Tongue rolling stereotypy in cattle – etiological, epidemiological and clinical investigations

Abstract

The present studies were carried out to establish the causes for appearance, prevalence, age- and sex-related features, the frequency and 24-hour pattern of clinical signs accompanying the tongue rolling stereotypy in cattle. The animals were distributed in 2 groups: group I (n=1055) – control animals that did not demonstrate the tongue play orosthenic syndrome and group II (n=48) – cattle manifesting this stereotypy. Both groups were uniform with regard to age, breed, body condition and sex. They were placed under equal housing conditions (animal hygiene parameters, feed quantity and quality) and activity regimens (walks, feeding etc.). It was found out that the causes for demonstration of the tongue rolling hyperactivity in cattle were the deprivation from food and boredom, due to deficiency of environmental stimuli. The studied stereotypy was observed in cattle in different age groups – suckling and weaned calves, as well as heifers, including pregnant ones. The tongue play activity was no longer exhibited by heifers after calving and moving into the basic herd of lactating cows. The highest intensity (up to 80%) of this orosthenic syndrome was manifested before the morning feeding, between 9.00 and 12.00 AM. Most commonly, the tongue rolling activity was found out in heifers between 13 to 25 months of age. The studied oral stereotypy was not accompanied with changes in measured clinical parameters – rectal body temperature, pulse and respiratory rates, rumen movements, as well as in other activities e.g. rumination, eructation, appetite, sentience, locomotion etc.

Changes in amount and length of periods of stereotypic behavior in Jersey cows with and without access to pasture

“…The authors assume that tongue rolling has a calming function that reduces the activity of the sympathetic nervous system in stressful situations. In contrast, Binev (2022) found increased values of vital parameters (body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, ruminal motility rate) in cows performing oral stereotypies compared with a control group, but these findings were not significant. Changes in animal routine, such as avoiding milking by an induced power cut in the automatic milking system, resulted in a significant increase in tongue rolling in dairy cows (Graeff et al, 2017).…”

“…investigation 3 out of 21 observed cows showed a combination of two stereotypic behaviors. This does not seem to be unusual, because Binev (2022) found in 6 out of 48 cows a combination of stereotypic behavior as well. Independent of whether the cows had access to the pasture or not the average LP ranged between 6.15 s and 110.15 s. Eleven of the 21 observed cows (52.4%) had an average LP of more than 30 s. These findings disagree with the results of Binev ( 2022) who found 92% of the examined cows performing stereotypic behavior less than 30 s. In this study, the cows of both investigated farms showed stereotypic behaviors consisting of tongue playing, licking of the barn equipment, and a combination of both behaviors.…”

“…genetics of Holstein cattle (Mostard, 2011;Prodanovićet al, 2013;Webb et al, 2017), stimulus transmission (Sato et al, 1994b;Ishiwata et al, 2008), age (Binev, 2022), and low concentration of minerals in the blood (Prodanovićet al, 2013;Kirmizigul et al, 2019). However, feeding and feeding management is one of the main contributing factors to oral stereotypes.…”

Beef Cattle Preference and Usage of Environmental Enrichments Provided Simultaneously in a Pasture-Based Environment

“…Enrichments allowing for oral manipulation, specifically ropes, are provided to cattle when they may be deprived from fulfilling their natural oral behaviours of suckling and/or grazing, but mature cattle appear to interact with these ropes less; dairy: [ 9 , 10 ]; beef: [ 14 , 49 , 50 ]. Bark stripping is an oral stereotype seen in cattle [ 51 , 52 ], and is associated with a lack of foraging [ 16 , 53 ], some dietary deficiencies such as lack of manganese or fibre [ 54 , 55 , 56 ], or social learning [ 51 ]. Considering oral behaviours were mainly concentrated on different enrichments between cohorts (woodchip vs. stump), it is possible that this was a socially learnt behaviour.…”

“…When cattle are in a feedlot environment or on thick improved pastures (i.e., grazing lands not used for cropping), eating time is reduced and replaced with other oral behaviours when compared to cattle in paddocks with low pasture availability [ 15 ]. Although some oral behaviours such as tongue rolling may be defined as stereotypic behaviours [ 16 ], other exploratory behaviours may be rewarding to the cattle. Beneficial oral behaviours could be encouraged in both paddock-based and intensive systems through the provision of objects such as ropes, which can be chewed or suckled.…”