Long-term effects of early maternal deprivation on goat social behaviour.

Early maternal deprivation has been shown to disrupt goat kids' social behaviour and stress-coping strategy, and has long-term effects in other species like cattle. We studied the long-term effects of early maternal deprivation on 18-month-old goats. Seventeen goats were raised together with their dams (DR kids) and other lactating goats and kids, while 18 goats were separated from their dams three days after birth and artificially reared together (AR kids). Kids of both treatments were weaned around two to three months of age, grouped and raised together until this study 15 months later. Affiliative, playful, and agonistic behaviour was recorded by focal sampling in the home pen, when the focal goat had rejoined the herd after being physically isolated for 3 minutes, and after the focal goat was restrained and manipulated for 3 minutes. Behavioural observations were also conducted after the goats were introduced in groups of four in a herd of 77 unknown, lactating multiparous goats. Avoidance distance tests were performed in the home pen to assess the human-animal relationship. Salivary cortisol was measured before and after physical isolation, and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites were measured before and 24 hours after introduction in the lactating herd. In the home pen, AR goats were involved in less head nudging than DR goats, but other social behaviours or their behavioural and physiological response to the various stressful situations were not affected by their rearing treatment. Upon introduction in a DR lactating herd, most of the agonistic interactions observed were initiated by multiparous goats towards the introduced AR and DR goats alike. AR goats received more threats from the multiparous goats than DR goats, but were involved in less clashing than DR goats. AR goats showed less avoidance of familiar and unfamiliar humans than DR goats. Overall, previously AR and DR goats showed only a few differences in affiliative and agonistic behaviours in their home pen or after being exposed to different stressors 15 months later. Nonetheless, after being introduced into a multiparous goat herd, AR goats were still threatened more often than DR goats, and DR goats clashed more than AR goats, suggesting some persistent differences in their social abilities observed at an early age before and after weaning. As predicted, AR goats remained less fearful of humans than DR goats.

The influence of gentle interactions with an experimenter during milking on dairy cows' avoidance distance and milk yield, flow and composition.

Cattle's relationship with humans is a crucial factor regarding their welfare. In dairy cows, interactions with humans occur regularly during milking. We tested the effect of gentle interactions (stroking, talking in a gentle voice) during milking on avoidance distance and milk composition, yield and flow characteristics as well as behaviour during milking. Over the course of 15 days, an experimenter interacted gently with 14 German Holstein cows for 2 min during morning and evening milkings, totalling 60 min; the experimenter stayed at a similar distance to 12 control cows of the same breed for the same amount of time. There were no significant differences between the groups in behaviour during milking. Over the course of the experimental phase, avoidance distance at the feeding rack decreased significantly in stroked but not in control cows. The treatment did not improve any of the measures of milk composition, yield or flow; on the 1st day of the treatment, milk ejection was impaired in stroked cows, which points towards an effect of the novelty of the treatment. We conclude that gentle interactions during milking improve the relationship between cows and a human. Possible reasons for the absence of an effect on milk characteristics are that cows may not have perceived the interactions as positive or that a ceiling effect occurred due to otherwise optimal milking routines.

Clinical parameters and adrenocortical activity to assess stress responses of alpacas using different methods of restraint either alone or with shearing.

Shearing of alpacas is stressful and is undertaken by restraint in the standing position, cast on the floor or on a tilt table. The objectives of the study were to evaluate and compare the stress responses between different methods. The study consisted of two parts. In part one, 15 animals were restrained applying all three methods but without shearing. In part two, 45 animals in three groups of 15 were shorn using one of the three procedures. Body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, salivary cortisol and faecal cortisol metabolites (FCM) were measured. Part 1: restraint in a standing position was less stressful than other procedures. Part 2: the classic clinical parameters changed significantly over time but without significant differences between the methods. The number of injuries did not differ. Saliva cortisol and FCM concentrations varied in wide ranges between animals. An increase in FCM concentrations occurred in all groups but saliva cortisol concentration increased only after shearing on the ground. The recommendations of the study are to shear calm alpacas in the standing position but animals showing severe defence reactions should be shorn either cast on the ground or on a table to decrease the risk of injuries.

Introducing young dairy goats into the adult herd after parturition reduces social stress.

The aim of this experiment was to compare social stress, as measured by social behavior and adrenocortical activity, in young dairy goats during the first week after introduction into a herd of adult goats either during the dry period of the herd (i.e., all goats in the herd being pregnant or dry: PD) or shortly after parturition (i.e., all animals lactating or with their kids: LK). Thirty-two young goats that had had no contact with adult goats from the age of 7 wk were introduced into adult goat groups. Adult goats were kept in 2 groups of 36 animals each. Young goats were introduced (in groups of 4 animals each) into each of these 2 groups either during the PD period (2 repetitions) or during LK (2 repetitions); goats with different rearing experience were balanced over introduction periods. Young goats were more often receivers of agonistic social interactions when introduced during PD than during LK. Irrespective of the period of introduction, young goats had other young goats as neighbors more frequently than expected by chance alone, although this was even more distinct during PD. Cortisol metabolite levels increased markedly from baseline during PD, but not after parturition. Rearing showed an effect only on the nearest neighbors, with mother-reared young goats staying closer together. Our results indicate that young goats experience less social stress when being introduced into a herd of adult dairy goats shortly after parturition and with kids still present rather than during the dry period. Whether this effect is due to the period and lactational stage itself or to the presence of kids needs to be tested in future studies.

Effect of human-animal relationship and management on udder health in Swiss dairy herds.

In a cross-sectional study, we investigated the effects of human-animal interactions and management factors on udder health in 46 Swiss dairy herds living in loose-housing systems on farms that participated in the Swiss dairy farm network "pro-Q." The human-animal relationship was measured by observing milkers' behavior, cows' behavior during milking, and cows' avoidance distance in the barn. Management factors were assessed by questionnaire-guided interviews and observations. Udder health was evaluated using indicators that were calculated from milk recording data over a period of 1 yr before assessment: (1) average somatic cell scores (SCS) per herd and (2) incidence of new infections per herd (NEWINF); and indicators that were calculated from quarter milk samples of all lactating cows at the time of assessment: (3) prevalence of quarters with elevated somatic cell counts (>100,000 cells/mL; %Q>100) and (4) prevalence of mastitis quarters (>100,000 cells/mL and culturally positive; %Qmast). After univariate preselection of associated factors, multivariable linear regression models were calculated at the herd level and a multilevel regression model was calculated at the herd and cow levels for SCS. Among all of the human-animal relationship factors, the most dominant predictor for SCS, %Q>100, and %Qmast was the percentage of positive interactions of milkers with the cows in relation to all of their interactions during milking. Furthermore, a higher prevalence of fearful cows in the herd (with an avoidance distance >1 m) was associated with a higher %Q>100. In herds with a higher NEWINF, incidents of cows kicking during milking occurred more frequently. Concerning management as well as farm and herd characteristics, the following mastitis risk factors were found: (1) breed, especially Holstein with regard to SCS, NEWINF, and %Qmast; (2) high age in terms of lactation number with regard to SCS and %Qmast; (3) high amount of new infections of a cow over 1 yr with regard to SCS; (4) air-adsorption during application of teat-cups with regard to NEWINF; (5) lack of separation of diseased cows with regard to NEWINF; and (6) ample dimensions of lying places with regard to %Qmast. The results suggest that the human-animal relationship is relevant for udder health, especially for cows' reactions to infections expressed as somatic cell count levels. Risk of infection itself appears to be mainly influenced by management factors. Hence, the human-animal relationship may be considered in extension concerning preventive mastitis control.

Stability of fear and sociality in two strains of laying hens.

1. This trial studied the effects of strain and age on tonic immobility (TI) duration, emergence time (ET) and social reinstatement time (SRT) in laying hens and investigated the consistency of individual behavioural characteristics over rearing and laying periods and the correlations between these behavioural traits. 2. One hundred chicks from each of ISA Brown (ISA) and Lohmann Tradition (LT) laying hens were reared from one day old in pens. At 3 weeks, birds of each line were divided into 4 groups. Twenty birds in one group of each line were marked individually for repeated testing and the other groups were assigned for single testing to test the habituation effect and possible age effects at a group level. 3. ISA birds had higher overall means for TI duration and latency to leave the start box. ISA also showed longer latency in SRT at week 28 than Lohmanns. TI duration increased from weeks 3 to 10 and then decreased to week 35 in both lines. The latency to explore the test area and to reinstate decreased from weeks 10 to 35. 4. Tonic immobility, exploratory and social reinstatement behaviours were consistent over time in both lines, as revealed by Kendall's W coefficient of concordance. 5. In social test situations, an inter-situational consistency was found, that is, birds emerged quickly from the start box and reinstated quickly with their companion. TI (non-social test) was negatively correlated with ET and SRT. Thus the two lines of laying hens respond differently in social and non-social tests.

Stroking different body regions of dairy cows: effects on avoidance and approach behavior toward humans.

Understanding perception of dairy cows to common human contact such as stroking is important for improving the human-animal relationship, animal welfare, and production. We hypothesized that repeated stroking of body regions licked most during social grooming, especially the ventral neck, would reduce cows' avoidance of and increase their approach to humans. Sixty tethered dairy cows were randomly allocated to 4 treatment groups that received 5 min of daily human contact 5 d/wk during 3 consecutive weeks: 3 groups were stroked on different body regions. The first group was stroked on the ventral part of the neck (neck); the second group on the withers (both licked often in social grooming); the third group on the lateral side of the chest (chest, licked rarely); and the last group (control) was exposed to simple human presence. The reactions to the person who had provided the treatment were measured using 2 tests in the home tie-stall assessing avoidance from an approaching person who tried to touch the head (approaching person test) and avoidance/approach reactions to a stationary person (stationary person test). Approach behavior was recorded in a novel environment using a standard arena test. In the home tie-stall, cows stroked on the neck showed less avoidance (median avoidance score: 3.33) in the approaching person test compared with cows stroked on the chest and the controls (both: 4.00). That is, at least 75% of the animals stroked on the neck tolerated the touching of their heads (75th percentile

Heart rate variability in dairy cows-influences of breed and milking system.

Heart rate variability parameters in the time, frequency and nonlinear domains were investigated in two breeds of dairy cows (Austrian Simmental and Brown Swiss) milked either in an automatic milking system with partially forced cow traffic or in a herringbone milking parlour. Recordings were made of 24 cows (six of each breed and milking system) during lying, standing idle, and standing being milked, and analysed with linear mixed effects models taking the covariates time of day, live body weight, milk yield, stage of lactation and stage of pregnancy into account. Heart rate and nonlinear deterministic shares were higher, and heart rate variability in the time and frequency domains was lower, later in the day, in cows with higher body weight and in Simmental compared to Brown Swiss cows. Differences in the linear and nonlinear domains during lying indicated an increased level of chronic stress in cows in the automatic milking system with partially forced cow traffic, compared to cows milked in the herringbone milking parlour. No effects of milking system were found during milking, indicating that the stressor in the automatic milking system was not the milking process itself.

[Importance of herd management in loose housing systems in the social behavior of dairy cows]. / Die Bedeutung von Managementmassnahmen im Laufstall für das Sozialverhalten von Milchkühen.

In five loose housed dairy herds three different kinds of herd management were tested in two variants with respect to frequencies of agonistic social behaviour. Treatments were (1) a short (0.5 h) and a long (3 h) fixation time in the feeding rack, (2) single and group (3 animals) introduction of new heifers into the herd and (3) an open and a closed outdoor yard during nighttime. The investigated agonistic behaviour patterns were: pushing and chasing. The herds were observed in the evening after milking during one four-hour period starting one hour after opening the feeding rack when testing treatment (3) and immediately after opening the feeding rack when testing treatment (1) and (2). Statistical analysis were carried out with the Wilcoxon signed-ranks test for matched samples. Effects of fixation time differed inconsistently and were not significant. In 3 out of 5 farms the frequency of agonistic behaviour was lower, when cows were restrained 3 h in the feeding rack compared to 0.5 h. In two of these 3 herds, the animals had the possibility to drink water from bowls directly at the feeding rack, in the third herd the food was silage which has a higher water content. Therefore in these herds, the agonistic interactions at the drinking facility in the stable after opening the feeding rack was low. Contrary, in the two other herds, with dry feed (hay) and no drinking bowls at the feeding rack, frequency of agonistic behaviour was higher after the long restraint which might be due to higher competition at the drinking facilities. Agonistic interactions per cow as well as per new introduced heifer were lower (p < or = 0.05) when only a single heifer was introduced to the herd compared to the introduction of a group of 3 heifers. The frequency of agonistic social behaviour of horned dairy cows that had access to a yard at night was significantly lower compared to the situation when the yard was closed over night (p < or = 0.05). This may be due to the higher space allowances per cow but also to the additional structuring of the locomotion area.

Purification of equine neutrophil lysozyme and its antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.

Lysozyme from equine neutrophil granulocytes was isolated in a pure form by fast performance liquid chromatography, i.e. ion-exchange chromatography and reversed-phase chromatography. The lysozyme lysed Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus lentus and was also bactericidal against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Serratia marcescens. Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis were not lysed. The lysozyme was only very slightly bactericidal for S. epidermidis and S. aureus. Equine neutrophil lysozyme was found to be bactericidal for Gram-positive as well as for Gram-negative bacteria without further treatment. Equine and chicken egg white lysozymes were found to be immunologically related when examined using specific antisera against each of them. Both lysozymes also had very similar specific enzymatic activities against M. luteus membranes.