Important role of dominance in allogrooming behaviour in beef cattle

Šárová, Radka; Gutmann, Anke Kristina; Špinka, Marek; Stěhulová, Ilona; Winckler, Christoph

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.05.017

Cited by 28 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Some cows were very active and central in the network, while others almost did not interact. Previous studies on social grooming in cattle found similar results (17,47,48,56), suggesting that specific individuals might be key players in the network structure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…Contact networks, based on direct or indirect observations, can provide more detailed information as for example the type of interaction and the directionality (who starts the interaction and who receives it). Despite the major potential for social grooming networks to provide information on the dynamic of social behavior, those specific networks have been rarely explored in cattle (47,48).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding Allogrooming Through a Dynamic Social Network Approach: An Example in a Group of Dairy Cows

et al. 2020

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For gregarious species such as domestic cattle, the social environment is a very important determinant of their welfare and fitness. Understanding the complexity of cows' relationships can assist the development of management practices that are more integrated with the cows' social behavioral processes. The two aims of this study were: (1) to determine the dynamics of affiliative relationships, as indicated by allogrooming, by means of stochastic actor-oriented modeling, in dairy cows during early lactation; (2) to explore the underlying processes and the individual attributes, such as age, social rank and reproductive state, that could shape network pattern changes in grooming contacts between individual. We observed the allogrooming behavior of a dynamic group of 38 dairy cows for 4 h per day for 30 days. Using stochastic actor-oriented models, we modeled the dynamics of weekly contacts and studied how structural processes (e.g., reciprocity, transitivity, or popularity) and individual attributes (i.e., age, social rank, and reproductive state) influence network changes. We found that cows tended to groom individuals that had previously groomed them, implying a possible cooperation. Cows that groomed more actively did not appear to have a preference for specific individuals in the herd, and in return, tended to be groomed by fewer cows over time. Older individuals groomed more cows than younger ones, indicating that allogrooming could be related to seniority. Cows groomed mainly individuals of similar age, suggesting that familiarity and growing up together enhanced social grooming. Over time, cows with higher social rank were groomed by fewer cows and individuals recently reintroduced to the group groomed more herdmates. The study of social network dynamics can be used to better understand the complexity and non-linearity of cow relationships. Our findings, along with further research, can complement and strengthen the design of improved management practices that are more in line with the natural social behavior of cows.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Allogrooming Through a Dynamic Social Network Approach: An Example in a Group of Dairy Cows

et al. 2020

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“…However, determining the criteria for defining which time intervals fall within bouts and which fall between bouts requires consideration. Some previous authors have used various bout criteria for characterizing allogrooming, based on the ability to make reliable measurements between observers (Laister et al, 2011), in reference to previous works (Tresoldi et al, 2015;Šárová et al, 2016), or without clear justification (Sato et al, 1991;Krohn, 1994;Val-Laillet et al, 2009). However, more rigorous approaches to determining bout criteria have been developed, for example, to determine meal criteria for feeding behavior (Tolkamp et al, 1998;Yeates et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing grooming behavior patterns and the influence of brush access on the behavior of group-housed dairy calves

Horvath

Miller-Cushon

2019

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…In this regard, Bøe and Faerevik (2003) reported that young animals have higher rates of social interactions than adult ones. Nevertheless, in female herds, as reported by Reinhardt et al (1986), social ranking is related to the age of the animals. In our study, even though the herd consisted mainly of females, hierarchies related to the age of the animals were not detected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The activity of moving also proved to be a social activity like grazing, as indicated by the density, the degree, closeness, and betweenness centrality. Similarly, the necessity of maintaining social coherence under conditions of mobility in grazing cattle was also stated by Sato (1982). However, due to the fact that moving is an antagonistic activity, water buffaloes did not tend to socialize as much as during grazing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Proximity patterns in water buffaloes' activities on pasture

et al. 2020

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Abstract. Water buffaloes are considered social animals and perform several activities on pasture, such as grazing, moving, standing, ruminating, wallowing, lying, and drinking. However, the way these animals form their social structure in the herd during each one of these activities is still unknown. Literature for water buffaloes has focused mainly on their productive characteristics, impact of grazing on wetlands and behavior during grazing but failed to address the way these animals form their social organization during their activities on pasture. In this study, the tools of social network analysis are used to analyze, detect, and depict the proximity patterns in water buffaloes' activities on pasture and the effect of their age and gender on them. We describe and interpret a series of global and local network indices, and show that the water buffaloes differentiate their social structure in their activities on pasture and that the animals' age and gender affect their interacting patterns, and provide a framework for the application of social network analysis on grazing animals' social behavioral studies. We expect that this framework could be used in future research to provide information regarding the social structure of other kinds of animals that graze in different forage and climatic environments and help animal breeders to improve their management practices.

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Important role of dominance in allogrooming behaviour in beef cattle

Cited by 28 publications

References 54 publications

Understanding Allogrooming Through a Dynamic Social Network Approach: An Example in a Group of Dairy Cows

Understanding Allogrooming Through a Dynamic Social Network Approach: An Example in a Group of Dairy Cows

Characterizing grooming behavior patterns and the influence of brush access on the behavior of group-housed dairy calves

Proximity patterns in water buffaloes' activities on pasture

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