Dairy calf welfare is recognised to be compromised from common management practices. In this study heart rate variability (HRV) was used to measure stress in 25 young dairy calves to quantify the degraded welfare they experienced from weaning separation and isolation and also the painful disbudding procedure. It was shown the time spent on the cow before separation had a significant negative correlation to HRV (r2 = –0.68, P = 0.03). The longer a calf spent in isolation the lower its HRV 3 days after joining a group pen (P = 0.037). The removal of a dummy teat elicited a significant drop in HRV (P = 0.05), identifying the addictive properties of sucking in calves. Post disbudding stress, reflected by declining HRV values, was only partly alleviated by the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam after 48 h. The findings showed calf welfare would be improved by reducing the time between birth and separation and also the days spent in single pens. Providing dummy teats for individually housed calves showed potential as a positive environmental enrichment. Meloxicam may improve welfare by alleviating some chronic pain following hot iron disbudding. We conclude these findings illustrate that HRV, as a science-based animal-centric biomarker of animal welfare, may be used to help improve farmed animal practice.
Six members of the Irish Olympic Road Cycling Squad underwent a comprehensive medical, nutritional, psychological and biochemical assessment in January 1983. They were given specific medical and dietary recommendations and were reassessed in January 1984 after a period spanning the competitive racing season. The cyclists' diets at both sessions were comparable and generally conformed with recommended daily intakes. Supplementary ingestion was unnecessary to attain recommended daily intakes of vitamins. Serum levels of HDL-cholesterol increased and triglyceride decreased during the period of the study. The squad had characteristics indicating traits of self-sufficiency, toughness and practical mindedness. At the second assessment there was evidence of heightened ambition and competitiveness and an improvement in mood states with reduced ratings for confusion and tension.
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