Animal Welfare Implications of Digital Tools for Monitoring and Management of Cattle and Sheep on Pasture.

The opportunities for natural animal behaviours in pastures imply animal welfare benefits. Nevertheless, monitoring the animals can be challenging. The use of sensors, cameras, positioning equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles in large pastures has the potential to improve animal welfare surveillance. Directly or indirectly, sensors measure environmental factors together with the behaviour and physiological state of the animal, and deviations can trigger alarms for, e.g., disease, heat stress and imminent calving. Electronic positioning includes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for the recording of animals at fixed points. Positioning units (GPS) mounted on collars can determine animal movements over large areas, determine their habitat and, somewhat, health and welfare. In combination with other sensors, such units can give information that helps to evaluate the welfare of free-ranging animals. Drones equipped with cameras can also locate and count the animals, as well as herd them. Digitally defined virtual fences can keep animals within a predefined area without the use of physical barriers, relying on acoustic signals and weak electric shocks. Due to individual variations in learning ability, some individuals may be exposed to numerous electric shocks, which might compromise their welfare. More research and development are required, especially regarding the use of drones and virtual fences.

Heart rate sensor validation and seasonal and diurnal variation of body temperature and heart rate in domestic sheep.

Advantages of low input livestock production on large pastures, including animal welfare, biodiversity and low production costs are challenged by losses due to undetected disease, accidents and predation. Precision livestock farming (PLF) enables remote monitoring on individual level with potential for predictive warning. Body temperature (Tb) and heart rate (HR) could be used for early detection of diseases, stress or death. We tested physiological sensors in free-grazing Norwegian white sheep in Norway. Forty Tb sensors and thirty HR sensors were surgically implanted in 40 lambs and 10 ewes. Eight (27%) of the HR and eight (20%) of the Tb sensors were lost during the study period. Two Tb sensors migrated from the abdominal cavity in to the digestive system. ECG based validation of the HR sensors revealed a measurement error of 0.2 bpm (SD 5.2 bpm) and correct measurement quality was assigned in 90% of the measurements. Maximum and minimum HR confirmed by ECG was 197 bpm and 68 bpm respectively. Mean passive HR was 90 bpm (SD = 13 bpm) for ewes and 112 bpm (SD = 13 bpm) for lambs. Mean Tb for all animals was 39.6°C (range 36.9 to 41.8°C). Tb displayed 24-hour circadian rhythms during 80.7 % but HR only during 41.0 % of the studied period. We established baseline values and conclude that these sensors deliver good quality. For a wide agricultural use, the sensor implantation method has to be further developed and real-time communication technology added.

Omnivores Going Astray: A Review and New Synthesis of Abnormal Behavior in Pigs and Laying Hens.

Pigs and poultry are by far the most omnivorous of the domesticated farm animals and it is in their nature to be highly explorative. In the barren production environments, this motivation to explore can be expressed as abnormal oral manipulation directed toward pen mates. Tail biting (TB) in pigs and feather pecking (FP) in laying hens are examples of unwanted behaviors that are detrimental to the welfare of the animals. The aim of this review is to draw these two seemingly similar abnormalities together in a common framework, in order to seek underlying mechanisms and principles. Both TB and FP are affected by the physical and social environment, but not all individuals in a group express these behaviors and individual genetic and neurobiological characteristics play an important role. By synthesizing what is known about environmental and individual influences, we suggest a novel possible mechanism, common for pigs and poultry, involving the brain-gut-microbiota axis.

Whole-Genome Sequencing of a Canine Family Trio Reveals a FAM83G Variant Associated with Hereditary Footpad Hyperkeratosis.

Over 250 Mendelian traits and disorders, caused by rare alleles have been mapped in the canine genome. Although each disease is rare in the dog as a species, they are collectively common and have major impact on canine health. With SNP-based genotyping arrays, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have proven to be a powerful method to map the genomic region of interest when 10-20 cases and 10-20 controls are available. However, to identify the genetic variant in associated regions, fine-mapping and targeted resequencing is required. Here we present a new approach using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of a family trio without prior GWAS. As a proof-of-concept, we chose an autosomal recessive disease known as hereditary footpad hyperkeratosis (HFH) in Kromfohrländer dogs. To our knowledge, this is the first time this family trio WGS-approach has been used successfully to identify a genetic variant that perfectly segregates with a canine disorder. The sequencing of three Kromfohrländer dogs from a family trio (an affected offspring and both its healthy parents) resulted in an average genome coverage of 9.2X per individual. After applying stringent filtering criteria for candidate causative coding variants, 527 single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and 15 indels were found to be homozygous in the affected offspring and heterozygous in the parents. Using the computer software packages ANNOVAR and SIFT to functionally annotate coding sequence differences, and to predict their functional effect, resulted in seven candidate variants located in six different genes. Of these, only FAM83G:c155G > C (p.R52P) was found to be concordant in eight additional cases, and 16 healthy Kromfohrländer dogs.

Evidence for a link between tail biting and central monoamine metabolism in pigs (Sus scrofa domestica).

Tail biting in pigs is a major welfare problem within the swine industry. Even though there is plenty of information on housing and management-related risk factors, the biological bases of this behavioral problem are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible link between tail biting, based on behavioral recordings of pigs during an ongoing outbreak, and certain neurotransmitters in different brain regions of these pigs. We used a total of 33 pigs at a farm with a long-standing problem of tail biting. Three equally big behavioral phenotypic groups, balanced for gender and age were selected, the data thus consisting of 11 trios of pigs. Two of the pigs in each trio originated from the same pen: one tail biter (TB) and one tail biting victim (V). A control (C) pig was selected from a pen without significant tail biting in the same farm room. We found an effect of tail biting behavioral phenotype on the metabolism of serotonin and dopamine, with a tendency for a higher 5-HIAA level in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of TB compared to the other groups, while V pigs showed changes in both serotonin and dopamine metabolism in the striatum (ST) and limbic cortex (LC). Trp:BCAA and Trp:LNAA correlated positively with serotonin and 5-HIAA in the PFC, but only in TB pigs. Furthermore, in both ST and LC, several of the neurotransmitters and their metabolites correlated positively with the frequency of bites received by the pig. This is the first study indicating a link between brain neurotransmission and tail biting behavior in pigs with TB pigs showing a tendency for increased PFC serotonin metabolism and V pigs showing several changes in central dopamine and serotonin metabolism in their ST and LC, possibly due to the acute stress caused by being bitten.

Behavioural and Brain Gene Expression Profiling in Pigs during Tail Biting Outbreaks - Evidence of a Tail Biting Resistant Phenotype.

Abnormal tail biting behaviour is a major welfare problem for pigs receiving the behaviour, as well as an indication of decreased welfare in the pigs performing it. However, not all pigs in a pen perform or receive tail biting behaviour and it has recently been shown that these 'neutral' pigs not only differ in their behaviour, but also in their gene expression compared to performers and receivers of tail biting in the same pen. To investigate whether this difference was linked to the cause or a consequence of them not being involved in the outbreak of tail biting, behaviour and brain gene expression was compared with 'control' pigs housed in pens with no tail biting. It was shown that the pigs housed in control pens performed a wider variety of pig-directed abnormal behaviour (belly nosing 0.95±1.59, tail in mouth 0.31±0.60 and 'other' abnormal 1.53±4.26; mean±S.D) compared to the neutral pigs (belly nosing 0.30±0.62, tail in mouth 0.13±0.50 and "other" abnormal 0.42±1.06). With Affymetrix gene expression arrays, 107 transcripts were identified as differently expressed (p<0.05) between these two categories of pigs. Several of these transcripts had already been shown to be differently expressed in the neutral pigs when they were compared to performers and receivers of tail biting in the same pen in an earlier study. Hence, the different expression of these genes cannot be a consequence of the neutral pigs not being involved in tail biting behaviour, but rather linked to the cause contributing to why they were not involved in tail biting interactions. These neutral pigs seem to have a genetic and behavioural profile that somehow contributes to them being resistant to performing or receiving pig-directed abnormal behaviour, such as tail biting, even when housed in an environment that elicits that behaviour in other pigs.

A missense mutation in PMEL17 is associated with the Silver coat color in the horse.

BACKGROUND: The Silver coat color, also called Silver dapple, in the horse is characterized by dilution of the black pigment in the hair. This phenotype shows an autosomal dominant inheritance. The effect of the mutation is most visible in the long hairs of the mane and tail, which are diluted to a mixture of white and gray hairs. Herein we describe the identification of the responsible gene and a missense mutation associated with the Silver phenotype. RESULTS: Segregation data on the Silver locus (Z) were obtained within one half-sib family that consisted of a heterozygous Silver colored stallion with 34 offspring and their 29 non-Silver dams. We typed 41 genetic markers well spread over the horse genome, including one single microsatellite marker (TKY284) close to the candidate gene PMEL17 on horse chromosome 6 (ECA6q23). Significant linkage was found between the Silver phenotype and TKY284 (theta = 0, z = 9.0). DNA sequencing of PMEL17 in Silver and non-Silver horses revealed a missense mutation in exon 11 changing the second amino acid in the cytoplasmic region from arginine to cysteine (Arg618Cys). This mutation showed complete association with the Silver phenotype across multiple horse breeds, and was not found among non-Silver horses with one clear exception; a chestnut colored individual that had several Silver offspring when mated to different non-Silver stallions also carried the exon 11 mutation. In total, 64 Silver horses from six breeds and 85 non-Silver horses from 14 breeds were tested for the exon 11 mutation. One additional mutation located in intron 9, only 759 bases from the missense mutation, also showed complete association with the Silver phenotype. However, as one could expect to find several non-causative mutations completely associated with the Silver mutation, we argue that the missense mutation is more likely to be causative. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that PMEL17 causes the Silver coat color in the horse and enable genetic testing for this trait.