scholarly journals Welfare assessment in dairy cows using hair cortisol as a part of monitoring protocols

2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (S1) ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Urška Vesel ◽  
Tea Pavič ◽  
Jožica Ježek ◽  
Tomaž Snoj ◽  
Jože Starič
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Cortisol Concentration ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Potential Marker ◽  
Hair Samples ◽  
Welfare Quality ◽  
Monitoring Protocols

AbstractWelfare of dairy cows can be assessed using welfare assessment protocols consisting of resource, management and animal-based measures. Welfare Quality® Assessment Protocol is one of the best-known protocols, which depends almost entirely on animal-based measures. To gain more objective and rapid welfare assessment, new techniques have been developed to measure welfare of animals, such as hair cortisol concentration. As cortisol is released in response to stress, it has long been used as a biomarker of stress in animals. While the precise mechanism of cortisol incorporation into hair is unknown, hair cortisol concentration seems to be a marker of long-term systemic cortisol concentration. Hair cortisol is, therefore, a potential marker of chronic stress and is not likely to be affected by acute stress. Studies on cattle show connections between hair cortisol concentration and factors such as pregnancy, parity, diseases, ectoparasites, body condition score, environmental changes, stocking density and milk yield. Hair cortisol concentration appears to be affected by time of sampling, cow age and breed, UV radiation, season, body region of sampled hair and hair colour. Its concentration also depends on sampling and analytical methods. Hair cortisol is a promising non-invasive tool to evaluate welfare of dairy cows, however, more research is needed to determine the extent of effects on its concentration and the appropriate method of sampling and analysis. Correlations between Welfare Quality® Assessment Protocol scores and pooled hair cortisol concentrations have not yet been found, and more research is needed with larger sample size, a standardized protocol of hair sampling, processing and analysis. With proper attention to detail, hair cortisol levels in pooled hair samples might come to be used as a reliable indicator of dairy animal welfare.

scholarly journals A New, Practical Animal Welfare Assessment for Dairy Farmers

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 881
Author(s):  
Frank J. C. M. van Eerdenburg ◽  
Alice M. Di Giacinto ◽  
Jan Hulsen ◽  
Bert Snel ◽  
J. Arjan Stegeman
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Welfare Quality ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Category Score ◽  
Poor Welfare

The Welfare Quality® assessment protocol (WQ) is the most extensive way to measure animal welfare. This study was set up to determine if resource-based welfare indicators, that are easier and faster to measure, could replace the more time consuming, animal-based measurements of the WQ. The WQ was applied on 60 dairy farms in the Netherlands, with good, moderate and poor welfare. The WQ protocol classified most farms (87%) as ‘acceptable’. Several of the animal-based measures of WQ correlated well with measures in the environment. Using these correlations, an alternative welfare assessment protocol (new Welfare Monitor) was designed, which takes approximately 1.5 h for a farm with 100 dairy cows. Because the opinion of farmers about welfare assessment is important if one wants to improve conditions for the cows at a farm, another objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the new Welfare Monitor for the farmer. Over two years, the farms were visited, and advice was given to improve the conditions at the farm. After the first welfare assessment and advice, farmers improved the conditions for their cows substantially. Farms where the category score had increased made more improvements on average than those that did not upgrade.

scholarly journals The Relation between Hair-Cortisol Concentration and Various Welfare Assessments of Dutch Dairy Farms

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 821
Author(s):  
Frank J. C. M. van Eerdenburg ◽  
Tessa Hof ◽  
Benthe Doeve ◽  
Lars Ravesloot ◽  
Elly C. Zeinstra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Correlation ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Strong Positive Correlation ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Farm Animal Welfare ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Welfare Quality

Many protocols have been developed to assess farm animal welfare. However, the validity of these protocols is still subject to debate. The present study aimed to compare nine welfare assessment protocols, namely: (1) Welfare Quality© (WQ), (2) a modified version of Welfare Quality (WQ Mod), which has a better discriminative power, (3) WelzijnsWijzer (Welfare Indicator; WW), (4) a new Welfare Monitor (WM), (5) Continue Welzijns Monitor (Continuous Welfare Monitor; CWM), (6) KoeKompas (Cow Compass; KK), (7) Cow Comfort Scoring System (CCSS), (8) Stall Standing Index (SSI) and (9) a Welfare Index (WI Tuyttens). In addition, a simple welfare estimation by veterinarians (Estimate vets, EV) was added. Rank correlation coefficients were calculated between each of the welfare assessment protocol scores and mean hair cortisol concentrations from 10 cows at 58 dairy farms spread over the Netherlands. Because it has been suggested that the hair cortisol level is related to stress, experienced over a long period of time, we expected a negative correlation between cortisol and the result of the welfare protocol scores. Only the simple welfare estimation by veterinarians (EV) (ρ = −0.28) had a poor, but significant, negative correlation with hair cortisol. This correlations, however, failed to reach significance after correction of p-values for multiple correlations. Most of the results of the different welfare assessment protocols had a poor, fair or strong positive correlation with each other, supporting the notion that they measure something similar. Additional analyses revealed that the modified Welfare Quality protocol parameters housing (ρ = −0.30), the new Welfare Monitor (WM) parameter health (ρ = −0.33), and milk yield (ρ = −0.33) showed negative correlations with cortisol. We conclude that because only five out of all the parameter scores from the welfare assessment protocols showed a negative, albeit weak, correlation with cortisol, hair cortisol levels may not provide a long term indicator for stress in dairy cattle, or alternatively, that the protocols might not yield valid indices for cow welfare.

scholarly journals Welfare assessment for dairy cows in loose stalls

2011 ◽  
Vol 65 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 399-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Slavca Hristov ◽  
Zvonko Zlatanovic ◽  
Branislav Stankovic ◽  
Dusica Ostojic-Andric ◽  
Vesna Davidovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Dairy Cow ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Quantitative Measurements ◽  
Welfare Quality ◽  
Cow Welfare ◽  
Insight Into

In this paper, welfare assessment using the methodology of the Welfare quality ? assessment protocol for cattle (2009) was performed for dairy cows maintained in the loose system of rearing on three dairy farms. This methodology includes quantitative measurements and qualitative evaluation of certain welfare parameters, criteria and principles of welfare, as well as assessment of the overall welfare of dairy cows. The results showed that the overall level of dairy cow welfare was acceptable on two farms, and was good on one. On two farms, the state of the cows? social behavior expression was unacceptable. Furthermore, on all three farms, the expression of other types of cow behavior was not acceptable. At one farm, it was determined that the result for the absence of prolonged thirst was unacceptable. Based on these results, it can be concluded that it is necessary to improve the quality of cow welfare on these farms. The applied methodology provides a multidimensional insight into the quality of cow welfare in the loose system.

scholarly journals Navigating the iceberg: reducing the number of parameters within the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for dairy cows

animal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1978-1986 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.A.E. Heath ◽  
W.J. Browne ◽  
S. Mullan ◽  
D.C.J. Main
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Welfare Quality

scholarly journals Test−Retest Reliability of the ‘Welfare Quality® Animal Welfare Assessment Protocol for Sows and Piglets’. Part 1. Assessment of the Welfare Principle of ‘Appropriate Behavior’

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich ◽  
Krieter ◽  
Kemper ◽  
Czycholl
Keyword(s):  
Animal Welfare ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Retest Reliability ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Appropriate Behavior ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Smallest Detectable Change ◽  
Welfare Quality ◽  
Animal Welfare Assessment ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

The present study’s aim was to assess the test−retest reliability (TRR) of the ‘Welfare Quality® animal welfare assessment protocol for sows and piglets’ focusing on the welfare principle ‘appropriate behavior’. TRR was calculated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (RS), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), smallest detectable change (SDC), and limits of agreement (LoA). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used for deeper analysis of the Qualitative Behavior Assessment (QBA). The study was conducted on thirteen farms in Northern Germany, which were visited five times by the same observer. Farm visits 1 (F1; day 0) were compared to farm visits 2 to 5 (F2–F5). The QBA indicated no TRR when applying the statistical parameters introduced above (e.g., ‘playful‘ (F1–F4) RS 0.08 ICC 0.00 SDC 0.50 LoA [−0.62, 0.38]). The PCA detected contradictory TRR. Acceptable TRR could be found for parts of the instantaneous scan sampling (e.g., negative social behavior (F1–F3) RS 0.45 ICC 0.37 SDC 0.02 LoA [−0.03, 0.02]). The human−animal relationship test solely achieved poor TRR, whereas scans for stereotypies showed sufficient TRR (e.g., floor licking (F1–F4) RS 0.63 ICC 0.52 SDC 0.05 LoA [−0.08, 0.04]). Concluding, the principle ‘appropriate behavior’ does not represent TRR and further investigation is needed before implementation on-farm.

scholarly journals Information Technologies for Welfare Monitoring in Pigs and Their Relation to Welfare Quality®

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 692
Author(s):  
Mona L. V. Larsen ◽  
Meiqing Wang ◽  
Tomas Norton
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Objective Assessment ◽  
Drinking Behaviour ◽  
Production Chain ◽  
Welfare Assessment ◽  
Pig Production ◽  
Assessment Protocol ◽  
Welfare Quality ◽  
On Farm

The assessment of animal welfare on-farm is important to ensure that current welfare standards are followed. The current manual assessment proposed by Welfare Quality® (WQ), although being an essential tool, is only a point-estimate in time, is very time consuming to perform, only evaluates a subset of the animals, and is performed by the subjective human. Automation of the assessment through information technologies (ITs) could provide a continuous objective assessment in real-time on all animals. The aim of the current systematic review was to identify ITs developed for welfare monitoring within the pig production chain, evaluate the ITs developmental stage and evaluate how these ITs can be related to the WQ assessment protocol. The systematic literature search identified 101 publications investigating the development of ITs for welfare monitoring within the pig production chain. The systematic literature analysis revealed that the research field is still young with 97% being published within the last 20 years, and still growing with 63% being published between 2016 and mid-2020. In addition, most focus is still on the development of ITs (sensors) for the extraction and analysis of variables related to pig welfare; this being the first step in the development of a precision livestock farming system for welfare monitoring. The majority of the studies have used sensor technologies detached from the animals such as cameras and microphones, and most investigated animal biomarkers over environmental biomarkers with a clear focus on behavioural biomarkers over physiological biomarkers. ITs intended for many different welfare issues have been studied, although a high number of publications did not specify a welfare issue and instead studied a general biomarker such as activity, feeding behaviour and drinking behaviour. The ‘good feeding’ principle of the WQ assessment protocol was the best represented with ITs for real-time on-farm welfare assessment, while for the other principles only few of the included WQ measures are so far covered. No ITs have yet been developed for the ‘Comfort around resting’ and the ‘Good human-animal relationship’ criteria. Thus, the potential to develop ITs for welfare assessment within the pig production is high and much work is still needed to end up with a remote solution for welfare assessment on-farm and in real-time.

scholarly journals Preventing ectoparasite infestations reduces glucocorticoid concentrations in the hair of cows – short communication

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 390-393
Author(s):  
Sreten Nedić ◽  
Danijela Kirovski ◽  
Ivan Vujanac ◽  
Radiša Prodanović ◽  
Ljubomir Jovanović ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
Treated Group ◽  
Holstein Cows ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Hair Samples ◽  
Cortisol Levels

The aim of this study was to compare hair corticosteroid concentrations in ectoparasiticide-treated (n = 10) and non-treated (n = 12) Holstein cows. Animals in the treated group received cyfluthrin three times, on days 0, 28 and 56 of the experiment. Hair samples were collected from all cows on days 0, 21, 42, 63, and 84 of the experiment for the determination of cortisol and corticosterone concentrations using immunoassays. The respective hair cortisol concentrations in the treated group averaged 209.78, 165.10, 260.78, 177.44 and 183.11 ng/g, while in the non-treated group hair cortisol concentrations averaged 172.58, 243.58, 309.73, 199.75 and 207.09 ng/g. These results indicate that the control of ectoparasites reduced hair cortisol levels in dairy cows. The respective hair corticosterone concentrations in the treated group averaged 19.06, 22.95, 21.95, 21.60 and 24.84 ng/g and in the non-treated group the hair corticosterone concentrations averaged 17.28, 21.94, 34.05, 26.27 and 26.91 ng/g. The results suggest that longterm stress can be estimated better by the determination of hair cortisol rather than corticosterone concentrations.

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