Effect of the temperament of dairy cows on lifetime production efficiency

Neja, W.; Sawa, Anna; Jankowska, Małgorzata; Bogucki, M.; Krężel-Czopek, Sylwia

doi:10.5194/aab-58-193-2015

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…For example, excitable beef cattle (measured as reactivity to confinement in a chute and flight speed following release from the chute) have lower growth rates (Müller and von Keyserlingk, 2006;Cafe et al, 2011;Bruno et al, 2016), lower BW (Cziszter et al, 2016), and poor carcass quality such as yield and quality grade, back fat, and marbling score (Nkrumah et al, 2007;Reinhardt et al, 2009) compared with calm cattle. Dairy cattle scored as more reactive in the milking parlor produce less milk (Sutherland and Dowling, 2014;Hedlund and Løvlie, 2015), milk out slower (Sewalem et al, 2011), and have reduced lifetime production efficiency (Neja et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality is associated with feeding behavior and performance in dairy calves

Neave

Costa

Weary

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

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Performance varies considerably at weaning, perhaps in part because it is associated with the personality traits of the animals. Our objective was to identify calf personality traits using standardized tests and determine whether these were associated with measures of feeding behavior and performance. Fifty-six dairy calves were housed in 7 groups of 8 calves each with access to an automated milk feeder and ad libitum access to water, starter, and hay. We measured starter DMI and the number of unrewarded visits to the automated milk feeder during each of 4 periods: prestep (full milk allowance; 7-41 d of age), step (milk allowance reduced to 50%; 42-50 d of age), weaning (51-54 d of age), and postweaning (55-68 d of age). At 27 and 76 d of age, each calf was subjected to 3 novelty tests: novel environment (30 min), human approach (10 min with an unknown stationary human), and novel object (15 min with a black 140-L bucket). During each of the tests, 7 behaviors were scored: latency to touch and duration of touching the human or object, duration of attentive behavior toward the human or object, number of vocalizations, number of quadrants crossed as a measure of activity, and duration of inactivity, exploration, and playing. Data were averaged across ages and then across tests. Principal component analysis revealed 3 factors (interactive, exploratory-active, and vocal-inactive) that together explained 73% of the variance. Calves that were more exploratory-active began to consume starter at an earlier age and showed greater starter dry matter intake during all experimental periods and greater overall average daily gain. Calves that were more interactive and vocal-inactive had more unrewarded visits to the milk feeder during initial milk reduction. We conclude that personality traits are associated with feeding behavior and performance around weaning.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality is associated with feeding behavior and performance in dairy calves

Neave

Costa

Weary

et al. 2018

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…Recently, there has been a growth in interest in the connections between personality, health, welfare, and productivity in farm animals [ 1 , 2 ]. It has been suggested that different personalities may vary in terms of their disease susceptibility [ 3 ], physiological response to stress [ 4 , 5 ] and production traits [ 6 – 11 ]. Furthermore, considering personality in the context of animal breeding seems to be a promising approach for improving the robustness and welfare of farm animals [ 1 , 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the temporal and situational consistency of personality traits in adult dairy cattle

et al. 2018

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Recent research suggests that personality, defined as consistent individual behavioral variation, in farm animals could be an important factor when considering their health, welfare, and productivity. However, behavioral tests are often performed individually and they might not reflect the behavioral differences manifested in every-day social environments. Furthermore, the contextual and longer-term temporal stability of personality traits have rarely been investigated in adult dairy cattle. In this study, we tested three groups of lactating Holstein cows (40 cows) using an individual arena test and a novel object test in groups to measure the contextual stability of behavior. Among the recorded individual test parameters, we used seven in the final analysis, which were determined by a systematic parameter reduction procedure. We found positive correlations between novel object contact duration in the group test and individual test parameters object contact duration (Rs = 0.361, P = 0.026) and movement duration (Rs = 0.336, P = 0.039). Both tests were repeated 6 months later to investigate their temporal stability whereby four individual test parameters were repeatable. There was no consistency in the group test results for 25 cows tested twice, possibly due to group composition changes. Furthermore, based on the seven individual test parameters, two personality traits (activity/exploration and boldness) were identified by principal component analysis. We found a positive association between the first and second tests for activity/exploration (Rs = 0.334, P = 0.058) and for boldness (Rs = 0.491, P = 0.004). Our results support the multidimensional nature of personality in adult dairy cattle and they indicate a link between behavior in individual and within-group situations. The lack of stability according to the group test results implies that group companions might have a stronger influence on individual behavior than expected. We suggest repeating the within-group behavioral measurements to study the relationship between the social environment and the manifestation of personality traits in every-day situations.

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“…In cows with a calm temperament, milk yield in the first lactation was 621 kg higher than in cows with a "normal" temperament and 329 kg higher than in cows with a nervous (aggressive) temperament. Neja et al (2015) and Bharadawaj et al (2007) found that milk yield of Murrah buffalo was higher in calm (2,120 ± 27 kg) than in nervous cows (1,829 ± 49 kg) and lowest in aggressive animals (1,743 ± 147 kg). Kalińska and Slósarz (2016) studied the influence of cow temperament and milking speed, their lifelong milk production, and the causes of cow culling.…”

Section: Influence Of Temperament On Production and Reproduction Traitsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Methods of Assessing Cattle Temperament and Factors Affecting it: a review

Smolinger

Škorjanc

2021

Agricultura

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In animal husbandry, the herd should consist of animals that are well adapted to a particular environment, which allows a safe working environment and the achievement of optimal production and economic results. Animals react differently to both positive and negative factors of the environment. Individual response to novel situations can affect metabolism as well as various physiological systems. A number of biochemical characteristics can be used as markers for assessing temperament. Temperament can also be defined as a combination of characteristics or qualities that form individual distinctive character. In this review article, we present various methods of assessing cattle temperament, firstly, in environments familiar to the animal, such as the barn and milking parlor, secondly, in unfamiliar special rooms or arenas with special equipment and, thirdly, considering other possible effects on the expression of temperament. Measurement of stress markers in saliva, feces, and hair using noninvasive methods has also been described as one of the approaches to assess temperament. Knowledge of cattle temperament allows us to work safely, introduce appropriate adapted breeding technologies, and improve housing conditions, which, consequently, results in improved animal welfare.

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Effect of the temperament of dairy cows on lifetime production efficiency

Cited by 15 publications

References 14 publications

Personality is associated with feeding behavior and performance in dairy calves

Personality is associated with feeding behavior and performance in dairy calves

Evaluating the temporal and situational consistency of personality traits in adult dairy cattle

Methods of Assessing Cattle Temperament and Factors Affecting it: a review

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