| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Algers, Bo, et al.
(författare)
-
Scientific report on the effects of farming systems on dairy cow welfare and disease
- 2009
-
Ingår i: EFSA Journal. - : Wiley. - 1831-4732. ; Annex
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Following a request from the European Commission, the AHAW Panel was asked to deliver a Scientific Opinion on the welfare of dairy cows, considering whether current farming and husbandry systems comply with the requirements of and welfare of dairy cows from the pathological, zootechnical, physiological and behavioural points of view. Due to the great diversity of topics and the huge amount of scientific data, it was proposed that separate scientific opinions on different welfare subjects would be more adequate and effective. Therefore, it was agreed that a scientific report, an overall scientific opinion and four risk assessments on: i) metabolic and reproductive disorders, ii) udder disorders, iii) leg and locomotion problems and iv) behavioural disorders, fear and pain would be produced. This overall scientific opinion integrates conclusions and recommendations from the scientific report with the outcomes from the four separate risk assessments. In the resulting list of outcomes, conclusions and recommendations considered to have a high priority are evidenced. This scientific opinion on the overall effects of farming systems on dairy cow welfare and disease was adopted by the AHAW Panel on 05 June 2009. In considering the welfare of dairy cattle, some of the most important consequences of poor welfare are the occurrence of disease conditions, in particular foot and leg disorders and mastitis. Reproductive, metabolic and behavioural problems are also relevant indicators of poor welfare. European dairy production is based mainly from specialized intensive farming but there is considerable diversity in how cows are housed and managed. Systems range from grazing all of the year to remaining in a building with zero-grazing. The farming system by itself is a major factor determining the health problems of dairy cattle and other aspects of their welfare, partly through housing and equipment and partly through management and handling practices. Long term genetic selection for high milk yield is the major factor causing poor welfare, in particular health problems, in dairy cows. The milk yield of dairy cows has risen steadily over the last thirty years in Europe with approximately 50 % of this increase estimated to be attributable to genetic selection for milk production efficiency. This selection has also changed the form and size of dairy cows and hence demands on their behaviour and other adaptive mechanisms. The spatial requirements of the dairy cow have increased as well as its vulnerability for mechanical impacts and wounds on the exterior parts of the body, the skin, limbs and claws. The genetic component underlying milk yield has also been found to be positively correlated with the incidence of lameness, mastitis, reproductive disorders and metabolic disorders. In order to improve dairy cow welfare there is an urgent need to promote changes in the criteria used for genetic selection in the dairy industry. Higher weight should be given to fitness and welfare traits when these may conflict with selection for milk yield. Genetic selection for improved fertility, health and longevity is likely to improve welfare and lead to greater profit for the farmer. Whilst issues concerning genetic selection are common to different systems, when comparing different farming systems, hazards associated with housing and management variables have the greatest effects on dairy cattle welfare. The following are the major conclusions and recommendations when systems are compared. Since the body size of cows has increased during the last 20 years, where cubicles are used, they should be wide enough to minimise any movement difficulties or teat trampling. Cubicles and tie-stalls should be designed in such a way that the forward movement of the body of the cow is not thwarted when changing position from lying to standing. The risk assessment exercise confirmed that poor cubicle design and lack of space are the highest ranked hazards, respectively in cubicle houses and tie stalls, in the development of the most common problems in dairy cows. A total space allowance of less than 8.6 m² in cubicle houses negatively affects welfare. Cubicle width should be at least 1.8 times cow hip width. In cubicle houses there should be at least as many cubicles as there are cows in the house. A lying area of at least 2.7 m² / heifer (up to 400 kg) is necessary to avoid negative impact on welfare and production. In loose-housed cows, the area around each feeding place is a location where much aggression can occur. Therefore, the feeding area should be designed in such a way and with sufficient space that all cows can feed with minimal aggression or other interference. Since leg disorders are the major welfare problem for dairy cattle and leg disorders are a problem also in well managed cubicle houses, alternatives to cubicles e.g. straw yards and improvements to cubicle house design should be considered. When possible, dairy cows and heifers should be given access to well managed pasture or other suitable outdoor conditions, at least during summer time or dry weather. Tie-stalls restrict the voluntary movement and social behaviour of dairy cows. When periods of exercise are possible some of the adverse effects are reduced. Therefore, systems of husbandry and management should involve a minimum time of restricted movement in order that all dairy cows are able to meet their need to show certain behaviours such as grooming, social interaction and exercise. While tie-stall use continues, cows should have daily exercise that involves walking freely inside or outside (except where there are adverse climatic conditions) and also the freedom to carry out other behaviours. A minority opinion on the use of tie-stalls was expressed by some Panel members. All dairy cattle should be fed a diet that provides sufficient energy, nutrients and dietary fibre to meet the metabolic requirements in a way that is consistent with digestion. When diet is changed there should be carefully controlled transition feeding in order to prevent poor welfare in the cattle. Feeding systems should allow every individual cow to meet her needs for quantity and quality of feed. Dairy cows should be provided with drinking water whatever their diet. This water should be in sufficient quantity to prevent any dehydration and should be: free from repellent odour and taste, harmful infectious agents, toxic substances and contaminants that can accumulate in body tissue or be excreted in milk. Both indoors as well as outdoors, continuous access to water should be provided. Automatically regulated troughs and drinker bowls should be installed in the animal houses and farmyards. There should be systems for monitoring the prevalence of lameness by scoring locomotion and foot lesions every 3 to 6 months in all dairy herds. Because of the high risk of lameness in dairy cattle all dairy farmers should implement a lameness prevention programme. On farms with a high prevalence of recognisable locomotor difficulties, e.g. approaching 10%, there should be improvement of housing conditions, genetic strain and management practices. In addition to improved methods for genetic selection, the prevalence of mastitis should be reduced also through: treatment of clinical and subclinical disease, dry cow therapy, identification and elimination of carrier cows, prevention of transmission of infection from cow to cow or through the environment, and improvement of the immune system by minimising stress factors and by a controlled and nutritionally-balanced feed intake. Pain management should be part of the treatment of severe lameness and clinical mastitis. Farmers should be well trained in recognizing signs of disease at early stages and veterinary advice should be sought at an early stage of disease in dairy cattle. Recommendations in this opinion for disease prevention and management should be followed. The body of research on dairy cattle welfare should be incorporated into codes of practice and monitoring protocols that address potential hazards and incorporate animal-based measures of welfare outcomes
|
|
| 4. |
- Anderson, Claes, et al.
(författare)
-
Anticipatory behaviour in animals: A critical review
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Animal Welfare. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 0962-7286 .- 2054-1538. ; 29, s. 231-238
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- A number of studies have investigated anticipatory behaviour in animals as a measure of sensitivity to reward or as an expression o emotional state. A common feature of many studies is that they base inferences on seemingly arbitrary measures, for example, the frequency of behavioural transitions (ie number of times an animal switches between different behaviours). This paper critically reviews the literature and discusses various hypotheses for why specific behavioural responses occur in the anticipatory period between the signal and reward in conditioned animals. We argue that the specific behaviours shown may be the result of superstitious learning and thus highly variable, leaving behavioural transitions as the only response that can be scored consistently, and that sometimes these responses may relate more to frustration than to a positive emotional state. Finally, we propose new research approaches to avoid potential confounds and improve future studies on this topic.
|
|
| 5. |
- Anderson, Claes, et al.
(författare)
-
Behavioural expression of positive anticipation for food or opportunity to play in lambs
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Behavioural Processes. - : Elsevier BV. - 0376-6357 .- 1872-8308. ; 113, s. 152-158
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Anticipatory behaviours may serve a useful tool in studying positive emotional states in animals. This study aimed to investigate if lambs express anticipatory behaviours for opportunities to play or a food reward and if these behaviours would differ depending on the anticipated event. Forty-two male lambs were allocated into three treatment groups (control, play, food). Play and food lambs were conditioned to anticipate play or food in a holding pen for three minutes prior to accessing a reward arena containing toy objects or concentrate, respectively. Control lambs returned to their home pen following three minutes in the holding pen. Compared to the control lambs, both play and food lambs differed in several behaviours frequencies and durations, e.g. by an increased frequency of behavioural transitions and duration of walking. Following these observations, food lambs received the toy objects when entering the reward arena. The subsequent session in the holding pen resulted in a decrease in number of behavioural transitions, time spent walking and an increase in time standing still. In conclusion, anticipating a positive event resulted in differences in behaviour compared to a control group, and these behaviours are affected when the anticipated event does not fit with the lambs' expectations. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Axelsson, Helene, et al.
(författare)
-
Behaviour in female mink housed in enriched standard cages during winter
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 121, s. 222-229
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study evaluated whether adding environmental enrichments to a standard housing system during winter could decrease stereotypic behaviours in female mink. The study was conducted on two private farms (F1 and F2) in southern Sweden. In total, 75 farmed mink oil each farm were housed in standard cages, with either a wire net shelf, a plastic ball, a plastic cylinder or all three enrichments together. Standard cages without enrichments were used as a control. All animals in the study were born and raised in a standard cage system without enrichments. The animals were housed in the enriched cages from early December, at approximately 7 months of age, until the beginning of March. Behavioural observations were made in January-March during three observation periods (10 consecutive days each) on each farm. The behaviours were recorded using one-zero sampling during 2 h prior to feeding and 2 h afterwards. There were no significant differences in stereotypic behaviours between treatments at F1, but stereotypic behaviours decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in mink with access to wire net shelves at F2. Stereotypic behaviours were most often performed before feeding and differed in occurrence between periods (P < 0.001). The total number of interactions with the enrichments differed between treatments (P < 0.001), and was highest for the wire net shelf enrichment on both farms. In conclusion, our results indicate that a wire net shelf, plastic cylinder, ball or all these three enrichments together were not sufficient to decrease or interrupt stereotypic behaviours that had already developed in standard housing during winter. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 10. |
- Axelsson, Helene, et al.
(författare)
-
Effects of group size on behaviour, growth and occurrence of bite marks in farmed mink
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 194, s. 112-119
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aims of this study were to investigate the occurrence of stereotypic behaviours and the activity level in farmed mink when group housed in climbing cages and if group housing increase aggression by assessing the prevalence of bite marks. This was studied in juvenile mink of the colour types "demibuff" (n = 165) and "half sapphire" (n = 165). The animals were housed in standard cages (S2: one male, one female), or in climbing cages (C2: one male, one female; C3: one male, two females; C4: two males, two females). Behaviours were recorded for two hours beginning at sunrise and two hours before sunset during six periods of five days each from August-October. After pelting, the leather side of the undried skins were visually inspected for bite marks. Stereotypic behaviours were infrequent (0.1% of observations). Pair housed mink in climbing cages were more "inactive out in cage" than pair housed mink in standard cages (p < 0.0001), but cage type had no effect on the behaviours "being in nest box", "active out in cage", "interactions with enrichments" or "social interactions" (n.s.). Group sizes of three or four mink increased the behaviours "active out in cage" (P < 0.0001) and decreased "being in nest box" (P < 0.001) but had no effect on "interactions with enrichments", "inactive out in cage" or "social interactions" (n.s.). Males had lower growth when kept in groups of four compared to groups of three or pairs (P < 0.001), and shorter skin lengths when kept in groups of four compared to pairs (P < 0.001), but females did not differ in growth or skin lengths between group sizes (n.s.). Number of bite marks on the leather side of the skins did not differ between cage types (n.s.) or group sizes (n.s.). In conclusion, neither the cage design nor the group size affected the occurrence of stereotypies or the occurrence of bite marks, but activity levels increased and the use of a nest box and male growth decreased in larger groups.
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
|
|
| 13. |
- Berg, Charlotte, et al.
(författare)
-
One Health : Samspelet mellan human-, djur- och ekosystemhälsa
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Vård, omsorg och rehabilitering utomhus. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144142364 ; , s. 97-112
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sambandet mellan människors, djurs och ekosystems hälsa är viktigt för att målet "En gemensam hälsa" skall uppnås. I detta kapitel förklarar vi vad One Health är, vilka teorier som ligger bakom One Health, vilka centrala begrepp och perspektiv som är viktiga för området och forskning om kopplingen mellan människors och djurs hälsa, människors och miljöns hälsa, samt djurens och miljöns hälsa. Vi tar upp olika aspekter rörande lantbruksdjur, sällskapsdjur och vilda djur och hur det sätt vi föder upp och sköter dem på påverkar miljön, och i det långa loppet även människor. Vi beskriver hur djurs sjukdomar kan påverka människors hälsa och omvänt, samt One Health-perspektivets koppling till vård, omsorg och rehabilitering utomhus.
|
|
| 14. |
- Berg, Lotta, et al.
(författare)
-
Minkhållning i Sverige
- 2020
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Den här rapporten är framtagen av SLUs vetenskapliga råd för djurskydd i syfte att utvärdera djurvälfärden hos minkar inom svensk pälsdjursproduktion och bedöma om den vetenskapliga litteraturen ger stöd för att produktionen, så som den bedrivs i dag, ger djuren möjlighet att bete sig naturligt. Minkar som föds upp för pälsproduktion i Sverige måste hållas och skötas enligt Statens jordbruksverks föreskrifter och allmänna råd (SJVFS 2012:14) om uppfödning och hållande av pälsdjur. Rapporten har tagits fram på uppdrag av Jordbruksverket som en del i ett regeringsuppdrag om minkhållning. Den beskriver minkens ursprung och domesticering, naturligt beteende hos vild mink, inhysning och skötsel vid pälsuppfödning, onormalt beteende, miljöberikningar, smittskydd, förekommande sjukdomar och avlivningsmetoder. I rapporten ges rekommendationer baserat på tillgänglig vetenskaplig litteratur, och behov av framtida forskning identifieras.Minken är en opportunistisk köttätare som behöver äta relativt ofta. I pälsdjursproduktionen tillämpas i princip fri tillgång på foder till digivande honor och växande valpar men inför parningssäsongen innebär den fria tillgången ökad risk för komplikationer vid valpningen på grund av övervikt hos honan. Fodringen behöver därför anpassas under vintern för att minska risken för feta honor och därmed ökad dödlighet vid valpningen. Neddragen fodertillgång kan orsaka frustration som då visar sig i beteendestörningar. Olika aspekter på utfodring bör därför beaktas i framtida forskning. Den vilda minken lever solitärt under stora delar av året, dock kan en till flera honor leva inom en hanes revir. I pälsdjursproduktionen bör därför vuxna minkar hållas individuellt, undantaget är växande ungminkar som med fördel kan hållas tillsammans. Att hålla två minkar tillsammans är det vanligaste, dock fungerar det att hålla tre ungminkar i etagebur om de ges extra foder och god tillsyn. Grupper med fler än tre djur bör undvikas då riskerna för aggression ökar. En lya fastsatt utanpå buren är viktigt för alla minkar året runt då de naturligt vilar mycket i sina bohål, samt även för att minkhonan ska kunna ta hand om de outvecklade ungarna första tiden efter födelsen. I fångenskap används halm för att skapa ett varmt bo under den kalla årstiden samt för att bygga ett bo för ungarna under uppfödningsperioden.Systematisk genetisk selektion för önskat beteende (temperament) förbättrar välfärden hos minken. Systemet tillämpas på svenska gårdar genom att minkar som uppvisar rädsla eller stress selekteras bort vid avelsurvalet. Urvalet av avelsdjur görs kontinuerligt från det att valparna föds, då reproduktion, valpöverlevnad och temperament registreras tidigt och är viktiga parametrar att ta hänsyn till i urvalet. Det slutliga urvalen sker på hösten då längd, vikt och pälsegenskaper graderas. Ju tidigare dessa urval görs desto tidigare kan utfodringen anpassas för att undvika att avelsdjuren blir överviktiga under hösten. Det är viktigt att aveln inte resulterar i för stora djur, då detta kan leda till välfärdsproblem i framtiden.Mink i vilt tillstånd använder vatten i sin jakt på bytesdjur, men är inget vattenlevande djur, per se. Badvatten till mink bedöms däremot vara en positiv berikning, dock inte vetenskapligt belagt, som ett grundläggande beteendebehov. Forskning visar att beteendestörningar kan förebyggas genom att minkarna ges fri tillgång på foder, hålls i etageburar med bolåda, hyllor, strömedel och berikningar som byts ut regelbundet. I svenska djurskyddsföreskrifter ingår dessa som krav för hållande av mink för pälsdjursproduktion. Mer kunskap behövs för hur ofta berikningar bör skiftas.Djurvälfärd i samband med livdjurstransport och avlivning av mink lyfts fram som angelägna forskningsområden. En snabb avlivning vid hemmaburen bedöms vara det bästa ur djurvälfärdssynpunkt. För att minska risken för spridning av sjukdomar bör importerade minkar hållas i karantän och hög biosäkerhet tillämpas på gården.
|
|
| 15. |
|
|
| 16. |
|
|
| 17. |
- Berget, Bente, et al.
(författare)
-
Djurens betydelse för människans hälsa
- 2022. - 1:1
-
Ingår i: Vård, omsorg och rehabilitering utomhus. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144142364 ; , s. 261-283
-
Bokkapitel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
|
|
| 18. |
- Berget, Bente, et al.
(författare)
-
Lantgården som resurs för samhället och organisationen av dess välfärdsinsatser
- 2021
-
Rapport (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- Målet med denna rapport är att presentera hur kommuner och regioner kan ta hjälp av lantgårdar i utformningen av välfärdsinsatser, exempelvis inom social omsorg, utbildning, sjukvård, alternativa arbetsuppgifter och integration. Ett ytterligare mål är att belysa hur dessa verksamheter bör organiseras för att få ett långsiktigt hållbart samarbete mellan de svenska lantgårdarna och samhället. Historiskt har lantgårdar används som social insats med vinster för många individer och samhället, men detta minskade succesivt under urbaniseringen. Flera europeiska länder har återinfört lantgården som en resurs för olika utsatta målgrupper i samhället och har återuppbyggt en nationell struktur för dess genomförande. Utländsk forskning har visat att lantgårdar kan ge ökad motivation, social kontakt, känsla av att känna sig behövd, upplevelse av att kunna klara av uppgifter, ökad rörelse, ökat psykiskt välmående, och flera andra funktioner viktiga för god mänsklig välfärd. Svensk forskning har visat att lantgårdar kan ge stöd inom social omsorg och för skolelever med olika utmaningar, men många fler målgrupper skulle kunna gynnas av en lantgårdsbaserad insats (LBI). I Sverige finns ett 80-tal godkända Grön Arena gårdar, samt flera andra gårdar som kommuner och regioner kan upphandla för olika insatser. En utbyggnad av LBI i Sverige skulle gynna landsbygdsföretagande, och särskilt kvinnligt företagande. Det saknas dock en stödjande struktur och ett nationellt politiskt ställningstagande inom detta område. Rapporten utmynnar i flera rekommendationer. Tillsätt en statlig utredning med uppdrag till förslagsvis Socialstyrelsen, Tillväxtverket och Jordbruksverket med uppdrag att föreslå hur offentlig förvaltning kan underlätta för och stödja LBI. Ge uppdrag till Sveriges Kommuner och Regioner (SKR) att skapa en samordning från nationell, till regional, till kommunal nivå mellan myndigheter och företag för utbyggnad av LBI. Ta fram nationella riktlinjer och kvalitetssystem för användning av lantgårdar för sociala insatser. Skapa ett dokument gällande kvalitetssäkring för LBI på nationell nivå i samverkan mellan olika aktörer, t ex Hushållningssällskapet och Socialstyrelsen. Flerårig upphandling med rimlig ersättning måste tillämpas. Ställ krav på att alla som får kontrakt genom offentlig upphandling har dokumentation på att de har genomgått en godkänd kurs, att deras gård bedömts för risker och att de är lämpliga för övrigt. Bygg upp en stödjande struktur som är flexibel för användning av LBI för olika målgrupper inom kommun och region. Forskningsmedel behöver ges för tvärvetenskaplig forskning utifrån så väl brukarperspektivet som verksamhetsperspektivet. Avsätt forskningsmedel till samhällsekonomisk analys där kostnaderna för lantgårdsbaserad insats jämförs med annan insats. Slutsatsen är att lantgårdsbaserade välfärdsinsatser kan utgöra en värdefull resurs och ett komplement till traditionella insatser för flera olika målgrupper.
|
|
| 19. |
- Bergsten, Christer, et al.
(författare)
-
Influence of digital dermatitis and sole ulcer on dairy cow behaviour and milk production
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Animal. - 1751-7311 .- 1751-732X. ; 5, s. 1259-1269
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the study was to investigate whether the presence of digital dermatitis (DD) and sole ulcer (SU) in dairy cows was associated with changes in behaviour and milk production. Swedish Red and Swedish Holstein cows (mostly in the first to second lactation) were housed in a cubicle system with automatically scraped passageways. After maintenance claw trimming of all the cows in the herd, 10 cows with DD and 10 cows with SU were selected. For each DD-or SU-affected cow, a healthy control cow, matched according to breed, age, parity and lactation stage, was selected. The behaviour of each of the 20 focal cows was observed for 1 h during 2 to 3 weeks after claw trimming (WACT; period 1) and for 1 h during 5 to 6 WACT (period 2). Milk production parameters: energy-corrected milk (ECM), fat and protein percentages and somatic cell counts (SCCs) were recorded once monthly. Lameness was scored once at the start of the study and cows with SU and DD showed more score 2 lameness (42% v. 31%) than the healthy cows (12%). Most differences in behaviour were found during 2 to 3 WACT when DD-and SU-affected cows were lying less (P = 0.001 and P = 0.012, respectively) than healthy cows. Ruminating while standing was performed more in DD-affected cows (P < 0.001) and tended to be performed more in SU-affected cows (P = 0.079) than their controls. Vigilance was performed more in DD-and SU-affected cows than in healthy cows (P < 0.001 and P = 0.047). Cows with DD produced approximately 5.5 kg less ECM per day both at 2 to 3 WACT (P = 0.022) and at 5 to 6 WACT (P = 0.017) than healthy cows, whereas SU-affected cows tended to produce less ECM at 5 to 6 WACT (P = 0.059). No differences in milk fat and protein or SCC were found. It may be concluded that DD-affected cows showed a stronger behavioural response to the claw disease than the SU-affected cows. This shows the importance of regular claw checking and claw trimming of the cows in order to avoid the negative effects on behaviour and milk production.
|
|
| 20. |
- Chapagain, Durga, et al.
(författare)
-
Investigating the motivation to play in lambs
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 160, s. 64-74
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to identify behaviours and ear postures linked to the appetitive, consummatory and post-consummatory motivational phases of play in male lambs, and to evaluate how cortisol was affected by play. Ten pairs of male lambs, Ovis aries were observed in a play arena three times a week for 4 weeks. They were kept in a holding pen for 5 min (appetitive phase) where they could look into the play arena (containing a ball, two chains and a tunnel) and thereafter released into the play arena for 20 min (consummatory phase). They returned to their home pen where they were observed for 6 min (post-consummatory phase). Direct observations were made in each location and behaviours were recorded as frequencies per min. Ear postures were recorded instantaneously every 15 s for 3 min per location. Saliva samples were taken in the 4th week for analysis of cortisol. Behaviours were analysed with a generalized linear model and cortisol with paired t-test. In the holding pen, the most common behaviours were walking, sniffing pen, standing facing play arena, standing facing alley, butting and pawing. Walking (P < 0.001) and standing facing play arena (P < 0.001) were higher during the 1st min whereas butting (P<0.001) was lower during the 1st min compared to the other 4 min. In the play arena, social play was more frequent than locomotor and object play (median: 1.85, 0.97, and 1.14 events per min, respectively). Total play and locomotor play decreased across the 20 min, whereas social play remained high until the 8th min. Total play (P<0.001) and social play (P<0.01) were most frequent during the 2nd week. Walking and standing were performed immediately after returning to the home pen but after the 1st min, lambs spent most of their time feeding. Raised and backward ear postures were common in the holding pen and play arena whereas plane ear postures were more common in the home pen. Salivary cortisol tended to increase after play (P=0.08). In conclusion, lambs showed different active behaviours together with raised and backward ear postures during the appetitive phase, high amounts of play together with backward and raised ear postures during the consummatory phase and mainly feeding together with plane ear postures during the post-consummatory phase. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 21. |
- Fröberg, Sofie, et al.
(författare)
-
Behaviour of dairy calves suckling the dam in a barn with automatic milking or being fed milk substitute from an automatic feeder in a group pen
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 117, s. 150-158
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate the suckling behaviour of dairy calves allowed to suckle freely in a barn with an automatic milking (AM) system and how their behaviour differed from the behaviour of calves given milk substitute from an automatic feeder. For the first 8 weeks of life, calves of the dairy breed Swedish Red were either suckling freely (FS, n = 16) from the dam in an AM barn or kept in groups with automatic feeding (HM, n = 18) with an allowance of 9 kg of milk substitute per day. All treatments had concentrate and hay ad lib. Focal calves in FS and HM treatments were observed one day in weeks 2, 4 and 8, at 08:00-10:00 and the FS calves' suckling behaviour was observed for a 24-h period once weekly. The HM calves moved, ate concentrate and ate hay more than the FS calves, whereas the FS calves lay down and ruminated more than the HM calves. Cross-sucking and tongue-rolling were displayed in HM but not in FS calves. Of the suckling bouts recorded in FS calves 80% was on the dam. Four calves were recorded suckling solely on their dam, but most of the calves were observed attempting to suckle or suckling on other cows in the group once or twice. The total suckling time and number of suckling bouts during week 2-8 on all cows decreased with increasing calf age. In conclusion, the free-suckling calves ate less solid feed, rested more and exhibited fewer non-nutritive oral and abnormal behaviours compared to the calves fed milk substitute from an automatic feeder, and some calves often suckled on other cows. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 22. |
- Fröberg, Sofie, et al.
(författare)
-
Performance of free suckling dairy calves in an automatic milking system and their behaviour at weaning
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section A - Animal Science. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0906-4702 .- 1651-1972. ; 61, s. 145-156
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The performance of dairy calves allowed to suckle freely (FS) until eight weeks of age in a cubicle system with automatic milking was compared to automatic teat-feeding with low milk (LM) or high milk (HM) substitute allowances. Weight gain and feed intake of FS (n = 13), LM (n = 23) and HM (n = 22) calves were recorded until two weeks after abrupt weaning, and their behaviour was studied during weaning. FS calves had higher weight gain, but much lower solid feed intake until weaning, than LM and HM calves and their advantage in weight remained throughout the study despite very low post-weaning gain. During the first 24 hours after weaning, FS calves displayed more behavioural signs of stress. However, at 72 hours after weaning, behaviour was similar for all treatments. Methods to stimulate solid feed intake before weaning need to be developed to draw advantage of the FS system.
|
|
| 23. |
|
|
| 24. |
- Graunke, Katharina, et al.
(författare)
-
Influence of weather on the behaviour of outdoor-wintered beef cattle in Scandinavia
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Livestock Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1871-1413 .- 1878-0490. ; 136, s. 247-255
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the present investigation was to study the effect of weather and available protection on the behaviour of outdoor-wintered beef cattle (Bos taurus). A herd of 78-85 cattle head was studied during four winter months in the Southwest of Sweden. Protection was offered by coniferous forest situated on and around the 12 ha pasture, which we divided into protection categories. During 240 h we observed 10 cows and 10 heifers as focal animals (each 3 h/month) during day time and adjusted observation times to the altitude of the sun. Close to the animals and at an unprotected spot of the pasture we measured temperature, wind speed and solar radiation and combined these variables to a single measure called Wind Chill Temperature (WCT). During observations the animals were in the forest in 12.4%, near protection in 10.4% and without protection in 77.2% of the recordings. During precipitation, i.e. rain, snow and hail, the animals frequented the forest 2.71 times more often than during dry weather; however, only in 17.0% of the hours with precipitation the focal animals were in the forest. In 75.0% of the observation hours the WCT in the animals' surrounding was at least 2 degrees C higher than at the most exposed spot of the pasture. Without precipitation the animals were lying less, feeding more and ruminating less at low WCT. During precipitation they were lying more, feeding less and ruminating more at low WCT. The lower the WCT and the higher the wind speed the more subjects there were within a 5 m-radius around the focal animal. The results indicate that the cattle adjusted their behaviour to both WCT and precipitation, that they were able to find warmer microclimates even without always having to frequent protecting objects, and that conspecifics were used as protection. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
|
|
| 25. |
|
|
| 26. |
|
|
| 27. |
|
|
| 28. |
|
|
| 29. |
- Guzhva, Oleksiy, et al.
(författare)
-
Hide ‘n seek: individual behavioural responses of cattle excreting different amounts of nematode eggs—potential threshold for pasture contamination assessment
- 2024
-
Ingår i: Frontiers in animal science. - 2673-6225. ; 5
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate how the activity of cattle under natural grazing conditions is related to their individual parasite contribution (IPC). Potentially, the individuals contributing the most to the contamination of the pasture with gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) could then be identified and selectively treated based on sensor data thresholds. A total of 58 steers of the dairy breeds Swedish Red (SR, n = 19) and Swedish Holstein (SH, n = 39) were used for sensor-based data collection that lasted for a total of 10 weeks from 4 May to 13 July 2022. All steers were inoculated with a priming dose of nematode larvae and weighed in conjunction with the pasture release. The animals were then divided into four experimental groups and treated with ivermectin (IVM PO, Boehringer Ingelheim, 0.5 mg/kg BW) at different intervals to obtain an exposure contrast (Group A was left untreated, Group B/IVM PO-4w was treated after 4 weeks, Group C/IVM PO-8w was treated after 8 weeks, and Group D/IVM PO-4&8w was treated after 4 weeks and then after 8 weeks). The steers were weighed on four further occasions, during which faecal samples were also taken for parasite testing. Activity data were collected using leg-mounted IceQube sensors and body weight data and faecal samples were collected bi-weekly. The new threshold metric (IPC) was proposed for individuals with different faecal egg count (FEC) levels [NO (no contribution) <20 EPG, LO (low contribution) = 20–150 EPG, ME (medium contribution) = 150–250 EPG, and HI (high contribution) ≥250 EPG] The effects of IPC on activity patterns were analysed stepwise using a Generalised Estimating Equations model implemented in Python programming language. Results showed significant effects of different IPC values on motion index and number of steps taken (adjusted p-value of 0.008, 0.018, 0.041, and 0.001 for individuals with NO, LO, ME, and HI IPC values, respectively). There were some breed effects on the average number of steps and minutes spent lying. The results also provide alternative threshold methods aimed at finding more sustainable ways of using anthelmintics and integrating individual data into future parasite control strategies.
|
|
| 30. |
- Handlin, Linda, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
-
The Effects of a Therapy Dog on the Blood Pressure and Heart Rate of Older Residents in a Nursing Home
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Anthrozoos. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0892-7936 .- 1753-0377. ; 31:5, s. 567-576
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of the present project was to investigate whether repeated visits by a therapy dog to nursing homes might affect the older residents’ systolic blood pressure and heart rate. A secondary aim was to investigate and compare effects (differences in responses) in older people with high and normal systolic blood pressure. The project consisted of two consecutive studies; the dog study (two researchers and a therapy dog with a handler visited the residents at three nursing homes, n = 13), and the controlstudy (the two researchers alone visited the residents at three different nursinghomes, n = 13). The studies were divided into three periods; period 1(weeks 1–2), period 2 (weeks 3–4), and period 3 (weeks 5–6) and included two visits per week. The dog and her handler visited during periods 2 and 3 in the dog study. Participants’ heart rate and blood pressure were measured at 0 and 20 minutes at each visit. The data were analyzed using Friedman’s twowayanalysis of Variance by Rank with post-hoc analysis using Wilcoxonsigned-rank tests with a Bonferroni correction, and also with the mann-Whitney U test for independent samples. In the dog study, participants’ heartrate decreased significantly (p = 0.006) from period 1 to period 3. Participants with an initial systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mmhg had a significant decreasein both systolic blood pressure (p = 0.009) and heart rate (p = 0.009). In the control study, participants’ heart rate and systolic blood pressure did not change significantly. the participants in the dog study had a significantly lower systolic blood pressure during period 3 (p = 0.016) compared with those in the control study. In conclusion, repeated visits by a therapy dog–handler team decreased the older adults’ heart rate, and for those with high initial systolic blood pressure, blood pressure also decreased. In addition, systolic blood pressure decreased significantly in the dog group when compared with the control group.
|
|
| 31. |
|
|
| 32. |
|
|
| 33. |
|
|
| 34. |
|
|
| 35. |
- Hernandez, Carlos, et al.
(författare)
-
Colostrum feeding routines - Passive immunity and welfare in dairy calves
- 2015
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Calves are born with insufficient immunity to fight disease and rely on the passive transfer of immunity via ingestion of maternal immunoglobulins (IG) present in the colostrum. To ensure adequate transfer of immunity, dairy farmers utilize different methods to feed colostrum to their calves. Feeding methods include bottle or bucket feeding, oesophageal tube (OT) feeding, or suckling the dam. However, inherent differences between the feeding methods are known to result in different levels of transfer of passive immunity to the calves. These differences are related to the ability to control 1) the timing of first colostrum feeding, 2) the quality of the colostrum (mainly IgG content) and 3) the volume of colostrum consumed by the calves. With OT feeding it is easy to control the timing, quality and volume. With bottle or bucket feeding it is easy to control the timing and quality but more difficult to control the volume of colostrum consumed by the calves. In suckled calves, it is more difficult to control all, the timing, quality and volume of the colostrum consumed. Because OT feeding makes it possible to control the three main factors affecting transfer of passive immunity, farms that feed colostrum via OT have less failure of passive transfer (FPT) of immunity (often defined as serum IgG1 concentrations of <10 mg/ml at 24 h of age) than farms that bottle feed or allow the calves to suckle their dams. While the presence of the dam and suckling has been shown to increase absorption of immunoglobulins in dairy calves, several studies have found that dairy farms that allow the calves to obtain their first colostrum by suckling their mothers are at increased risk of FPT of immunity. Similarly, a study of Swedish dairy farms found an increased risk of severe diarrhoea in farms where calves were allowed to suckle compared to farms where the farmer fed their calves their first meal. The discrepancy between increased rate of absorption in suckled calves and increased FPT of immunity is likely due to the low volume of colostrum that the calves voluntarily consume during the first 24 h and a delayed ingestion of their first colostrum that outweighs any improvement in the rate of absorption. For these reasons, some dairy farms in North America feed first colostrum via OT as a way to ensure a good transfer of passive immunity in dairy calves, and now this practice is also being promoted in Sweden. While the OT feeding method seems ideal from the transfer of passive immunity point of view, it is not without risks and could compromise the welfare of the new born calf. Oesophageal tube feeding is an invasive procedure that requires trained personnel in order to prevent injury and prevent colostrum entering the respiratory tract, which could lead to pneumonia and in extreme cases death. In addition, force feeding strong and healthy calves with an OT, as opposed to intubating only weak, anorexic/dehydrated calves, could result in calves that resist and struggle excessively in response to the intubation procedure increasing the risk of injury, discomfort and distress. Furthermore, due to the large variation in colostrum quality (IgG content), it is often recommended to feed 3-4 L of colostrum or 10 % of the calf's body weight in the first meal to ensure adequate passive transfer of immunity. These large amounts of colostrum far exceed the abomasum capacity of the average new born calf (approx. 2 L for a 35 kg calf) and exceeds the amount of colostrum that calves voluntarily consume in the first 24 h after birth (2.4 ± 1.5 L). In addition, oesophageal tube feeding does not stimulate the oesophageal groove reflex, which directs the colostrum from the oesophagus to the abomasum where the necessary enzymes for digestion are found. Force feeding large volumes of colostrum in a short period of time to new born calves, such as during OT feeding, could lead to unnecessary discomfort and stress, but this has not been studied yet. While most studies have focused on the effects of OT feeding on transfer of passive immunity, health outcomes and mortality rates, there is no scientific evidence about the consequences of OT colostrum feeding for the behaviour and welfare of dairy calves. For this reason, a large multidisciplinary project is currently being carried out at the Department of Animal Nutrition and Management at SLU. ) aimed at addressing some of the issues concerning the routine use of OT feeding. The project aims to investigate the effects of OT vs suckling vs bottle colostrum feeding at birth, on the transfer of passive immunity, physiological, endocrine and behavioural response to the three feeding methods, growth, health, development of gut microbiota and welfare in dairy calves. In addition, the public's perception of oesophageal tube feeding as a routine management for colostrum feeding in dairy calves will be investigated. Further research on calves and colostrum management at our department include a study by PhD student Lisa Andree O´Hara comparing the use of refractometer (% Brix) and colostrometer as estimators of IgG content in milk (supervisor: Kjell Holtenius) and the PhD project of Bui Phan Thu Hang aimed at improving calf performance in small-scale dairy production in Southern Vietnam (supervisors: Kerstin Svennersten, Ewa Wredle, Johan Dicksved and Duong Nguyen Khang).
|
|
| 36. |
|
|
| 37. |
|
|
| 38. |
- Hernandez, Carlos, et al.
(författare)
-
Time lag between peak concentrations of plasma and salivary cortisol following a stressful procedure in dairy cattle
- 2014
-
Ingår i: Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0044-605X .- 1751-0147. ; 56
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Measurement of salivary cortisol has been used extensively as a non-invasive alternative to blood sampling to assess adrenal activity in ruminants. However, there is evidence suggesting a considerable delay in the transfer of cortisol from plasma into saliva. Previous studies in cattle have used long sampling intervals making it difficult to characterise the relationship between plasma and salivary cortisol (PLCort and SACort, respectively) concentrations at different time points and determine whether or not such a time lag exist in large ruminants. Therefore, the objective of this study was to characterise the relationship between plasma and salivary cortisol and determine if there is a significant time lag between reaching peak cortisol concentrations in plasma and saliva across a 4.25 h time-period, using short sampling intervals of 10-15 min, following social separation in dairy cattle.Five cows were separated from their calves at 4 days after calving, and six calves were separated from a group of four peers at 8 weeks of age. Following separation, the animals were moved to an unfamiliar surrounding where they could not see their calves or pen mates. The animals were catheterised with indwelling jugular catheters 1 day before sampling. Blood and saliva samples were obtained simultaneously before and after separation.Results: In response to the stressors, PLCort and SACort increased reaching peak concentrations 10 and 20 min after separation, respectively. This suggested a 10 min time lag between peak cortisol concentrations in plasma and saliva, which was further confirmed with a time-series analysis. Considering the 10 min time lag, SACort was strongly correlated with PLCort (P < 0.0001).Conclusions: Salivary cortisol correlates well with plasma cortisol and is a good indicator of the time-dependent variations in cortisol concentrations in plasma following acute stress. However, there is a time lag to reach peak cortisol concentrations in saliva compared to those in plasma, which should be considered when saliva samples are used as the only measure of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis response to stress in cattle.
|
|
| 39. |
- Hessle, Anna, et al.
(författare)
-
Ungtjurar på stall - kartläggning av omfattning och potential för naturvård
- 2021
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I Sverige föds ett stort antal ungtjurar upp på stall. Djurskyddslagstiftningen, som kräver bete sommartid för hondjur och stutar, omfattar av säkerhetsskäl inte tjurar. Syftet med den här rapporten är att få ett kunskapsunderlag som beskriver uppfödningen av ungtjurar på stall i Sverige och potentialen för naturvården om dessa istället skulle kastreras och födas upp som stutar på naturbetesmark samt vilka eventuella effekter på köttmängd och -kvalitet samt djurvälfärd detta skulle medföra. Beräkningarna baseras till stor del på slaktdata för olika raser och djurkategorier, där kategoriseringen i ko, ungtjur, stut o.s.v. görs vid slakt utifrån djurets biologiska och kronologiska ålder (Bilaga 1; Gård och djurhälsan, 2021, kompletterat med personligt meddelande från Emma Ternman). I rapporten har de ekonomiska och naturgivna förutsättningar som skulle behövas för att föda upp samtliga svenska ungtjurar som stutar ej utretts, utan här hänvisas för mjölkrastjurkalvar till Holmström et al. (2021) och för köttrastjurkalvar till Hessle och Kumm (2011). Beräkningarna för antal potentiella betesdjur är således teoretiska. Vi visar dock på den betesdjurspotential som finns, givet att lönsamhet och andra förutsättningar finns på plats. Som vi ser det bidrar all befintlig djurhållning till att på nationell nivå upprätthålla skalfördelar inom lantbruket avseende insatsvaror, kompetensförsörjning och avsalumöjligheter. Om man skulle försämra förutsättningarna för en typ av djurhållning, så att den minskar och inte ersätts med annan djurhållning så att den totala nationella djurhållningen minskar, skulle således praktiska, ekonomiska och logistiska förutsättningar för annan djurhållning försämras. Rapportens beräkningar av antalet möjliga betesdjur omfattar inte det antal betesdjur som skulle krävas för att ersätta importerat nötkött (40 % av konsumerad mängd) med svensk råvara från betande nötkreatur. Arbetet har gjorts på uppdrag av Världsnaturfonden WWF under våren 2021. Författarna har varit docent Anna Hessle, Inst för husdjurens miljö och hälsa; agr. dr. Rebecca Danielsson, Inst. för husdjurens utfodring och vård och professor Lena Lidfors, Inst. för husdjurens miljö och hälsa, samtliga Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet. Texten har granskats av docent Karl-Ivar Kumm, Sveriges lantbruksuniveristet och VMD Lena Stengärde, Växa Sverige.
|
|
| 40. |
- Hirsch, Elin, et al.
(författare)
-
Development of existing scoring systems to assess behavioural coping in shelter cats
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 234
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Assessing how cats cope with the housing and husbandry at shelters is an important part of maintaining good animal welfare. There are non-invasive methods to assess how cats cope with their environment. The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability of the behaviours used in an extended Stress Assessment protocol for cats to detect stress. Looking at which behaviours are salient and possible to observe accurately, and which correlate with time until adoption. The study was carried out at a non-governmental medium sized cat rescue shelter in Midwestern USA. The shelter had a no-kill policy with screening of cats before intake from county shelters. The observed cats were either group-housed in five rooms (n = 70) or singly housed in double cages (n = 13). Observations were carried out during both morning and afternoon sessions, during which two 1-min observations recorded if cats performed any of 85 behavioural elements (BEs). Time at shelter and if cats were declawed or not were collected from shelter records after the observations. Statistical analysis of the BEs that best predicted the total time at shelter was calculated using the Survival Analysis based on the Cox proportional hazards regression model using a stepwise regression analysis separately for each scoring. The median time at shelter for group-housed cats was 26 days (IQR = 6-54) and for single-housed cats 29 days (IQR = 7-97). In total, 24 % of the BEs (20 of 85) were never recorded, however there were significantly more BEs recorded in group-housed cats (63 BEs) than in single-housed cats (49 BEs, p < 0.05). The survival analysis found 16 unique BEs to predict "Short time at shelter" (14 BEs in group-housed, two in single-housed), 14 were positively correlated meaning that they increased the chance of early adoption and two were negative meaning that they decreased the chance of early adoption. The survival analysis also calculated "Long time at shelter" and found 14 unique BEs where 12 BEs were in group-housed cats and three BEs were in single-housed cats. Seven of these were positively correlated meaning that they decreased the chance of early adoption, whereas seven were negatively correlated meaning that they increased the chance of early adoption. The conclusion is that the extended Stress Assessment could be used to detect BEs indicating stress of cats at shelters, and that there are BEs that can predict shorter time at the shelter. However, further investigations could help reduce the number of BEs needed.
|
|
| 41. |
|
|
| 42. |
|
|
| 43. |
- Högberg, Niclas, et al.
(författare)
-
Nematode parasitism affects lying time and overall activity patterns in lambs following pasture exposure around weaning
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Veterinary Parasitology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-4017 .- 1873-2550. ; 296
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated the effects of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) challenge on activity in first season grazing lambs naturally exposed to two different levels of multispecies GIN infections. Ewes and their twin-born lambs were turned-out to graze in two permanent pasture enclosures naturally contaminated with GIN the previous year, thereby exposing them to overwintering strongyle larvae. Animals in the low parasite exposure group (LP) were dewormed monthly with 0.2 mg ivermectin (Ivomec (R) vet, oral suspension) per kg body weight, whereas those in high parasite exposure group (HP) were left untreated. At weaning, lambs were allocated to one out of four groups based on weight and sex (HPE, n = 15; HPR, n = 15; LPE, n = 14; LPR, n = 14), in four nearby noncontaminated ley enclosures of similar size. Activity patterns were monitored from day -7, i.e. 7 days preweaning, until day 49, i.e. 49 days post-weaning, by fitting all lambs with IceQube sensors (IceRobotics). Body weight was monitored weekly from day -21, whereas faecal samples were investigated at days -21, 7, 35 and 49 for nematode faecal egg counts (EPG) using McMaster-technology and a validated Droplet Digital PCR protocol to determine nematode composition. All statistical analyses were performed in R studio, using mixed models with repeated measures. In the data analyses, weekly recordings was treated as a period, generating a total of eight periods. Average daily lying time had a significant interaction between parasite exposure and period (P = 0.0013), with animals in HP having a 101 +/- 31 min shorter daily lying time compared to LP. Motion Index (MI; absolute value of the 3-D acceleration) had a significant interaction between parasite exposure and period (P = 0.0001) with lambs in group HP having a lower average daily MI compared with LP. Both body weight gain and EPG levels were significantly different (P< 0.0001) between HP and LP groups during the course of the study. The molecular investigation showed that animals were predominantly infected with Teladorsagia spp., combined with low proportions of Haemonchus spp. In conclusion, this study shows that lying time and Motion Index of lambs around weaning was affected by moderate nematode infections. This indicates that there is a potential use of automated behaviour recordings as a diagnostic tool for detection of nematode parasites in lambs even at moderate infection levels.
|
|
| 44. |
- Högberg, Niclas, et al.
(författare)
-
Subclinical nematode parasitism affects activity and rumination patterns in first-season grazing cattle
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Animal. - : Elsevier BV. - 1751-7311 .- 1751-732X. ; 15
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sickness behaviour has been suggested as an applicable indicator for monitoring disease. Deviating feeding behaviour and activity can provide information about animals' health and welfare status. Recent advances in sensor technology enable monitoring of such behaviours and could potentially be utilized as an indicator of gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections. This study investigated activity and rumination patterns in first-season grazing steers exposed to subclinical infection levels of the GIN Ostertagia ostertagi and Cooperia oncophora. At turnout, animals were allocated to one of four experimental groups and were faced with "high" (H1, n = 15; H2, n = 17) or "low" (L1, n = 17; L2, n = 11) levels of parasite exposure by grazing in similar enclosures contaminated with overwintering third stage (13) GIN larvae. Animals in H1 and H2 (HP) received a 1:1 mix of approximately 10,000 0. ostertagi and C. oncophora L3 at turnout; whereas the animals in Ll and L2 (LP) were treated monthly with ivermectin. Activity and rumination patterns were monitored by fitting animals with leg- (IceQube) and neck-mounted (Heatime) sensors. BW was recorded every fortnight, whereas faecal and blood samples were examined every four weeks for nematode faecal egg count and serum pepsinogen concentrations (SPCs). There was an interaction effect of exposure level and period (P < 0.0001) on average lying daily time across the entire grazing time. A higher mean daily lying time (P = 0.0037) was found in HP compared with LP during the first 40 days on pasture. There was also interaction effects of treatment and day since turnout on rumination time (P < 0.0001) and rumination change (P = 0.0008). Also mean daily steps (P < 0.0001) and mean daily motion index (P < 0.0001) were markedly higher in HP during days 62-69, coinciding with peaking SPC in HP. Strongyle eggs were observed both in HP and LP from 31 days after turnout. Eggs per gram (EPG) differed between parasite exposure levels (P < 0.0001), with mean EPG remaining low in LP throughout the experiment. Similarly, an increase in SPC was observed (P < 0.0001), but only in HP where it peaked at day 56. In contrast, no difference in BW gain (BWG) (P = 0.78) between HP and LP was observed. In conclusion, this study shows that behavioural measurements monitored with sensors were affected even at low infection levels not affecting BWG. These combined results demonstrate the potential of automated behavioural recordings as a tool for detection of subclinical parasitism. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium.
|
|
| 45. |
- Högberg, Niclas, et al.
(författare)
-
The effect of weaning age on animal performance in lambs exposed to naturally acquired nematode infections
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Veterinary Parasitology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-4017 .- 1873-2550. ; 316
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effects of mixed gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections on animal growth and post-weaning activity patterns were investigated in grazing intact ram lambs when naturally exposed to two different infection levels and weaned at different ages. Ewes and their twin-born lambs were turned-out to graze in two permanent pasture enclosures naturally contaminated with GIN the previous year. Ewes and lambs in the low parasite exposure group (LP) were drenched before turn-out and at weaning, respectively, with 0.2 mg ivermectin per kg body weight, whereas those in the high parasite exposure group (HP) were left untreated. Two weaning ages were applied, early weaning (EW) (10 weeks) and late weaning (LW) (14 weeks), respectively. The lambs were then allocated to one out of four groups based on parasite exposure level and weaning age (EW-HP, n = 12; LW-HP, n = 11; EW-LP, n = 13; LW-LP, n = 13). Body weight gain (BWG) and faecal egg counts (FEC) were monitored, in all groups, from the day of early weaning and every four weeks, for 10 weeks. In addition, nematode composition was determined using droplet digital PCR. Activity patterns measured as Motion Index (MI; the absolute value of the 3D acceleration) and lying time were monitored continuously from the day of weaning until four weeks postweaning using IceQube (R) sensors. Statistical analyses were performed in RStudio, using mixed models with repeated measures. BWG was 11% lower in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0079) and 12% lower compared with LW-HP (P = 0.018), respectively. In contrast, no difference in BWG was observed between LW-HP and LW-LP (P = 0.97). The average EPG was higher in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P < 0.001), as well as in EW-HP compared with LW-HP (P = 0.021), and LW-HP compared with LW-LP (P = 0.0022). The molecular investigation showed that animals in LW-HP had a higher proportion of Haemonchus contortus compared with EW-HP. MI was 19% lower in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0004). Daily lying time was 15% shorter in EW-HP compared with EW-LP (P = 0.0070). In contrast, no difference in MI (P = 0.13) and lying time (P = 0.99) between LW-HP and LW-LP was observed. The results suggest that a delayed weaning age may reduce the adverse effects of GIN infection on BWG. Contrarily, an earlier weaning age may reduce the risk of H. contortus infection in lambs. Moreover, the results demonstrates a potential use of automated behaviour recordings as a diagnostic tool for the detection of nematode infections in sheep.
|
|
| 46. |
|
|
| 47. |
- Högberg, Niclas, et al.
(författare)
-
Validation of accelerometers to automatically record postures and number of steps in growing lambs
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Applied Animal Behaviour Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-1591 .- 1872-9045. ; 229
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We validated the accuracy of two commercially available activity loggers for cattle in determining lying and standing durations, number of lying bouts and number of steps in growing lambs. Ten growing lambs divided into two weight classes were fitted with an IceTag on the right hind leg and an IceQube on the left hind leg. The IceTag reports activity per second, whereas the IceQube reports activity in 15-min periods. To enable comparison between loggers, IceTag data were also summarized in 15-min periods. Computed indications for the start of a lying bout of durations > 10 s and > 30 s was performed to enable filtering of lying bout data. Analyses of the lambs body posture and number of steps per second from 50 h of video recordings were used as a gold standard to determine the accuracy of the two loggers. Two observers scored the two different groups and interobserver reliability was consistent for standing, lying and number of lying bouts (kappa = 0.99). However, the observers defined step count differently and no agreement was found (kappa = -0.05; -0.11). Based on Bland-Altman comparison both loggers can be used to record standing and lying time. The positive predictive value (PPV), sensitivity and specificity of the IceTag compared to video recordings per second for standing and lying were all > 91.5 %. The IceTag showed a poor PPV ( < 44 %) and sensitivity ( < 91 %) for lying bouts, whereas the IceQube showed a better PPV ( < 92 %) but somewhat lower sensitivity ( < 88 %). The performance improved with the computed indications for lying bouts, for IceTag (LB_10: PPV: 100 %; sensitivity: 89 %; LB_30: PPV: 100 %; sensitivity: 100 %) and IceQube (LB_10: PPV: 98 %; sensitivity: 89 %; LB_30: PPV: 100 %; sensitivity: 100 %)), respectively. However, based on Bland-Altman comparisons, no agreement between video recording and logger recordings could be found for step count. We conclude that both loggers are able to record standing and lying time accurately. However, the ability to record number of lying bouts is poorer for the IceTag than IceQube but increases if bouts < 30 s is disregarded. Furthermore, none of the loggers should be used for step count recordings.
|
|
| 48. |
|
|
| 49. |
|
|
| 50. |
|
|
