Short communication: A comparison of cow cleanliness, fly population, and fly avoidance behaviors among docked, switch-trimmed, and switch-intact dairy cows in 3 commercial dairy herds

Usefulness of the total and differential somatic cell count based udder health group concept for evaluating herd management practices and udder health in dairy herds

Subclinical mastitis and associated economic losses are a steady challenge in the dairy industry. The combination of the well-established somatic cell count (SCC) parameter and the new differential SCC (DSCC) opens up the possibility to categorise cows into four different udder health groups (UHG) based on results from a single milk recording/dairy herd improvement (DHI) test: UHG A: healthy/normal, ≤ 200,000 cells/mL and DSCC ≤ 65 %; B: suspicious, ≤ 200,000 cells/mL and DSCC > 65 %; C: (subclinical) mastitis, > 200,000 cells/mL and DSCC > 65 %; D: chronic/persistent mastitis, > 200,000 cells/mL and DSCC ≤ 65 %. The objectives of this study were to investigate 1) herd management practises among herds in different UHG categories and 2) herd performance parameters depending on the proportion of cows in UHG A. A total number of 41 herds in Styria, Austria, and Thuringia, Germany, were visited and interviewed for the first part of the study. The herds were categorised into 3 UHG categories depending on the proportion of cows in UHG A: I = >65 %; II = 55-65 %; and III = <55 %. Those with good udder health and best herd performance (+9 % milk yields, +11 % longevity, -35 % antibiotic treatments) applied distinct preventive measures, in particular excellent cubicle management and early antibiotic treatment (P < 0.05 each). However, preventive measures were applied to a lower extent in other herds. Herds were categorised differently using the UHG concept compared to SCC alone as the UHG-based categorisation allowed to clearer distinguish herds with medium-good from those with good udder health. A total number of 129,812 regular milk recording/DHI test day results of 890 Austrian and 183 German herds was used for the second part of the study. Results revealed a trend of increasing daily production as proportions of cows in UHG A increase. In conclusion, the UHG concept allowed clearer distinction of herds with good, medium-good, and poor udder health and could be used to promote practises leading to better animal health, less antibiotic treatments, and higher milk quality.

Towards a Positive Welfare Protocol for Cattle: A Critical Review of Indicators and Suggestion of How We Might Proceed

Current animal welfare protocols focus on demonstrating the absence (or at least low levels) of indicators of poor welfare, potentially creating a mismatch between what is expected by society (an assurance of good animal welfare) and what is actually being delivered (an assurance of the absence of welfare problems). This paper explores how far we have come, and what work still needs to be done, if we are to develop a protocol for use on commercial dairy farms where the aim is to demonstrate the presence of positive welfare. Following conceptual considerations around a perceived “ideal” protocol, we propose that a future protocol should be constructed (i) of animal-based measures, (ii) of indicators of affective state, and (iii) be structured according to indicators of short-term emotion, medium-term moods and long-term cumulative assessment of negative and positive experiences of an animal's life until now (in contrast to the current focus on indicators that represent different domains/criteria of welfare). These three conditions imposed the overall structure within which we selected our indicators. The paper includes a critical review of the literature on potential indicators of positive affective states in cattle. Based on evidence about the validity and reliability of the different indicators, we select ear position, play, allogrooming, brush use and QBA as candidate indicators that we suggest could form a prototype positive welfare protocol. We emphasise that this prototype protocol has not been tested in practice and so it is perhaps not the protocol itself that is the main outcome of this paper, but the process of trying to develop it. In a final section of this paper, we reflect on some of the lessons learnt from this exercise and speculate on future perspectives. For example, while we consider we have moved towards a prototype positive welfare protocol for short-term affective states, future research energy should be directed towards valid indicators for the medium and long-term.

Evaluation of infrared thermography combined with behavioral biometrics for estrus detection in naturally cycling dairy cows

Low estrus detection rates (>50%) are associated to extended calving intervals, low economic profit and reduced longevity in Holstein dairy cows. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of infrared thermography and behavioral biometrics combined as potential estrus alerts in naturally (not induced) cycling dairy cows housed in a tie-stall barn. Eighteen first lactation cows were subjected to transrectal ultrasonography to determine spontaneous ovulation. The dominant follicle (DF) disappearance was used retrospectively as an indirect indicator of ovulation, and to establish the estrus period (48-24 h prior the DF disappearance). Raw skin temperature (Raw IR) and residual skin temperature (Res IR) were recorded using an infrared camera at the Vulva area with the tail (Vtail), Vulva area without the tail (Vnotail), and Vulva's external lips (Vlips) at AM and PM milking from Day 14 until two days after ovulation was confirmed. Behavioral biometrics were recorded on the same schedule as infrared scan. Behavioral biometrics included large hip movements (L-hip), small hip movements (S-hip), large tail movements and small tail movements to compare behavioral changes between estrus and nonestrus periods. Significant increases in Raw IR skin temperature were observed two days prior to ovulation (Vtail; 35.93 ± 0.27 °C, Vnotail; 35.59 ± 0.27 °C, and Vlips; 35.35 ± 0.27 °C) compared to d -5 (Proestrus; Vtail; 35.29 ± 0.27 °C, Vnotail; 34.93 ± 0.31 °C, and Vlips; 34.68 ± 0.27 °C). No significant changes were found for behavioral parameters with the exception of S-hip movements, which increased at two days before ovulation (d -2; 11.13 ± 1.44 Events/5min) compared to d -5 (7.30 ± 1.02 Events/5min). To evaluate the accuracy of thermal and behavioral biometrics, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed using Youden index (YJ), diagnostic odds ratio, positive likelihood ratio (LR+), Sensitivity, Specificity and Positive predicted value to score the estrus alerts. The greatest accuracy achieved using thermal parameters was for Res IR Vtail PM (YJ = 0.34) and L-hip PM (YJ = 0.27) for behavioral biometrics. Combining thermal and behavioral parameters did not improve the YJ index score but reduced the false-positive occurrence observed by increasing the diagnostic odds ratio (26.62), LR+ (12.47), Specificity (0.97) and positive predicted value (0.90) in a Res IR Vtail PM, S-hip AM, S-hip PM combination. The combination of thermal and behavioral parameters increased the accuracy of estrus detection compared to either thermal or behavioral biometrics, independently in naturally cycling cows during milking.

Pain Management in Farm Animals: Focus on Cattle, Sheep and Pigs

Pain causes behavioral, autonomic, and neuroendocrine changes and is a common cause of animal welfare compromise in farm animals. Current societal and ethical concerns demand better agricultural practices and improved welfare for food animals. These guidelines focus on cattle, sheep, and pigs, and present the implications of pain in terms of animal welfare and ethical perspectives, and its challenges and misconceptions. We provide an overview of pain management including assessment and treatment applied to the most common husbandry procedures, and recommendations to improve animal welfare in these species. A cost-benefit analysis of pain mitigation is discussed for food animals as well as the use of pain scoring systems for pain assessment in these species. Several recommendations are provided related to husbandry practices that could mitigate pain and improve farm animal welfare. This includes pain assessment as one of the indicators of animal welfare, the use of artificial intelligence for automated methods and research, and the need for better/appropriate legislation, regulations, and recommendations for pain relief during routine and husbandry procedures.