Effects of Degree and Timing of Social Housing on Reversal Learning and Response to Novel Objects in Dairy Calves

Meagher, Rebecca K.; Daros, Ruan R.; Costa, J.H.C.; Keyserlingk, M.A.G. von; Hötzel, María José; Weary, Daniel M.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0132828

Cited by 85 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(78 reference statements)

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“…We are especially interested in the development of systems that work well from the perspective of biological functioning, naturalness and affective state. This includes methods to keep cows and calves together that maintain health and minimise the distress response to separation when it does occur (Johnsen et al 2015), as well as the development of other types of social housing for young calves that can provide some of the same benefits as does cow-calf rearing (Meagher et al 2015).…”

Section: Animal-welfare Science: Approaches and Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public concerns about dairy-cow welfare: how should the industry respond?

Weary

Keyserlingk

2017

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Abstract. Common practices on dairy farms have fallen out of step with public values, such that the dairy industry has now become a target for public criticism. In the present paper, we describe some of the forces that have led to the current situation, and various potential methods to rectify the situation. One approach is to shield industry practices from public scrutiny, for example, by using 'ag-gag' legislation to stem the flow of videos exposing contentious practices. Another is to educate members of the public so that they better understand the nature of these practices and the reasons that they are used on farms. The literature we reviewed indicated that neither of these approaches is likely to be successful. Instead, we suggest that the dairy industry needs to develop methods of meaningful two-way engagement with concerned citizens, including research using social-science methods to document the values of different stakeholders and examine approaches to resolving conflicts. We also reviewed how biological research can help resolve issues, for example, by developing rearing systems that address public concerns around freedom of movement and social contact without putting animals at an increased risk of disease. We end with a discussion of how policy efforts by the dairy industry can be used to ensure compliance with commonly accepted standards, and more ambitiously, develop a common vision of dairying that positions the industry as a leader in animal welfare.

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Section: Animal-welfare Science: Approaches and Limitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public concerns about dairy-cow welfare: how should the industry respond?

Weary

Keyserlingk

2017

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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“…Rearing method is thus expected to impact stress levels during the process of regrouping. Furthermore, interactions with the physical environment could be affected; indeed there is some evidence that early social conditions impact calves’ exploratory behaviour [39], social facilitation [38], cognition [40, 41] and food neophobia [42]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pair Housing of Dairy Calves and Age at Pairing: Effects on Weaning Stress, Health, Production and Social Networks

et al. 2017

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The early social environment can influence the health and behaviour of animals, with effects lasting into adulthood. In Europe, around 60% of dairy calves are reared individually during their first eight weeks of life, while others may be housed in pairs or small groups. This study assessed the effects of varying degrees of social contact on weaning stress, health and production during pen rearing, and on the social networks that calves later formed when grouped. Forty female Holstein-Friesian calves were allocated to one of three treatments: individually housed (I, n = 8), pair-housed from day five (P5, n = 8 pairs), and pair-housed from day 28 (P28, n = 8 pairs). From day 48, calves were weaned by gradual reduction of milk over three days, and vocalisations were recorded as a measure of stress for three days before, during and after weaning. Health and production (growth rate and concentrate intakes) were not affected by treatment during the weaning period or over the whole study. Vocalisations were highest post-weaning, and were significantly higher in I calves than pair-reared calves. Furthermore, P28 calves vocalised significantly more than P5 calves. The social network of calves was measured for one month after all calves were grouped in a barn, using association data from spatial proximity loggers. We tested for week-week stability, social differentiation and assortment in the calf network. Additionally, we tested for treatment differences in: coefficient of variation (CV) in association strength, percentage of time spent with ex-penmate (P5 and P28 calves only) and weighted degree centrality (the sum of the strength of an individual’s associations). The network was relatively stable from weeks one to four and was significantly differentiated, with individuals assorting based on prior familiarity. P5 calves had significantly higher CV in association strength than I calves in week one (indicating more heterogeneous social associations) but there were no significant treatment differences in week four. The mean percentage of time that individuals spent with their ex-penmate after regrouping decreased from weeks 1–4, though treatment did not affect this. There were also no significant differences in weighted degree centrality between calves in each rearing treatment. These results suggest that early pair-rearing can allow calves the stress buffering benefits of social support (and that this is more effective when calves are paired earlier) without compromising health or production, and sheds light on the early development of social behaviour in cattle.

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“…More complex social environments confer important benefits for the calf, for example, decreased weaning stress, lower reactivity in novel environments, improved social behaviour and enhanced performance when compared with calves housed individually (e.g. De Paula Vieira et al, 2010and 2012, Meagher et al, 2015.…”

Section: Case Studies Of Our Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Societal views and animal welfare science: understanding why the modified cage may fail and other stories

Weary

Ventura

Keyserlingk

2016

animal

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The innovations developed by scientists working on animal welfare are often not adopted in practice. In this paper, we argue that one important reason for this failure is that the solutions proposed do not adequately address the societal concerns that motivated the original research. Some solutions also fail because they do not adequately address perceived constraints within the industry. Using examples from our own recent work, we show how research methods from the social sciences can address both of these limitations. For example, those who persist in tail-docking cattle (despite an abundance of evidence showing that the practice has no benefits) often justify their position by citing concern for cow cleanliness. This result informs the nature of new extension efforts directed at farmers that continue to tail dock, suggesting that these efforts will be more effective if they focus on providing producers with methods (of proven efficacy) for keeping cows clean. Work on pain mitigation for dehorning shows that some participants reluctant to provide pain relief believe that the pain from this procedure is short lasting and has little impact on the calf. This result informs the direction of new biological research efforts to understand both the magnitude and duration of any suffering that result from this type of procedure. These, and other examples, illustrate how social science methodologies can document the shared and divergent values of different stakeholders (to ensure that proposed solutions align with mainstream values), beliefs regarding the available evidence (to help target new scientific research that meets the perceived gaps), and barriers in implementing changes (to ease adoption of ideas by addressing these barriers).

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Effects of Degree and Timing of Social Housing on Reversal Learning and Response to Novel Objects in Dairy Calves

Cited by 85 publications

References 63 publications

Public concerns about dairy-cow welfare: how should the industry respond?

Public concerns about dairy-cow welfare: how should the industry respond?

Pair Housing of Dairy Calves and Age at Pairing: Effects on Weaning Stress, Health, Production and Social Networks

Societal views and animal welfare science: understanding why the modified cage may fail and other stories

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