 0.001). The number of animals in which viscera disease was detected after slaughter was lower in E than in C (E = 0, C = 4, a Fisher’s exact probability test, p = 0.03). In Trial 2, brush use behaviour was observed continuously for 72 h. The observation revealed that the animals scratched various body parts on the brush. Results show that providing a brush as environmental enrichment improves welfare by satisfying the motivation of fattening cattle to perform self-grooming.

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“…A grooming device increases the total time spent by dairy cattle scratching their body parts [8]. Cows are highly motivated to access a grooming device [10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grooming Device Effects on Behaviour and Welfare of Japanese Black Fattening Cattle

Ninomiya

2019

Animals

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“…The weight that cows were willing to push for fresh food was similar to that for pasture access (an average maximum weight of approximately 35 kg), suggesting that fresh food and pasture access were judged as similarly positive. Using the same methodology, cows showed motivation to ac-cess fresh feed and a mechanical brush (McConnachie et al, 2018), and were willing to push a much greater weight to access either of these resources than to enter an empty pen that contained neither feed nor brush. Although motivation to access fresh feed and the brush were not examined in identical ways, cows were motivated for both.…”

Section: How Much?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Symposium review: Scientific assessment of affective states in dairy cattle

Ede

Lecorps

Keyserlingk

et al. 2019

Journal of Dairy Science

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Affective states, which refer to feelings or emotions, are a key component of animal welfare, but these are also difficult to assess. Drawing upon a body of theoretical and applied work, we critically review the scientific literature on the assessment of affective states in animals, drawing examples where possible from research on dairy cattle, and highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of scientific methods used to assess affective states in animals. We adopt the "valence/arousal" framework, describing affect as a 2-dimensional space (with valence referring to whether an experience is positive or negative, and arousal referring to the intensity of the experience). We conclude that spontaneous physiological and behavioral responses typically reflect arousal, whereas learned responses can be valuable when investigating valence. We also conclude that the assessment of affective states can be furthered using mood assessments and that the use of drug treatments with known emotional effects in humans can be helpful in the assessment of specific affective states in animals.

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“…Changes in behavior, health status, and performance are parameters considered when assessing the effectiveness of different management decisions or environment improvements [14, 15]. Therefore, the use of accelerometer sensors or devices that accurately measure behavior opens new opportunities for research [16–19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a mechanical grooming brush on the behavior and health of recently weaned heifer calves

et al. 2019

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Background Calf stress at weaning and during transition to group pens represents a concern in dairy operations. Favoring natural behaviors, such as grooming, may help on reducing this challenge. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of a mechanical grooming brush on behavior and health of recently weaned calves, after transferring from individual to group housing. Two treatment groups (control [CON, n = 81]; automated brush [AB, n = 81]) were compared enrolling Holstein heifers (94 ± 7 d old) that were monitored for 20 days. Four cohorts, considering one CON and one AB group (19–20 calves/pen/cohort) were enrolled sequentially. Each calf was weighed, clinically evaluated, and affixed with a 3-D accelerometer sensor attached to the ear at enrolment. Continuous measurements (min/h) were generated for the following behaviors: Not-active, active, highly active, eating, and ruminating. Cameras for continuous video recording were installed in each pen, and calves were weighted at the last day of the study (d 20). Behavioral data were summarized as daily averages (min/h). Data was examined using repeated measures analysis for nested factors, with day as the time unit. Results Overall, calves had their first interaction with the brush within 2.5 days with a mean (SE) of 7 (±9.6) h after being transferred to group pens. A significant effect was determined for the interaction day by treatment on the time spent not-active and eating. Average not-active time was greater in CON compared to AB (22.8 ± 0.82 min/h vs. 21.7 ± 0.82 min/h), while eating time was greater in AB compared with CON (7.01 ± 0.40 min/h vs. 6.43 ± 0.40 min/h). Treatment groups had a similar weight gain and time to the first disease. Conclusions We concluded that the use of a mechanical brush influenced behavior, reducing not-active time, while increasing eating time. The consequences of this change in activity require further investigation.

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Cows are highly motivated to access a grooming substrate

Cited by 62 publications

References 18 publications

Grooming Device Effects on Behaviour and Welfare of Japanese Black Fattening Cattle

Grooming Device Effects on Behaviour and Welfare of Japanese Black Fattening Cattle

Symposium review: Scientific assessment of affective states in dairy cattle

Effect of a mechanical grooming brush on the behavior and health of recently weaned heifer calves

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