Evaluation of two-dimensional accelerometers to monitor behavior of beef calves after castration

White, Brad J.; Coetzee, Johann F.; Renter, David G.; Babcock, A. H.; Thomson, Daniel U.; Andresen, Daniel

doi:10.2460/ajvr.69.8.1005

Cited by 58 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(40 reference statements)

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“…The reduced time spent eating observed in our study is consistent with other findings in the literature that report reductions in grazing time [29,50], eating frequency [49,50,52] and, in the case of calves, suckling time [26]. The benefit of rescue analgesia with respect to this behaviour was also evident from the fact that the time spent feeding increased after rescue analgesia was performed.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…With respect to time spent lying down, the results reported in the literature vary according to whether xylazine and analgesics were used. It would seem that animals spend more time in the standing position when xylazine is not used [26,30,31,50] and that they spend more time lying down and less time moving around when it is used [33,51]. In the present study, although xylazine might contribute to lying down after the surgery, the fact that administration of additional analgesia resulted in less rather than more lying behaviour suggests that this behaviour is due to pain rather than to the sedative effect of xylazine.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Validation of the UNESP-Botucatu unidimensional composite pain scale for assessing postoperative pain in cattle

et al. 2014

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BackgroundThe recognition and measurement of pain in cattle are important in determining the necessity for and efficacy of analgesic intervention. The aim of this study was to record behaviour and determine the validity and reliability of an instrument to assess acute pain in 40 cattle subjected to orchiectomy after sedation with xylazine and local anaesthesia. The animals were filmed before and after orchiectomy to record behaviour. The pain scale was based on previous studies, on a pilot study and on analysis of the camera footage. Three blinded observers and a local observer assessed the edited films obtained during the preoperative and postoperative periods, before and after rescue analgesia and 24 hours after surgery. Re-evaluation was performed one month after the first analysis. Criterion validity (agreement) and item-total correlation using Spearman's coefficient were employed to refine the scale. Based on factor analysis, a unidimensional scale was adopted.ResultsThe internal consistency of the data was excellent after refinement (Cronbach’s α coefficient = 0.866). There was a high correlation (p < 0.001) between the proposed scale and the visual analogue, simple descriptive and numerical rating scales. The construct validity and responsiveness were confirmed by the increase and decrease in pain scores after surgery and rescue analgesia, respectively (p < 0.001). Inter- and intra-observer reliability ranged from moderate to very good. The optimal cut-off point for rescue analgesia was > 4, and analysis of the area under the curve (AUC = 0.963) showed excellent discriminatory ability.ConclusionThe UNESP-Botucatu unidimensional pain scale for assessing acute postoperative pain in cattle is a valid, reliable and responsive instrument with excellent internal consistency and discriminatory ability. The cut-off point for rescue analgesia provides an additional tool for guiding analgesic therapy.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-014-0200-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of the UNESP-Botucatu unidimensional composite pain scale for assessing postoperative pain in cattle

et al. 2014

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“…A linear model was used to evaluate distance traveled and potential associations with trial day, treatment, and the interaction between these variables. The proportions of time spent in each location or posture (in seconds or minutes, respectively) were analyzed using logit models to test for associations of potential effects in a similar manner to previous work [19]. Model effects included treatment (MEL, CON), trial day, and the interaction between these two variables.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of behavioral changes associated with oral meloxicam administration at time of dehorning in calves using a remote triangulation device and accelerometers

et al. 2012

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BackgroundDehorning is common in the cattle industry, and there is a need for research evaluating pain mitigation techniques. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of oral meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, on cattle behavior post-dehorning by monitoring the percent of time spent standing, walking, and lying in specific locations within the pen using accelerometers and a remote triangulation device. Twelve calves approximately ten weeks of age were randomized into 2 treatment groups (meloxicam or control) in a complete block design by body weight. Six calves were orally administered 0.5 mg/kg meloxicam at the time of dehorning and six calves served as negative controls. All calves were dehorned using thermocautery and behavior of each calf was continuously monitored for 7 days after dehorning using accelerometers and a remote triangulation device. Accelerometers monitored lying behavior and the remote triangulation device was used to monitor each calf’s movement within the pen.ResultsAnalysis of behavioral data revealed significant interactions between treatment (meloxicam vs. control) and the number of days post dehorning. Calves that received meloxicam spent more time at the grain bunk on trial days 2 and 6 post-dehorning; spent more time lying down on days 1, 2, 3, and 4; and less time at the hay feeder on days 0 and 1 compared to the control group. Meloxicam calves tended to walk more at the beginning and end of the trial compared to the control group. By day 5, the meloxicam and control group exhibited similar behaviors.ConclusionsThe noted behavioral changes provide evidence of differences associated with meloxicam administration. More studies need to be performed to evaluate the relationship of behavior monitoring and post-operative pain. To our knowledge this is the first published report demonstrating behavioral changes following dehorning using a remote triangulation device in conjunction with accelerometers.

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“…Typically, authors used accelerometry to monitor behavioral changes associated with reproduction [67,68] or behavioral responses to veterinary or husbandry practices [69][70][71][72][73][74]. In studying welfare of free-ranging wild species, mortality sensors are a common feature of telemeters and typically provide a special signal to alert researchers to the animal's demise [75].…”

Section: Survey Of Questions Currently Served By Accelerometry: Body mentioning

confidence: 99%

Observing the unwatchable through acceleration logging of animal behavior

et al. 2013

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Behavior is an important mechanism of evolution and it is paid for through energy expenditure. Nevertheless, field biologists can rarely observe animals for more than a fraction of their daily activities and attempts to quantify behavior for modeling ecological processes often exclude cryptic yet important behavioral events. Over the past few years, an explosion of research on remote monitoring of animal behavior using acceleration sensors has smashed the decades-old limits of observational studies. Animal-attached accelerometers measure the change in velocity of the body over time and can quantify fine-scale movements and body postures unlimited by visibility, observer bias, or the scale of space use. Pioneered more than a decade ago, application of accelerometers as a remote monitoring tool has recently surged thanks to the development of more accessible hardware and software. It has been applied to more than 120 species of animals to date. Accelerometer measurements are typically collected in three dimensions of movement at very high resolution (>10 Hz), and have so far been applied towards two main objectives. First, the patterns of accelerometer waveforms can be used to deduce specific behaviors through animal movement and body posture. Second, the variation in accelerometer waveform measurements has been shown to correlate with energy expenditure, opening up a suite of scientific questions in species notoriously difficult to observe in the wild. To date, studies of wild aquatic species outnumber wild terrestrial species and analyses of social behaviors are particularly few in number. Researchers of domestic and captive species also tend to report methodology more thoroughly than those studying species in the wild. There are substantial challenges to getting the most out of accelerometers, including validation, calibration, and the management and analysis of large quantities of data. In this review, we illustrate how accelerometers work, provide an overview of the ecological questions that have employed accelerometry, and highlight the emerging best practices for data acquisition and analysis. This tool offers a level of detail in behavioral studies of free-ranging wild animals that has previously been impossible to achieve and, across scientific disciplines, it improves understanding of the role of behavioral mechanisms in ecological and evolutionary processes. AbstractResumen: El comportamiento es un mecanismo importante de la evolución y que se paga a través del gasto de energía. Sin embargo, los biólogos de campo raramente observan los animales durante más de una fracción de sus actividades y los intentos de cuantificar el comportamiento para el modelado de los procesos ecológicos a menudo excluyen eventos crípticos pero importantes. En los últimos años se produjeron avances importantes en el monitoreo remoto del comportamiento de los animales, utilizando sensores de telemétro de aceleración (acelerómetros) que empujan los límites tradicionales de los estudios observacionales. Acelerómetros uni...

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Evaluation of two-dimensional accelerometers to monitor behavior of beef calves after castration

Abstract: 2-dimensional accelerometers provided accurate classification of posture and reasonable classification of activity. Applying the system in a castration trial illustrated the usefulness of accelerometers for measuring behavioral changes in individual calves.

Cited by 58 publications

References 33 publications

Validation of the UNESP-Botucatu unidimensional composite pain scale for assessing postoperative pain in cattle

Validation of the UNESP-Botucatu unidimensional composite pain scale for assessing postoperative pain in cattle

Assessment of behavioral changes associated with oral meloxicam administration at time of dehorning in calves using a remote triangulation device and accelerometers

Observing the unwatchable through acceleration logging of animal behavior

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