Ingrid Redbo

Stereotypies in heifers are affected by feeding regime

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of feed giving long or short duration of feeding, including rumination, on oral stereotypy levels in cattle. Forty-eight tethered heifers of the Swedish Red and White Breed, with an average age of 16 months, were subjected to the same treatment. During the first 2 weeks of the experiment (Period 1), they were fed a diet with free access to long straw, silage and concentrate (AL) with which they were also fed before the onset of the study. After a week of gradual adaptation they were changed to a diet containing only silage and concentrate (R) but with the same energy content as AL. After 3 weeks on the R diet (Period 2), they were returned to the AL diet for the remaining 2 weeks (Period 3) of the experimental period. The number of animals that performed stereotypies differed significantly ( P P

Changes in duration and frequency of stereotypies and their adjoining behaviours in heifers, before, during and after the grazing period

Eight tied-up heifers with oral stereotypies were studied continuously during 72 h when all stereotypies and their immediately adjoining behaviours were recorded according to duration and frequency. The procedure was repeated during three seasons: before the grazing period when the heifers were tied up in stalls, on pasture and after the grazing period when the heifers were tied up again. The heifers showed a significant (P < 0.001) increase in time spent on stereotypies, 25% of total time, after the grazing season compared with 11% of total time before the grazing season. No stereotypies at all were observed on pasture. Feed-searching behaviours occurred significantly (P < 0.05) more frequently adjoining stereotypies than any other behaviour. This group of behaviours was also more frequent before than after a stereotypy (P < 0.05), while grooming, sniffing of equipment not connected with feeding, looking and social contacts (autumn) were more frequent after a stereotypy than before one. The results support the hypothesis that stereotypies, facilitated by frustrated feeding, provide some feedback on the motivational state of hunger.

Behaviour during nest leaving in free-ranging domestic pigs

Abstract This study was undertaken to describe the changes in behaviour occurring at the time of nest leaving in free-ranging domestic pigs. Seven gilts with their first litters were studied in semi-natural enclosures, of which four were followed for 8 h per day from Day 5 post-partum until the nest was left. The nests were abandoned on average 10.4 days post-partum. During the last 5 days of nest occupation, the gilt and litter spent more and more time outside the nests. The mother was in the nest for a shorter time than the young and foraged at increasing distances from the nest. The young seemed to pass through an intermediate phase on the development from a hider to a follower response. The frequency of nasal contacts between mother and young decreased during the last days of nest occupation, while the frequency of reciprocal contact grunts and “long grunts” from the gilt increased, indicating a change in the character of the mother-young interactions.

Effects of milking frequency on lying down and getting up behaviour in dairy cows

The objective of this study was to investigate if cows milked twice per day have more difficulty lying down and getting up and spend less time lying than cows milked three times per day. Seventeen cows of the Swedish Red and White Cattle Breed were studied, seven of which were milked twice daily (2M) and ten were milked three times (3M) daily. They were kept in individual cubicles, that were closed in the rear end with a rope. They had free access to a mixture of silage, hay and concentrate. The individual cows were video-recorded for 24h every fourth week, starting four weeks after calving for four times. The 2M cows stood significantly longer, 128.11min, than the 3M cows, 64.88min, (P<0.01) during the 4h before morning milking. The 2M cows also had a tendency for longer duration of standing rumination (P=0.059) as well as significantly more bouts of standing rumination (P<0.01) during these hours than the 3M cows. The cows in the 3M group spent less time on the getting up movement (P<0.05) during the 4h before morning milking. The distribution of the lying bouts during these 4h differed significantly between the groups, where the 3M cows had fewer lying bouts shorter than 15min and more lying bouts longer than 90min. The results indicate that milking three times a day contributes to increased comfort in high-producing dairy cows.

Effect of age of calf on suckling behaviour and other behavioural activities of Zebu and crossbred calves during restricted suckling periods

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of age of calf on the behaviour of Zebu and crossbred calves during restricted suckling (RS) periods. The behaviours of 20 Zebu and 16 crossbred calves were recorded during two 30-min sessions each day after milking when the calves and their dams were brought together in a group for suckling. This was made for a time period of 2 weeks/month for 6 months postpartum.The total suckling duration was significantly longer in Zebu calves (11.8+/-0.19 min) compared to the crossbred calves (9.4+/-0.19 min), but decreased significantly in both breeds with increasing age from 1 to 6 months. The number of suckling bouts decreased from a mean of 3.8 at 1 month of age to 1.1 at 6 month (P<0.05). The duration of each suckling bout decreased significantly from a mean of 3.5+/-0.15 min at 1 month of age to 1.6+/-0.01 min at 6 months (<0.05). The frequency of crossbred calves cross-suckling (3.7%) was significantly higher than that of the Zebu calves (1.9%; P<0.05). The frequency of calves cross-suckling decreased significantly from 4.2% at 1 month of age to 2.3% at 6 months. The duration and number of bouts of cross-suckling was significantly higher in the crossbred calves (duration 0.9+/-0.06 min; bouts 3, 7) than in the Zebu calves (duration 0.5+/-0.06 min; bouts 2, 7) and decreased with increasing age of calf. The duration and number of bouts of inter-sucking was significantly higher in the crossbred calves (duration 0.6+/-0.07 min; bouts 1, 6) than in the Zebu calves (duration 0.1+/-0.04 min; bouts 0, 5) and decreased with increasing age of calf. Exploration increased in duration as the calves increased in age from 1 to 6 months (P<0.05). The duration of play increased significantly with the increase in age of calf from 1 to 6 months, and occurred mainly after nursing.

The influence of restraint on the occurrence of oral stereotypies in dairy cows

Abstract Sixteen dairy cows with stereotypies (i.e. movements that are repeated regularly without any obvious function) consisting of tongue-rolling, sometimes combined with bar-biting, were exposed to three different treatments: Group A was tethered in stalls after a 4-month grazing period, Group B remained tethered inside the stable during the normal grazing period, and Group C was tethered for 8 months and then transferred into loose housing. The duration of the stereotypies and the frequency of adjoining behaviours were registered in Groups A and B from the first week after the tethering of Group A and for the next 8 weeks. In Group C, the duration of stereotypies was registered when they were tethered and after they had been transferred into loose housing. Group A showed a marked behavioural response to the tethering, with the highest levels of stereotypies during the first 3 weeks after tethering, and thereafter a marked decrease. Groups A and B had significantly different stereotypy levels 2–6 weeks after tethering ( P =0.035). In Group C, five of six cows stopped performing stereotypies after the transfer into loose housing, while one cow which previously showed high stereotypy levels continued at a very low level, from 25.7% when tethered to 0.6% in the loose housing (of total observation time). These results indicate that the tethering of dairy cows has negative implications on their welfare.

Effect of feeding duration and rumen fill on behaviour in dairy cows.

The aim of the present experiment was to test the hypothesis that oral manipulation of feed is a behavioural need in cattle, irrespective of actual rumen load. Twelve rumen fistulated cows were used and subjected to four different treatments: low rumen content+long duration of eating (A), high rumen content+short duration of eating (B), high rumen content+long duration of eating (=positive control) (C) and low rumen content+short duration of eating (=negative control) (D). To obtain treatment A and B, rumen content was transferred by hand from cow A to B through the rumen fistulaes. Each treatment lasted for 3 days with 2 weeks of recovery between each new treatment. The experiment was repeated twice during two consecutive years. All cows were fed the same mixture of silage, concentrate and hay. The cows were videotaped under normal conditions (24h), and on the third day of the experiment. From these videotapes, the behaviours (frequency and duration per 24h) have been analysed.Time spent eating differed between the four treatments (P<0.001), with shortest eating-times in B and D. The cows with low rumen content (A and D) spent shorter time ruminating (P<0.001) than the cows with filled rumen (B and C). The B and D cows (short duration of eating) spent longer time (P<0.001) with behaviours related to feed-searching than the cows with long duration of eating (A and C). The C cows had fewer (P<0.001) bouts of behaviours related to feed-searching than the A, B and D cows. Time spent with stereotypies (tongue-rolling) was longer (P<0.01) in D than in the other treatments. There was a difference (P<0.001) between treatments in eating bouts. The A cows had more (P<0.05) eating bouts than the cows in B, C and D. The cows with low rumen content (A and D) had fewer ruminating bouts (P<0.001) than the cows with filled rumens (B and C). The number of bouts with stereotypies differed (P<0.01), the cows in D having the highest figures compared with all the other treatments.In conclusion, our results support the hypothesis that oral manipulation of feed is a behavioural need in cattle irrespective of rumen load. A low duration of feeding behaviours combined with a low rumen load, which is a common practice in certain categories of growing cattle or dry dairy cows, seriously impairs the welfare in cattle.

Stereotypies and cortisol secretion in heifers subjected to tethering

Abstract The aims of this study were to assess the effect of tethering on environmentally induced stereotypies and urine cortisol concentration in Swedish Red and White heifers, and to analyse a possible relationship between the performance of stereotypies and cortisol concentration. Three groups of heifers ( N =14) with oral stereotypies, mainly consisting of tongue-rolling, were studied during three consecutive autumns. Recordings of the duration and frequency of stereotypies were made from the second and third day after the heifers had been transferred from pasture and tethered indoors, and for 7 weeks thereafter. The four heifers from the previous year were also subjected to urine collection to determine total 24-h concentration of cortisol during Weeks 1–8 post-tethering. An adrenalcorticoid response test was conducted after 8 weeks of tethering. Exogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was administered to heifers with, and without, stereotypies. All 14 heifers from the three cohorts showed the same pattern concerning time allocated to stereotypies during the 8 weeks post-tethering. From a zero-level in pasture, they increased the time spent performing stereotypies until Week 4, whereafter the stereotypy level decreased. The heifers all had similar patterns of cortisol concentrations during the observation period. The cortisol concentration was high during the first week after tethering (on average, 84.25 nmol l −1 ), but from the second week onwards the concentration was decreased. The ACTH test showed no difference in adrenal status between tethered heifers with, or without, stereotypies. There was no indication that individual variation in cortisol level was associated with the performance of stereotypies. This study shows that tethering after a grazing period leads to increased levels of stereotypies and high urine levels of cortisol.

Relations between oral stereotypies, open-field behavior, and pituitary–adrenal system in growing dairy cattle

The aim of this study was to investigate possible differences between calves with or without stereotypies concerning their behavioural reaction to an acute stress situation such as an open field and their behavioural and pituitary-adrenal responses to long-term tethering. Behavioural observations, open field tests, sampling for baseline adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and adrenocortical response tests after synthetic ACTH administration were made on 48 4- to 7-months-old dairy calves housed in tether stalls. Behavioural observations and blood sampling for baseline ACTH and cortisol determination after synthetic ACTH were repeated a year later in the same animals. Individual stereotypy levels showed a high correlation between calf values and heifer values (p < 0.001). Baseline ACTH in the calves was related to individual stereotypy levels (p < 0.05) in that the calves with higher stereotypy levels had lower ACTH values. The release of cortisol after injection of synthetic ACTH was considerably higher in the animals as heifers than when they were calves (p < 0.001). There was a relation between adrenocortical response to ACTH and stereotypy level in the heifers, showing that the higher the stereotypy level, the lower the cortisol response (p < 0.05). In the open field tests, the calves with the highest stereotypy levels moved around least but explored most. In conclusion, this study shows that growing dairy cattle with relatively high levels of oral stereotypies differ from individuals devoid of, or with low stereotypy levels, in behavioural response patterns to a short-term stressor such as an open field in adreno-cortical responses to exogenous ACTH and in baseline ACTH after 2 weeks of tethering.

Behaviour of Zebu and crossbed cows in restricted suckling groups.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether Zebu (Bos indicus) and crossbred (Bos indicusxBos taurus) cows differ in maternal related behaviour during restricted group suckling. The behaviours of 20 Zebu and 16 crossbred cows were recorded during two 30min sessions each day after milking when their calves were present for suckling, for a time period of 2 weeks per month for 6 months postpartum. The main activity in both breeds during the 0.5h observation sessions was suckling. However, the two breeds differed significantly in several behavioural aspects. The Zebu cows had longer total duration of suckling than the crossbred cows, per 30min session, 11.8 and 9.4min, respectively. The separate suckling bouts were longer in the Zebu cows (2.8min in Zebu and 2.3min in crossbred) and this breed also had more suckling bouts than the crossbred per session, 3.8 and 3.2, respectively. Zebu cows stayed in close contact with their calves for longer time and directed more agonistic actions against alien calves and cows than the crossbred cows.