Infrared thermography as a possible technique for the estimation of parturition onset in sows.

BACKGROUND: This study explores the possibility of using infrared thermography to estimate the onset of parturition in sows. Infrared camera (IRC) and infrared laser thermometer (IRT) were used to obtain the auricular skin temperature of sows along with rectal temperatures, from approximately one week before the anticipated farrowing until 24 h post-partum. Three commercial piglet producing farms were included in the study. RESULTS: There were large variations in observed auricular skin temperature, both by IRC and IRT per time point. Graphical exploration of the observed auricular skin temperature measured by the two methods showed the same parallel patterns, although temperatures measured by IRC were higher at any time point compared to IRT. Auricular skin thermography revealed a clear increase in temperatures before farrowing. Statistical analyses, adjusting for differences between farms, sow activity and respiration rate, confirmed this increase. When controlling for these variables, and comparing the baseline temperatures to temperatures at farrowing, the difference was 3.9 and 4.1 °C measured with IRT and IRC, respectively. The greatest increase, of more than 2 °C, was found between 16 and 8 h and 8 to 4 h before farrowing. Rectal temperature increased by 0.5 °C in the same time interval and reached a temperature peak after farrowing. CONCLUSION: Sows showed a more than 2 °C increase in auricular skin temperature, measured by either IRC or IRT, 8 to16 hours before the first piglet was born. Hence, monitoring auricular skin temperatures of sows using infrared thermography one week before expected farrowing may provide a baseline temperature for each sow from which a sudden rise is indicative of parturition in the following 8 to 16 h. This may lead to more efficient allocation of human assistance during farrowing time and thereby improve farrowing management and the welfare of sows and their offspring.

Preweaning mortality in piglets in loose-housed herds: etiology and prevalence.

Preweaning mortality in piglets is a welfare issue, as well as an ethical and economic concern in commercial pig farming. Studying the causes of preweaning mortality and their prevalence is necessary to reduce losses. Preweaning piglet mortality was investigated in a field study including 347 sows from 14 loose-housed Norwegian piglet-producing herds. A total of 5254 piglets were born in these herds during the study period, and 1200 piglets were necropsied. The cause of death was based on pathoanatomical diagnosis (PAD). Preweaning mortality of all piglets in the study was 23.4%, including 6.3% stillborn. The two main causes of preweaning mortality in live-born piglets (n=4924) were trauma (7.1%) and starvation (2.7%). Piglets dying of an infection accounted for 2.0%. Among the necropsied piglets (n=1200), 29.1% had died due to trauma, 26.8% were categorized as stillborn and 11% had died of starvation. Piglets that had died of trauma, had a mean time of death of 1 lactation day (LD 1), ranging from LD 0 to LD 21. The mean time of death of piglets that died due to bacterial infection was LD 9, ranging from LD 0 to LD 31, with Escherichia coli accounting for most infections found in necropsied piglets. Farmers were able to identify death by trauma in piglets, but were less able to identify death due to hunger. Most piglets that died in the preweaning period, died of trauma. Surprisingly, this included large and well-fed piglets. The second most prevalent cause of preweaning mortality was starvation. Improved monitoring may reveal piglets with low body mass index, and additional nutrition may contribute to increase the survival rate.

Long-term follow-up of Norwegian horses affected with acquired equine polyneuropathy.

BACKGROUND: Acquired equine polyneuropathy (AEP), a neurological disease clinically characterised by knuckling of metatarsophalangeal joints, has been described in numerous Nordic horses during the last 20 years. Although clinical recovery has been reported, large-scale data on long-term follow-up of survivors have been lacking. OBJECTIVES: To describe long-term survival of AEP affected horses registered in Norway, with a focus on athletic performance and possible residual clinical signs connected to the disease. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. METHODS: The study includes 143 horses recorded with AEP in Norway from 2000 to 2012, with the follow-up period continuing until 2015. Participating owners of survivors completed a standardised questionnaire, providing information on disease and convalescence, management, performance-level and possible residual clinical signs. To investigate the follow-up of survivors, we performed 2 multivariable linear regression models. RESULTS: The follow-up time of survivors was 1.0-14.5 years (median 5.3, interquartile range 2.5-7.2). Fifty-seven horses survived and all but 3 horses returned to previous or higher level of performance. However, possible disease-related residual clinical signs were reported in 14/57 horses. Forty-nine of the survivors were in athletic use at time of contact. The majority of survivors were categorised with low severity-grades at time of diagnosis and the initial grade was significantly associated with time to resumed training. Only 3 horses had experienced relapse/new attack during the follow-up period. MAIN LIMITATION: Athletic performance was judged by owners, which renders a possible source of bias. CONCLUSIONS: Although AEP is a potential fatal disease, most survivors will recover and return to minimum previous level of athletic performance. Some horses display residual clinical signs, but often without negative effect on performance and relapse of disease is rare.

The association between immunoglobulin G in sow colostrum and piglet plasma.

Colostrum provides newborn piglets with energy and passive immunity and is essential for survival of the piglets. The plasma concentration of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in piglets is dependent on several factors, most importantly the concentration of IgG in sow colostrum (colostrum IgG). The main aims of this study were to investigate the variation in concentration of colostrum IgG between herds and the individual sows within herd and to investigate factors associated with plasma IgG concentrations in piglets (piglet IgG). From 4 herds (A to D), 876 piglets from 62 sows were included in the study. Colostrum was sampled from sows immediately after expulsion of the first piglet and before the first suckling (t1), midway through farrowing (just after the sixth piglet was born; t2), and after the last piglet was born (t3). At d 1, 0.5 mL blood from piglets was collected in tubes containing EDTA, and IgG concentrations were analyzed. Mean colostrum IgG concentration across all herds was 53.9 g/L. Herd A had mean colostrum IgG of 38.3 g/L, whereas the other 3 herds (B,C, and D) had mean colostrum IgG of 47.4, 60.4, and 67.8 g/L, respectively. Colostrum IgG at t1, t2, and t3 across all herds was 56.2, 53.7, and 42.5 g/L, respectively. Mean concentration of piglet IgG across all samplings was 21.7 g/L. Multilevel linear regression analysis was performed with piglet IgG (g/L) as outcome. In this model, the herd effect accounted for 9% of the total variance and 34% of the variance resided at sow level. Piglet IgG was associated with herd, birth order (), body mass index (BMI) > 17 (kg/m), and colostrum IgG at t1 (g/L) with an overall -value < 0.01. Herd D had the highest predicted mean level of piglet IgG. The main model predicted that piglet IgG decreased linearly by 0.4 g/L with each piglet born ( < 0.01). The model also predicted an increase by 0.1 g/L for each gram per liter extra colostrum IgG in colostrum ( = 0.03). Piglets with a BMI above 17 kg/m had a greater piglet IgG (+4.5 g/L) than those with a BMI at 17 kg/m or below ( < 0.01). Concentrations of colostrum IgG varied largely between herds and between sows. The largest variation of piglet IgG was mainly on the piglet level, supporting the complex nature of IgG production and uptake. However, the strong association between colostrum IgG and piglet IgG shows that increased IgG level in colostrum will improve the levels of IgG in piglets and potentially increase survival of the piglets.

The effects of building design on hazard of first service in Norwegian dairy cows.

Reproductive inefficiency is one of the major production and economic constraints on modern dairy farms. The environment affects onset of ovarian activity in a cow postcalving and influences estrus behavior, which in turn affects a stockperson's ability to inseminate her at the correct time. This study used survival analysis to investigate effects of building design and animal factors on the postpartum hazard of first service (HFS) in freestall-housed Norwegian Red cows. The study was performed on 232 Norwegian dairy farms between 2004 and 2007. Data were obtained through on farm measurements and by accessing the Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System. The final data set contained data on 38,436 calvings and 27,127 services. Univariate Cox proportional hazard analyses showed that herd size and milk yield were positively associated with HFS. Total free accessible area and free accessible area available per cow year were positively associated with the HFS, as was the number of freestalls available per cow. Cows housed on slatted floors had a lower HFS than those housed on solid floors. Conversely, cows housed on rubber floors had a higher HFS than cows on concrete floors. Dead-ending alleyways reduced the hazard of AI after calving. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards model, accounting for herd management by including a frailty term for herd, showed relationships between hazard of postpartum service and explanatory variables. Animals in herds with more than 50 cows had a higher HFS [hazard ratio (HR)=3.0] compared with those in smaller herds. The HFS was also higher (HR=4.3) if more than 8.8 m(2) of space was available per cow year compared with herds in which animals had less space. The HFS after calving increased with parity (parity 2 HR=0.5, parity ≥3 HR=1.7), and was reduced if a lactation began with dystocia (HR=0.82) or was a breed other than Norwegian Red (HR=0.2). The frailty term, herd, was large and highly significant indicating a significant proportion of the variation resides at herd level. The hazard of first insemination decreased with time for all predictive variables, except dystocia. This study shows that providing adequate environmental conditions for estrus behavior is imperative for reproductive efficiency and after herd management factors and time from calving have been accounted for. Thus, optimizing building design for reproductive efficiency is of significant importance when constructing new cattle housing.

Factors associated with cattle cleanliness on Norwegian dairy farms.

Animal cleanliness in dairy herds is essential to ensure hygienic milk production, high microbial quality of carcasses, good hide quality, and animal welfare. The objective of this study was to identify on-farm factors associated with dairy cattle cleanliness. The study also examined differences in risk factors and preventive factors between contrasting herds regarding cattle cleanliness. In total, 60 dairy herds, selected from a national database, were visited by 2 trained assessors during the indoor feeding period in February and March 2009. In Norwegian abattoirs, cattle are assessed and categorized according to hide cleanliness, based on national guidelines, using a 3-category scale. Dirty animals result in deductions in payment to farmers. "Dirty" herds (n=30) were defined as those that had most deductions in payment registered due to dirty animals slaughtered in 2007 and 2008. "Clean" herds (n=30) were those that had similar farm characteristics, but slaughtered only clean animals during 2007 and 2008, and thus had no deductions in payments registered. The dairy farms were located in 4 different areas of Norway. Relevant information, such as housing, bedding, feeding, and management practices concerning cleaning animals and floors, was collected during farm visits. In addition, the cleanliness of each animal over 1 yr of age (4,991 animals) was assessed and scored on a 5-point scale, and later changed to a dichotomous variable during statistical analysis. Milk data (milk yield and somatic cell counts) were obtained from the Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System. Factors associated with dirty animals in all 60 herds were, in ranked order, high air humidity, many dirty animals slaughtered during the previous 2 yr, lack of preslaughter management practices toward cleaning animals, animal type (heifers and bulls/steers), housing (freestalls and pens without bedding), manure consistency, and lack of efforts directed toward cleaning the animals throughout the year. Additional factors associated with dirty animals in the dirty herds were water leakage from drinking nipples/troughs into lying areas, bedding type, and feed type. In the clean herds, additional risk factors were water leakage from drinking nipples/troughs and low milk yield.

Risk factors for skin lesions on the necks of Norwegian dairy cows.

Physical restrictions at the feed barrier may cause skin lesions, especially on the necks of cows. Thus, some aspects of the functionality of feed barrier design can be assessed by observing skin lesions on the necks of dairy cattle. In this study, 232 herds, mainly of the breed Norwegian Red (94%), were investigated between September 2006 and June 2007. The herds were categorized into 2 groups. One data set, based on 1,148 cows (115 herds), was from farms using feed barriers with post-and-rail designs (86 herds) and combinations of barriers (29 herds). The second data set, which included 1,168 cows (117 herds), was from farms using only vertical feed barriers such as tombstone, diagonal, and headlock. Skin lesions were observed on the necks of 21% of the 2,335 cows observed. Forty-two percent of cows had neck lesions in herds with post-and-rail barriers, whereas 4% of cows had neck lesions in herds with vertical barriers and 30% of cows had neck lesions in herds with a combination of both horizontal and vertical barriers. Alternating logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with skin lesions on the necks of cows. The estimates were transformed into odds ratios (OR). In herds in which post-and-rail design barriers were used, the following risk factors were associated with skin lesions: manger front lower than 63 cm versus higher (OR=3.6), no feed stalls versus feed stalls (OR=10.9), mixed rations versus no mixed ration (OR=3.8), cows later than 30 DIM versus earlier (OR=1.9), cows with low milk production versus those producing 1,000 kg higher (OR=1.4), feeding frequency of less than 3 times daily versus 3 and more times daily (OR=1.9), using only post-and-rail feed barriers (OR=1.8) versus using combinations, and farmer disagreement with the statement "animals experience physical pain as humans do" (OR=1.9) versus agreement. Diagonal barriers, categorized as vertical barriers, increased the association of skin lesions with increasing manger front heights. Feed barrier design was associated with skin lesions on the necks of cows, particularly for barriers of a post-and-rail design. To minimize the risk of neck lesions, the top rail height of post-and-rail barriers should be above 109 cm, especially for cows taller than 126 cm, and the manger front should not be lower than 63 cm. Feed stalls, feeding frequency of 3 or more times daily, and the feeding of unmixed rations were also identified as preventive factors.

Dairy farmer attitudes and empathy toward animals are associated with animal welfare indicators.

Attitudes and empathy of farmers influence human-animal interaction, thereby affecting their behavior toward animals. The goal was to investigate how measures of attitude and empathy toward animals were associated with animal welfare indicators such as milk yield, mastitis incidence, fertility index, and the prevalence of skin lesions on cows. To assess empathy toward animals, a photo-based pain assessment instrument was developed depicting various conditions that could be associated with some degree of pain in cattle and included questions aimed at assessing attitudes toward animals. Photos of painful conditions are useful in eliciting measurable empathic responses to pain in humans. A total of 221 farmers were sampled via e-mail and 154 responses were obtained. In the first analysis, farmers were categorized into 2 groups according to their agreement or disagreement with the attitude statement "animals experience physical pain as humans do." In the second analysis, farmers were assigned a median pain assessment score obtained from their estimates on the visual analog scale of 21 conditions assumed painful for cattle. In the third analysis, farmers were clustered in 3 groups according to their visual analog scale responses. Three conditions were ranked as the most painful: fracture of tuber coxae, dystocia, and serious mastitis. Farmers with positive attitudes toward animals scored 2 points higher on their empathy score compared with farmers with negative attitudes. Personal experience with each additional condition resulted in a 0.09 higher score. Cluster analysis revealed 3 groups. Farmers in group 3 had the highest median pain assessment score (6.7+/-0.2), indicating a high level of empathy and a positive attitude toward animals. They had the lowest prevalence of skin lesions over the carpus (24+/-6%) and the lowest milk production (6,705+/-202 kg). The complex associations between indicators of empathy and attitudes with relevant welfare outcomes suggest that competence building to safeguard animal welfare could benefit from including both attitudes and empathy in human-animal interactions studies.

Prevalence and risk factors for skin lesions on legs of dairy cattle housed in freestalls in Norway.

Appropriate indoor housing facilities for dairy cattle promote improved animal welfare. Skin alterations are an indicator of dysfunctional housing. The purpose was to determine the relationship between different housing design and skin lesions, hence providing farmers more insight into how to reduce the occurrence of lesions. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2,335 animals in 232 Norwegian freestall-housed dairy cattle from September 2006 to June 2007. A model was established to investigate risk factors related to the presence of lesions including hair loss, swelling, and wounds on the legs of dairy cattle. Separate models were developed to investigate risk factors related to the presence of knee and hock lesions. Previously described risk factors were included in the models, together with a questionnaire addressing the attitude of the farmer toward the animals. Mean (+/- SD) prevalence for hock lesions was 60.5 +/- 21.2% with a median value of 64%. The prevalence for knee lesions was 35.3 +/- 25.7% with a median of 30%. Cows in herds with a soft freestall base had an odds ratio (OR) for knee and hock lesions of 0.22 (0.06 to 0.73) and 0.62 (0.48 to 0.80), respectively, compared with those in herds with a harder freestall base, such as concrete and compact rubber mats. There was an increased risk of hock lesions when the length in the lying area in a double-row freestall was >250 cm (OR = 2.96; 1.02 to 8.60) compared with 260 cm (OR = 2.11; 1.53 to 2.90) compared with < or =260 cm. The risk for knee lesions increased if a row against a wall was >270 cm (OR = 1.72; 1.09 to 2.72) compared with < or =270 cm. Hock lesions were associated with lame cows (OR = 5.76; 1.14 to 29.18) versus nonlame cows, and with cows in their second or higher parity (OR = 1.27; 1.06 to 1.52) versus cows in their first parity. Knee lesions were associated with farmers' negative attitudes toward animals in pain (OR = 3.28; 1.79 to 6.03) versus those with positive attitudes; cows in the beginning of their lactation (OR = 1.84; 1.24 to 2.74) versus those at the end of their lactation; and tall animals (OR = 1.27; 1.00 to 1.61) versus shorter animals. These results show that freestall design is important with respect to skin lesions as are the characteristics of individual animals and the farmer.

Attitudes of veterinary students to pain in cattle.

Three hundred veterinary students were divided randomly into two groups to answer a questionnaire inquiring how painful they considered 23 conditions affecting cattle (seven of which were illustrated) to be, on either a numerical rating scale (NRS) or a visual analogue scale (VAS). The individual responses were used to assess whether cluster analysis could be used to divide the population into distinct groups. The ratios of men to women in the two groups were similar. The NRS scores ranged from 1 to 10 and the VAS scores ranged from 0 to 10. The conditions that were illustrated with a picture had a wider range of scores (2.65 to 9.0 v 2.67 to 7.93) and a slightly higher mean score (5.71 v 5.34) than those without pictures. Fracture of the tuber coxae, dystocia requiring the help of two people, and serious mastitis, were scored as the most painful conditions in adult cattle. Using the median score of each student as an outcome, their sex and year of enrollment and the scoring scale were significant. Women scored 0.9 points higher than men. Cluster analysis revealed two distinct groups in both the VAS and NRS, but the distribution was more even among the students using the VAS. This group was used in further analysis, and one cluster had the most men and more students with several siblings.