The Cattle Grooming Behavior and Some Problems with Technological Grooming Instruments for Cow Welfare

Abstract

Thanks to grooming in cattle, dirt, dust and parasites that are removed, skin blood circulation is increased and muscles are massaged. However, grooming should be done with appropriate tools and equipment. Otherwise, it can be more damaging than benefit. There would be a risk that can hurt the animal's life if not paid attention, and may result in injury or even tail rupture. Animals exposed to such situations normally want to escape from grooming and show resistance even though they enjoy it very much. Inaccurate applications during the acclimatization period, the use of small and low-placed brushes that are not suitable for the size and structure of the cattle, malfunctions during the operation of the grooming brush and in the event of incorrect operation, the wounds occurring in different parts of the body can prevent the expected benefit from the use of the grooming brush. But many works carry on this subject to provide more efficient grooming instruments for cow comfort. And grooming is considered a potential indicator of positive welfare. The combination and integration of welfare instruments will ensure optimum wellbeing for dairy animals to maximize profitability. Use of welfare instruments combined with new technologies for information handling and integration to instruments give more effective results.

Measuring Calves' Usage of Multiple Environmental Enrichment Objects Provided Simultaneously

“…Calves used the mechanical brush mainly for grooming their head and neck (71.6% of the visits). It was expected since previous studies in cattle reported that interactions with the brush were focused on the head and neck (36,37). According to Leruste et al (38), cattle scratch themselves on inanimate objects to reach inaccessible parts of the body, such as the head, neck, back, and hindquarters, which is also consistent with our findings.…”

Study on assessing the impact of climate change (temperature and rainfall) on rice yield in the Long Xuyen Quadrangle region (LXQR) – Vietnam

“…Meteorological and hydrological data collected up to 2018 provided by the Hydrometeorology Center of An Giang province (Chau Doc station) and the hydrometeorological center of Kien Giang province (Rach Gia station) have been revised, reliable enough, is the basis in calculating the price of agricultural productivity and climate change scenarios in terms of rainfall, temperature, average number of hours of sunshine, humidity, wind speed and other characteristics for this study [13][14][15][16].…”