Use of qualitative behavioural assessment to investigate affective states of housed dairy cows under different environmental conditions

Abstract

In addition to the reduction of suboptimal welfare, there is now a need to provide farmed animals with positive opportunities to provide confidence that they have experienced a life worth living. Diversification of the environment through environmental enrichment strategies is one suggested avenue for providing animals with opportunities for positive experiences. The provision of more stimulating environmental conditions has been widely implemented in other animal production industries, based on evidenced welfare benefits. However, the implementation of enrichment on dairy farms is limited. In addition to this, the relationship between enrichment and dairy cows' affective states is an under-researched area. One specific welfare benefit of enrichment strategies which has been observed in a number of species, is increased affective wellbeing. This study investigated whether the provision of different forms of environmental enrichment resources would impact the affective states of housed dairy cows. This was measured by Qualitative Behavioural Assessment, currently a promising positive welfare indicator. Two groups of cows experienced three treatment periods; (i) access to an indoor novel object, (ii) access to an outdoor concrete yard and (iii) simultaneous access to both resources. Principal component analysis was used to analyse qualitative behavioural assessment scores, which yielded two principal components. The first principal component was most positively associated with the terms “content/relaxed/positively occupied” and had the most negative associations with the terms ‘fearful/bored'. A second principal component was most positively associated with the terms “lively/inquisitive/playful” and was most negatively associated with the terms “apathetic/bored”. Treatment period had a significant effect on both principal components, with cows being assessed as more content, relaxed and positively occupied and less fearful and bored, during periods of access to additional environmental resources. Similarly, cows were scored as livelier, more inquisitive and less bored and apathetic, during treatment periods compared to standard housing conditions. Concurrent with research in other species, these results suggest that the provision of additional environmental resources facilitates positive experiences and therefore enhanced affective states for housed dairy cows.

Exploring positive welfare measures: preliminary findings from a prototype protocol in loose housing dairy cattle farms

“…This is in contrast with our expectations, given that environmental enrichment strategies usually have positive effects on animal welfare. This effect was previously investigated in cows using QBA ( 40 ), showing that animals provided with enrichments, such as novel objects or access to an outdoor area, were more content, relaxed and positively occupied, and less fearful and bored than animals without enrichments. In our case, brushes cannot be considered a novel object, as they were always present in the barns, and the access to an outdoor area was not a novelty either, because it was present all year round.…”

Quantification of play behaviour in calves using automated ultra-wideband location data and its association with age, weaning and health status

“…As play is a distinctive behaviour 19 , it might be possible to reduce the sampling frequency as long as the frequency remains twice the highest frequency in the signal 21 . This would extend the battery life of sensors and enable collection of extensive long-term data on play behaviour, which could provide an automated alternative to the time-consuming visual assessment of play behaviour and welfare status (Qualitative Behavioural Assessment) 22 .…”

Evaluation of indicators of acute emotional states in dogs

“…These scores are then typically refined into multiple component scores, representing groups of related terms, through means of Principle Component Analysis (PCA). QBA has been utilized in the welfare assessment of wide variety of species (e.g., cows 25 , pigs 26 , sheep 27 , horses 28 , donkeys 29 , goats 30 , chickens 24 , dogs 22 , polar bears 31 , elephants 32 , dolphins 33 , salmon 34 ), as it is often suggested that included terms (such as ‘Playful’ or ‘Relaxed’) can be representative of an animal’s emotional state 7 , 26 . However, like all measurement tools, the process of continued validation is critical 26 and research exploring the validity of QBA as a reliable indicator of valence and arousal appears to have been limited.…”