Cattle

Artificial grooming during early life could boost the activity and human affinity of Holstein female calves

Early cow-calf separation management induced various welfare problems for dairy calves. We mimicked the maternal licking by manually brushing right after the Holstein female calves were born and during their first week of life, termed artificial grooming (AG). The behavior...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental Enrichment, Rearing & WeaningAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Li, C., Wang, J., Jin, S. et al. 2020. Artificial grooming during early life could boost the activity and human affinity of Holstein female calves. Animals 10(2), 302.

Assessing the motivation to learn in cattle

Cognitive challenges may provide a form of enrichment to improve the welfare of captive animals. Primates, dolphins, and goats will voluntarily participate in learning tasks suggesting that these are rewarding, but little work has been conducted on livestock species. We...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Meagher, R. K., Strazhnik, E., von Keyserlingk, M. et al. 2020. Assessing the motivation to learn in cattle. Scientific Reports 10, 6847.

Association between attitude and empathy with the quality of human-livestock interactions

The human-animal interactions are a key component of human and animal welfare. The quality of this interaction can therefore be assessed by measuring the reaction response of the animals to the handler’s behavior. The aim of this study was to...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Leon, A. F., Sanchez, J. A., Romero, M. H. 2020. Association between attitude and empathy with the quality of human-livestock interactions. Animals 10(8), 1304.

Automated collection and analysis of infrared thermograms for measuring eye and cheek temperatures in calves

As the reliance upon automated systems in the livestock industry increases, technologies need to be developed which can be incorporated into these systems to monitor animal health and welfare. Infrared thermography (IRT) is one such technology that has been used...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Biological Sampling & Physiological Measurement, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Lowe, G., McCane, B., Sutherland, M. et al. 2020. Automated collection and analysis of infrared thermograms for measuring eye and cheek temperatures in calves. Animals 10(2), 292.

Cow in Motion: A review of the impact of housing systems on movement opportunity of dairy cows and implications on locomotor activity

As humans, we recognize the importance of exercise. We go to the gym, walk our dogs, and ride our horses. Even our hamsters get a wheel to run on. Considering this, it is surprising that, when it comes to the...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Housing, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Shepley, E., Lensink, J., Vasseur, E. 2020. Cow in Motion: A review of the impact of housing systems on movement opportunity of dairy cows and implications on locomotor activity. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 230, 105026.

Developing an animal welfare assessment protocol for cows in extensive beef cow-calf systems in New Zealand

The intention of this study was to develop standards for a welfare assessment protocol by validating potential categorisation thresholds for the assessment of beef farms in New Zealand. Thirty-two measures, based on the Welfare Quality and the University of California...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Kaurivi, Y. B., Hickson, R., Laven, R. et al. 2020. Developing an animal welfare assessment protocol for cows in extensive beef cow-calf systems in New Zealand. Part 2: Categorisation and scoring of welfare assessment measures. Animals 10(9), 1592.

Developing an animal welfare assessment protocol for cows in extensive beef cow–calf systems in New Zealand

Potential measures suitable for assessing welfare in pasture-based beef cow–calf systems in New Zealand were identified from Welfare Quality and UC Davis Cow-Calf protocols. These were trialled on a single farm and a potential protocol of 50 measures created. The...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Kaurivi, Y. B., Laven, R., Hickson, R. et al. 2020. Developing an animal welfare assessment protocol for cows in extensive beef cow–calf systems in New Zealand. Part 1: Assessing the feasibility of identified animal welfare assessment measures. Animals 10(9), 1597.

Development of a benchmarking tool for dairy herd management using routinely collected herd records

Continuous assessment of the herd status is important in order to monitor and adjust to changes in the welfare and health status but can be time consuming and expensive. In this study, herd status indicators from routinely collected dairy herd...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Warner, D., Vasseur, E., Villettaz Robichaud, M. et al. 2020. Development of a benchmarking tool for dairy herd management using routinely collected herd records. Animals 10(9), 1689.

Effects of different stroking styles on behaviour and cardiac parameters in heifers

Gentle animal–human interactions, such as stroking, can promote positive emotions and thus welfare in cattle. While previous studies showed that stroking at the ventral neck elicited the most positive reactions in cows, intra-specific allogrooming in cattle includes different body regions...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Human-Animal InteractionAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Lange, A., Franzmayr, S., Wisenöcker, V. et al. 2020. Effects of different stroking styles on behaviour and cardiac parameters in heifers. Animals 10(3), 426.

Evaluation of the physical properties of bedding materials for dairy cattle using fuzzy clustering analysis

The bedding materials used in dairy cow housing systems are extremely important for animal welfare and performance. A wide range of materials can be used as bedding for dairy cattle, but their physical properties must be analysed to evaluate their...

Year Published: 2020Topics: Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Cattle

Citation: Ferreira Ponciano Ferraz, P., Araújo e Silva Ferraz, G., Leso, L. et al. 2020. Evaluation of the physical properties of bedding materials for dairy cattle using fuzzy clustering analysis. Animals 10(2), 351.