Sickness behavior in dairy cows during Escherichia coli mastitis

Abstract

The consequences of mastitis in terms of dairy cow behavior are relatively unknown. Future assessment of dairy cow welfare during mastitis will be facilitated by knowledge about the potential of mastitis to induce sickness behavior. Our aim was to examine behavior of dairy cows in the period from 2 d before (d -2 and -1) to 3 d (d 0, 1, and 2) after experimental intramammary challenge with Escherichia coli. Effects of experimentally induced mastitis on behavior were examined in 20 primiparous Danish Holstein-Friesian cows, all 3 to 6 wk after calving and kept in tie stalls. After evening milking on d 0, each cow received an intramammary infusion with 20 to 40 cfu of E. coli in 1 healthy front quarter. Paraclinical and bacteriological examinations were conducted to confirm infection. Half of the cows were subjected to liver and udder biopsies twice during the trial. Behavior was video-recorded on 5 consecutive days, d -2 to +2 after challenge when the cows were not disturbed by humans. The behavior of the animals was compared among all days. Infection with E. coli altered the behavior of the dairy cows. Time spent feeding was lower in the initial 24 h after infection compared with that on the other days (16.6±1.1, 16.5±1.0, 13.2±1.2, 18.1±1.1, and 16.0±0.8% of time for d -2, -1, 0, 1, and 2, respectively). The duration of standing idle increased on d 0 compared with that on the control days and d 1 and 2 (29.4±2.6, 28.0±2.3, 39.1±2.6, 31.4±3.8, and 25.9±2.6% of time for d -2, -1, 0, 1 and 2, respectively). The frequency of self-grooming behavior per hour decreased in the initial 24h compared with that on d -2, -1, and 2 (4.1±0.8, 5.4±1.9, 3.2±0.6, 3.6±0.6, and 4.8±1.0 for d -2, -1, 0, 1, and 2, respectively). Likewise, duration of rumination and frequency of turning the head against the udder decreased in the first days after infection (rumination: 32.2±1.6, 34.8±1.8, 27.9±1.7, 30.0±2.6, and 34.8±1.7% of time; and frequency of turning head: 0.6±0.1, 0.6±0.1, 0.3±0.1, 0.3±0.1, and 0.6±0.1 per hour for d -2, -1, 0, 1 and 2, respectively). The cows subjected to biopsies showed an overall decreased lying time during the entire observation period (36.3±1.5 vs. 46.1±2.2% of time) but not directly related to the period after the biopsies. Dairy cows show classic signs of illness behavior in the hours after intramammary challenge with E. coli. This knowledge can be useful for the development of welfare assessment protocols, early disease detection, and for future work aimed at understanding the behavioral needs of dairy cows suffering from mastitis.

Effects of combined liver and udder biopsying on the acute phase response of dairy cows with experimentally induced E. coli mastitis

“…Although we avoided surgical procedure for tissue collection and our biopsies were up to a 100-fold to a 1000-fold smaller than described by others, we did not avoid significant internal udder bleeding with our minimal invasive biopsy technique. The observation that bleeding in the udder could be related to pain is in accordance with findings reported by Fogsgaard et al (2012) who found a reduction in the cows' lying time in cows exposed to the biopsy procedure while investigating for sickness behavior.…”

“…Hence, it was possible to conduct liver and udder biopsies simultaneously in the same individual without causing any major disturbances to the systemic APR during disease, whereas some local inflammatory parameters are affected. E. coli mastitis often results in lower feed intake and milk production (Burvenich et al, 2003;Pezeshki et al, 2011;Fogsgaard et al, 2012). Both parameters were affected in this study after E. coli inoculation, and combined biopsying enhanced the effect on milk yield even further.…”

Eating and rumination behaviour in cows with traumatic reticuloperitonitis

“…The adverse effects of illness on eating and rumination as well as the ameliorating effects of treatment are of primary clinical interest. It was shown that experimental intramammary challenge with Escherichia coli caused a decrease in rumination activity within 24 hours (Fogsgaard et al, 2012), and collection of a liver biopsy sample also led to reduced rumination, most likely because of pain (Mølgaard et al, 2012). Cows with left displacement of the abomasum (LDA) had significantly lower rumination activity, particularly fewer chewing cycles per regurgitated bolus, for five days after successful surgical correction, whereas eating variables did not differ between operated and healthy cows (Trösch, 2013;Braun et al, 2015c).…”

Scientific Opinion on the assessment of dairy cow welfare in small‐scale farming systems

“…Signs of sickness behaviour can last several days after treatment of the cows (up to at least 10 days). Mastitic cows show decreased feeding time (Fogsgaard et al, 2012), decreased lying time (Cyples et al, 2012;Fogsgaard et al, 2012;Medrano-Galarza et al, 2012;Fogsgaard et al, 2014), which is interpreted as pain or soreness in the infected udder during lying, reduced rumination (Fogsgaard et al, 2012), reduced feed intake starting one or several days before the diagnosis of clinical mastitis (Bareille et al, 2003;Fogsgaard et al, 2014;Sepulveda-Varas et al, 2014a), and increased restlessness during milking, manifesting as kicking and tripping (Fogsgaard et al, 2014).…”