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Identifying cow temperament to reduce incidence of infectious disease and improve milk yield in early lactation
Britten, N., Pearce, G.
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Objectives
Animal temperament refers to consistent individual differences in behaviour between animals. These differences can be quantified using standardised behavioural testing or a combination of behavioural and physiological measures. Temperament quantified by behavioural testing is predictive of health and production in dairy cattle (1), however standardised behavioural testing is difficult for producers to implement. This study aimed to determine whether non-invasive physiological measures of temperament could feasibly replace standardised behavioural testing to predict health and production outcomes during early lactation in dairy cattle.
Materials and Methods
This study was conducted in 58 Holstein cattle between calving and 60 days of lactation managed in an automatic milking system at Cambridge University Farm, UK. The behaviour of each cow was recorded in a series of standardised tests (human approach, crush restraint, runway and novel arena/novel object (NANO) tests) previously described (2) at 21±4 days of lactation. Animals showing any clinical signs of illness or receiving veterinary treatment at the time of testing were excluded.
Before the NANO test, each animal was fitted with a heart rate monitor (H10, Polar Electro, Finland) around the thorax and left undisturbed for 5 minutes. Intervals between successive heartbeats (R-R intervals) were then recorded for 5 minutes. Immediately following this, temperature of both eyes was measured using an infra-red camera (T335, FLIR systems, UK). Each cow then underwent the NANO test, during which R-R intervals were again recorded, and eye temperature measurement was repeated immediately after the test.
Milk yield at 21 and 60 days were collected from the milking software. Medicines records were used to identify occurrence of clinical infectious disease (mastitis, metritis, interdigital necrobacillosis) during the first 60 days of lactation.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in R Studio 2021.09.02 extracted latent variables from behavioural test data with an eigenvalue ≥ 4/√3 to identify temperament traits. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability parameters (root mean square of successive differences, low frequency power (LF), high frequency power (HF) and LF:HF ratio) were derived from R-R intervals. Analysis of variance was used to quantify differences in temperament between animals requiring treatment for an infection and healthy animals. Linear regression was used to quantify the relationship between temperament and milk yield.
Results
PCA identified activity, neophobia, boldness and sociability as distinct behavioural temperament traits. Eleven cases of infectious disease were detected during the first 60 days of lactation: 4 mastitis, 3 metritis and 4 interdigital necrobacillosis. Cows contracting infections in early lactation showed lower boldness (p≤0.01), lower sociability (p≤0.05) lower pre-test eye temperatures (p≤0.05) and higher pre-test heart rates (p≤0.01) than non-infected animals. Milk yield at 21 and 60 days of lactation was positively correlated with boldness (p≤0.01) and negatively correlated with heart rate before and during the NANO test (p≤0.01) and with LF:HF ratio before that test. Eye temperature was positively correlated with boldness (left eye p≤0.01; right eye p≤0.05).
Conclusions
The higher heart rates and LF:HF ratios and lower eye temperatures seen in cattle showing cases of infectious disease and lower milk yields indicated that these animals exhibited more physiological signs of stress. Cattle showing lower eye temperatures also exhibited lower levels of the boldness temperament trait. Previous studies have demonstrated that cattle showing lower boldness and sociability are more susceptible to infectious disease (1) and have lower milk yields (3). The current study extends this to indicate that these individuals can be identified using the physiological measures of heart rate parameters and eye temperature.
As these measures are likely to be more feasible for onfarm use than behavioural tests, they present potential practical methods of identifying individual cattle that are at greater risk of infection in early lactation. Targeting of management resources to reduce risk factors in these more susceptible animals should reduce incidence of infection thereby reducing antimicrobial usage and improving animal welfare.
- 1Britten N, Pearce G. Animal - Science Proceedings. 12(1): 104.
- Britten N, Pearce G. Animal - Science Proceedings. 12(1): 103.
- Hedlund L, Løvlie H. Journal of Dairy Science. 2015 98(9): 5819–28.
Keywords: Dairy, Stress, Temperament, Disease, Thermography.
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