Is there a right time for dairy Alpine goat kid weaning: How does the weaning age of dairy Alpine goat kids affect their growth and behavior?

In dairy goat kids, weaning is often associated with poor growth leading to a decline in welfare and performance; however, little is known about optimal weaning practices. This study aimed to determine the optimal weaning age for dairy goat kids to maximize outcome measures of welfare related to growth, feed intake, and behavior. Thirty-six newborn female Alpine kids were blocked by weight and birth date, paired with a similar male companion and randomly allocated to one of the three weaning age treatments: 6 (6W), 8 (8W), and 10 wk (10W). Kids had ad libitum access to acidified milk replacer refilled twice daily, concentrates, hay, and water. Milk consumption was measured daily, and concentrate consumption, weekly. Ten behaviors were live observed on days -8, -4, 0, 6, and 12 relative to weaning (i.e., weaning day = 0). Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to assess differences from baseline between the 6W, 8W, and 10W treatments. Post hoc analysis using the Dwass, Steel, Critchlow-Fligner (DSCF) multiple comparison analysis was used to evaluate pairwise treatment differences based on two-sample Wilcoxon comparisons. Kids weaned at 10 wk had the greatest increase compared to baseline in concentrate consumption (P = 0.0160), and greatest decrease compared to baseline in vocalization (P = 0.0008) while both 8- and 10- wk kid's groups had the greatest increase compared to baseline in self-grooming time (P < 0.0001), and cross-sucking time (P = 0.0006). Kids weaned at 6 wk of age were found to have the smallest increase compared to baseline in concentrate consumption (P = 0.0160) and self-grooming time (P < 0.0001), and the greatest increase compared to baseline in allogrooming time (P = 0.0032) and in redirected behaviors aimed towards the environment (biting and licking time [P = 0.0173]; displacement at the nipple frequency [P = 0.0236]). No negative impact of weaning on growth of either group was identified. Overall, our results tend towards a higher degree of discomfort behaviors (allogrooming, biting/licking, displacement, and vocalizations) in kids weaned earlier compared to later weaning, while kids weaned later showed higher levels of positive behaviors (lying time and self-grooming).

In dairy goat kids, there is limited literature available on weaning management practices, despite this period being one of the most stressful events for kids and being associated with measures of poor welfare. This study aimed to compare weaning of dairy goat kids at 6-, 8-, and 10-wk of age to maximize outcome measures of welfare related to growth, feed intake, and behavior. Kids weaned at 10 wk of age had the greatest increase in concentrate consumption and decrease in vocalization. Both 8- and 10-wk kids had the greatest increase in self-grooming and cross-sucking. Kids weaned at 6-wk of age had the smallest increase in concentrate consumption, greatest decrease in self-grooming, and greatest increase in allogrooming and redirected behaviors aimed towards the environment. No negative impact of weaning on growth was identified. Our results showed a higher degree of discomfort behaviors in kids weaned earlier compared to later weaning at 8- or 10-wk. Despite similar levels of discomfort behaviors for kids weaned at later ages, vocalization difference was greatest for kids weaned at 8 wk of age. Kids weaned at later ages seem to cope better with the transition to solid feed compared to kids weaned at an early age.

How outing conditions relate to the motivation of movement-restricted cattle to access an outdoor exercise yard.

Assessing animal motivation to access a given resource is one method available to evaluate what to provide in the living environments of captive animals. Providing increased opportunities for movement can be seen as an important source of enrichment, but we need to know the point of view of the animal. The objective of our study was to test a novel combination of behaviours in order to assess the motivation of cows to access an outdoor exercise paddock. Three trials were conducted, each enrolling 15-16 tie-stall-housed cows as a model for movement-restricted animals. Cows were provided with access to an outdoor exercise yard 5 days/week for the duration of the trial, each trial presenting different conditions such as paddock size, duration of access and animal handling. We recorded the trips' durations and cows' behaviours during the trips going to (go-out) and coming back (go-in) from the paddock. LMr comparisons on PCA were used to assess cow motivation profiles. The same two dimensions of speed and stop quality emerged from the PCA in all three trials, showing the method's robustness. Additionally, three motivation profiles were established, representing how the cows' motivation was affected by the conditions prevailing in each trial.

Applications of Technology to Record Locomotion Measurements in Dairy Cows: A Systematic Review.

Lameness within the dairy industry is a concern because of its associated costs and welfare implications. Visual locomotion scoring has been commonly used for assessing cows' locomotion quality, but it can have low reliability and is relatively subjective compared to automated methods of assessing locomotion. Kinematic, kinetic, and accelerometric technologies can provide a greater number of more detailed outcome measurements than visual scoring. The objective of this systematic review was to determine outcome measurements, and the relationships between them, that have been recorded using kinematic, kinetic, and accelerometric technologies, as well as other approaches to evaluating cow locomotion. Following PRISMA guidelines, two databases were searched for studies published from January 2000 to June 2022. Thirty-seven articles were retained after undergoing a screening process involving a title and abstract evaluation, followed by a full-text assessment. Locomotion measurements recorded using these technologies often overlapped, but inconsistencies in the types of technology, the arrangement of equipment, the terminology, and the measurement-recording approaches made it difficult to compare locomotion measurements across studies. Additional research would contribute to a better understanding of how factors regarding the health, environment, and management of dairy cows affect aspects of locomotion, as recorded through the detailed, objective outcome measurements provided by these technologies.

Technology applications in bovine gait analysis: A scoping review.

Quantitative bovine gait analysis using technology has evolved significantly over the last two decades. However, subjective methods of gait assessment using visual locomotion scoring remain the primary on-farm and experimental approach. The objective of this review is to map research trends in quantitative bovine gait analysis and to explore the technologies that have been utilized to measure biomechanical parameters of gait. A scoping literature review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. A search algorithm based on PICO framework generated three components-bovine, gait, and technology-to address our objectives. Three online databases were searched for original work published from January 2000 to June 2020. A two-step screening process was then conducted, starting with the review of article titles and abstracts based on inclusion criteria. A remaining 125 articles then underwent a full-text assessment, resulting in 82 final articles. Thematic analysis of research aims resulted in four major themes among the studies: gait/claw biomechanics, lameness detection, intervention/comparison, and system development. Of the 4 themes, lameness detection (55% of studies) was the most common reason for technology use. Within the literature identified three main technologies were used: force and pressure platforms (FPP), vision-based systems (VB), and accelerometers. FPP were the first and most popular technologies to evaluate bovine gait and were used in 58.5% of studies. They include force platforms, pressure mapping systems, and weight distribution platforms. The second most applied technology was VB (34.1% of studies), which predominately consists of video analysis and image processing systems. Accelerometers, another technological method to measure gait characteristics, were used in 14.6% of studies. In sum, the strong demand for automatic lameness detection influenced the path of development for quantitative gait analysis technologies. Among emergent technologies, deep learning and wearable sensors (e.g., accelerometers) appear to be the most promising options. However, although progress has been made, more research is needed to develop more accurate, practical, and user-friendly technologies.

Birth conditions affect the longevity of Holstein offspring.

Studies of dairy cow longevity usually focus on the animal life after first calving, with few studies considering early life conditions and their effects on longevity. The objective was to evaluate the effect of birth conditions routinely collected by Dairy Herd Improvement agencies on offspring longevity measured as length of life and length of productive life. Lactanet provided 712,890 records on offspring born in 5,425 Quebec dairy herds between January 1999 and November 2015 for length of life, and 506,066 records on offspring born in 5,089 Quebec dairy herds between January 1999 and December 2013 for length of productive life. Offspring birth conditions used in this study were calving ease (unassisted, pull, surgery, or malpresentation), calf size (small, medium, or large), and twinning (yes or no). Observations were considered censored if the culling reason was "exported," "sold for dairy production," or "rented out" as well as if the animals were not yet culled at the time of data extraction. If offspring were not yet culled when the data were extracted, the last test-day date was considered the censoring date. Conditional inference survival trees were used in this study to analyze the effect of offspring birth conditions on offspring longevity. The hazard ratio of culling between the groups of offspring identified by the survival trees was estimated using a Cox proportional hazard model with herd-year-season as a frailty term. Five offspring groups were identified with different length of life based on their birth condition. Offspring with the highest length of life [median = 3.61 year; median absolute deviation (MAD) = 1.86] were those classified as large or medium birth size and were also the result of an unassisted calving. Small offspring as a result of a twin birth had the lowest length of life (median = 2.20 year; MAD = 1.69) and were 1.52 times more likely to be culled early in life. Six groups were identified with different length of productive life. Offspring that resulted from an unassisted or surgery calving and classified as large or medium when they were born were in the group with the highest length of productive life (median = 2.03 year; MAD = 1.63). Offspring resulting from a malpresentation or pull in a twin birth were in the group with the lowest length of productive life (median = 1.15 year; MAD = 1.11) and were 1.70 times more likely to be culled early in life. In conclusion, birth conditions of calving ease, calf size, and twinning greatly affected offspring longevity, and such information could be used for early selection of replacement candidates.

Erratum: Dallago et al. Keeping Dairy Cows for Longer: A Critical Literature Review on Dairy Cow Longevity in High Milk-Producing Countries. Animals 2021, 11, 808.

In the original article [...].

Keeping Dairy Cows for Longer: A Critical Literature Review on Dairy Cow Longevity in High Milk-Producing Countries.

The ability of dairy farmers to keep their cows for longer could positively enhance the economic performance of the farms, reduce the environmental footprint of the milk industry, and overall help in justifying a sustainable use of animals for food production. However, there is little published on the current status of cow longevity and we hypothesized that a reason may be a lack of standardization and an over narrow focus of the longevity measure itself. The objectives of this critical literature review were: (1) to review metrics used to measure dairy cow longevity; (2) to describe the status of longevity in high milk-producing countries. Current metrics are limited to either the length of time the animal remains in the herd or if it is alive at a given time. To overcome such a limitation, dairy cow longevity should be defined as an animal having an early age at first calving and a long productive life spent in profitable milk production. Combining age at first calving, length of productive life, and margin over all costs would provide a more comprehensive evaluation of longevity by covering both early life conditions and the length of time the animal remains in the herd once it starts to contribute to the farm revenues, as well as the overall animal health and quality of life. This review confirms that dairy cow longevity has decreased in most high milk-producing countries over time and its relationship with milk yield is not straight forward. Increasing cow longevity by reducing involuntary culling would cut health costs, increase cow lifetime profitability, improve animal welfare, and could contribute towards a more sustainable dairy industry while optimizing dairy farmers' efficiency in the overall use of resources available.

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy as a Tool to Study Milk Composition Changes in Dairy Cows Attributed to Housing Modifications to Improve Animal Welfare.

Animal welfare status is assessed today through visual evaluations requiring an on-farm visit. A convenient alternative would be to detect cow welfare status directly in milk samples, already routinely collected for milk recording. The objective of this study was to propose a novel approach to demonstrate that Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy can detect changes in milk composition related to cows subjected to movement restriction at the tie stall with four tie-rail configurations varying in height and position (TR1, TR2, TR3 and TR4). Milk mid-infrared spectra were collected on weekly basis. Long-term average spectra were calculated for each cow using spectra collected in weeks 8-10 of treatment. Principal component analysis was applied to spectral averages and the scores of principal components (PCs) were tested for treatment effect by mixed modelling. PC7 revealed a significant treatment effect (p = 0.01), particularly for TR3 (configuration with restricted movement) vs. TR1 (recommended configuration) (p = 0.03). The loading spectrum of PC7 revealed high loadings at wavenumbers that could be assigned to biomarkers related to negative energy balance, such as ß-hydroxybutyrate, citrate and acetone. This observation suggests that TR3 might have been restrictive for cows to access feed. Milk FTIR spectroscopy showed promising results in detecting welfare status and housing conditions in dairy cows.

Development of a Benchmarking Tool for Dairy Herd Management Using Routinely Collected Herd Records.

Continuous assessment of the herd status is important in order to monitor and adjust to changes in the welfare and health status but can be time consuming and expensive. In this study, herd status indicators from routinely collected dairy herd improvement (DHI) records were used to develop a remote herd assessment tool with the aim to help producers and advisors benchmark the herd status and identify herd management issues affecting welfare and health. Thirteen DHI indicators were selected from an initial set of 72 potential indicators collected on 4324 dairy herds in Eastern Canada. Data were normalized to percentile ranks and aggregated to a composite herd status index (HSI) with equal weights among indicators. Robustness analyses indicated little fluctuation for herds with a small HSI (low status) or large HSI (high status), suggesting that herds in need of support could be prioritized and effectively monitored over time, limiting the need for time-consuming farm visits. This tool allows evaluating herds relative to their peers through the composite index and highlighting specific areas with opportunities for improvements through the individual indicators. This procedure could be applied to similar multidimensional livestock farming issues, such as environmental and socio-economic studies.

Validation of Contact Mats to Monitor Dairy Cow Contact with Stall Partitions.

In indoor housing systems, repetitive contact with the stall partitions may reflect issues between the housing environment and the cow, by reducing the quality of rest and hindering ease of movement. The objective of this study was to validate the ability of a contact mat (CM) system to monitor cow contact with stall dividers and neck rail when compared to video observation. Eleven lactating cows were monitored using video recording and with the CM system for 4 h/d for 4 consecutive days. CM were affixed to the stall dividers and neck rail to record the frequency of cow contact per second. Two observers recorded the frequency of cow contact against the stall partitions per second using three criteria: cow contact with the stall dividers or neck rail regardless of CM contact (Total Rail Contact), cow contact with the CM regardless of placement or force (Total CM Contact), and cow contact with the CM through proper placement and force (Effective CM Contact). The correlation strength used to measure agreement between video observation and CM system for cow ranking based on degree of contact varied from moderate to very high (dividers: Total Rail Contact: rs = 0.68, Total CM Contact rs = 0.90, Effective CM Contact rs = 0.90; neck rail: Total Rail Contact: rs = 0.71, Total CM Contact rs = 0.66, Effective CM Contact rs = 0.58). CM can be used to accurately rank cows based on their frequency of contact with the stall dividers. This can be used to identify individual cows that need intervention for stall comfort risk factors, or to assess which indoor housing environments offer fewer constraints and better movement opportunities.

Providing an Outdoor Exercise Area Affects Tie-Stall Cow Reactivity and Human-Cow Relations.

Confinement and restriction of movement are a reality for most dairy cows. Providing outdoor access is one method to increase movement opportunities. However, leading cows to an outdoor exercise area increases their exposure to manipulations different from those of an indoor housing system. These situations have the potential to induce fear reactions, which can lead to injuries for the cow and danger or economic losses for the farmer. Our aim was to evaluate the development of the human-cow relationship and general reactivity of cows after a 12-week period of outdoor access provision in winter, summer and fall. A total of 16 cows in the winter, 16 in the summer, and 15 in the fall were enrolled in the study and either allocated to the treatment (Out) or stayed in the tiestall (NonOut). A human reactivity test and suddenness test were performed before and after the 12-week treatment period. In winter and to a lesser extent in fall, Out cows had a better human reaction score compared to NonOut cows, suggesting that cows with outdoor access during the winter associated human approaches with positive events. Conversely, no difference in the human reaction score was found between treatments during the summer. For summer and fall, Out cows did, however, show a decrease in their reaction score to the suddenness test compared to NonOut cows. The results of the human reactivity test in the summer suggested that cows with outdoor access did not associate the manipulation with a positive event. Interestingly, this result is not due to the cows being more frightened, since the suddenness test suggested that the Out cows were less fearful than NonOut cows. The way in which cows were led to the outdoor area could explain the differences in cow responses. Here, summer cows faced greater movement restrictions during trips to the outdoor area than in the winter, which may have been negatively perceived by the cows. We conclude that, besides the provision of outdoor access, the manner in which cows are handled during these events may have significant impacts on their reactions and could facilitate future handling.

Short communication: Use of the Clegg hammer measure as an indicator of stall-surface compressibility in tie-stall housing and its relationship with stall comfort.

Stall base and stall surface (i.e., with or without bedding) are key risk factors in cow comfort in dairy herds. In Canada, rubber mats, concrete floors, and mattresses are the most common stall bases used in tie-stall systems. Straw, wood shavings, and sand, at variable depths, are the most commonly used type of bedding. The Clegg hammer (Clegg Impact Soil Tester Hammer; Lafayette Instrument Company, Lafayette, IN) is a tool used by engineers to test the compressibility of pavement or golf course surfaces. Recently, this tool has also been used to measure the compressibility of the stall surface on freestall dairy farms. A total of 32 tie-stall dairy herds were selected in Québec to test the usefulness of the Clegg hammer as a tool to assess stall surface compressibility in tie-stall housing. This study had 2 main objectives: (1) identify the location and the number of measurements needed to obtain a stable indicator of compressibility, and (2) identify differences in the compressibility of the stall surface depending on the stall base and bedding depth. On each farm, we tested the compressibility of 10 stalls. No significant differences were found between the front and the back of the stall for the location of the Clegg hammer measures. The differences in readings of the Clegg hammer were nonsignificant after the third measure taken at the same location, meaning that 3 measures are sufficient at one location to obtain a compressibility measure. Significant differences were found among the different stall base and surface combinations tested. Rubber mats were less compressible than mattresses. When a large quantity of bedding (>7.5 cm) was added on top of rubber mats, the compressibility results were equal to those of mattresses ≥10 yr old without bedding. To appropriately test the compressibility of stall surface in tie-stall farms, we recommend measuring the compressibility of the stall base on its own and with the usual amount of bedding used on the farm. Our study establishes that both stall base and surface affect compressibility, and that a large quantity of bedding helps increase the compressibility of the bed, especially on a harder stall base.

Technical note: a comparison of 2 methods of assessing lameness prevalence in tiestall herds.

We compared 2 methods for identifying lame cows and estimating the prevalence of lameness in tiestalls. Cows (n=320) in 9 tiestall herds were scored as lame both by the presence of limping while walking and by stall lameness scores (SLS). The SLS was based on the number of the following behaviors that the cow showed while standing in the tiestall: weight shifting, standing on the edge of the stall, uneven weight bearing while standing, and uneven weight bearing while moving from side to side. Two observers watched video-recordings of the cows. Intraobserver agreements for the 4 SLS behaviors ranged from 92 to 100%, and interobserver agreement ranged from 81 to 100%. The overall prevalence of lameness based on an SLS of ≥2 was similar to that of limping (39 vs. 40%). The sensitivity of the classification based on the SLS was 0.63 and the specificity was 0.77 in identifying cows with a limp; accuracy varied across farms from 62.2 to 80.4%, with a mean of 71.7%. A cow with an SLS of ≥2 had 4.88 times the odds of limping than a cow with an SLS of <2. The prevalence of lameness on farms based on SLS was highly correlated with the prevalence of limping (Pearson correlation=0.88; n=9), and prevalence estimates from the 2 methods diverged most when the mean herd prevalence was lower. The SLS method provides an estimate of the prevalence of lameness in tiestall herds comparable with traditional gait scoring, but does not require that the cows be untied. The SLS method could be used to improve lameness detection on tiestall farms and obtain estimates of lameness prevalence without the need to walk the cows.