Individual Variability in Response to Social Stress in Dairy Heifers

Nogues, Emeline; Lecorps, Benjamin; Weary, Daniel M.; Keyserlingk, M.A.G. von

doi:10.3390/ani10081440

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…During the PRE period, most displacements were observed at the feed bunk, in line with previous work (Val-Laillet et al, 2008). The number of displacements increased in the POST period, and this corresponded to a higher proportion of displacements in the walking alley, with a lower proportion at the feed bunk in both groups, similar to recent findings in heifers (Nogues et al, 2020). Agonistic interactions in the walking alley were not directly associated with resource access, and thus the increase in this area was probably partly related to the formation of new dominance relationships (Kondo and Hurnik, 1990).…”

Section: Descriptive Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Familiarity influences social networks in dairy cows after regrouping

Foris

Haas

Langbein

et al. 2021

Journal of Dairy Science

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Regrouping is common practice when managing dairy cow groups, and it is known to have disruptive effects on behavior and production. The presence of a small group of familiar cows upon regrouping may provide social support and mitigate some of the negative effects. In this study we investigated (1) how regrouping affects social relationships among familiar cows and (2) if cows prefer familiar individuals over unfamiliar ones as social partners after regrouping. We used 3 established groups of cows to create 2 new groups, each containing 14 cows, using subgroups of familiar animals (i.e., 4, 6, and 4 cows) from the original groups. The new groups were similar in respect to the age, parity, and sire of cows. The frequencies of grooming and displacements were determined in the walking alley, lying stalls, and feed bunk by observing 48 h of continuous video before regrouping, directly after regrouping, and 1 wk later. First, social network analysis was applied to investigate the effects of regrouping on the relationships within the subgroups of familiar cows. Second, we determined if familiar cows were more or less connected than would be expected by chance (i.e., assortment), considering displacement, grooming, and feed bunk neighbor networks (derived from electronic feeder data) after regrouping. Regrouping increased the number of displacements, especially in the walking alley. Within the subgroups of familiar cows, regrouping resulted in slightly more displacements, but the network structure did not change. The frequency of grooming among familiar cows remained stable across all observation periods, and the network structure was not affected by regrouping. We found positive assortment in grooming and feed bunk neighbor networks, thereby suggesting that cows preferred familiar individuals as grooming partners and feeding neighbors directly after regrouping and, to a smaller extent, 1 wk later. The effect of familiarity on displacements depended on the pen area. The weak assortment directly after regrouping at the feed bunk indicated that familiar cows displaced each other more than unfamiliar ones, possibly because they were neighbors more often. Our results indicated that a small group of familiar cows may provide ongoing social buffering after regrouping. Further research with multiple groups and larger group sizes is needed to determine whether similar effects are consistently present when groups of familiar cows are subjected to regrouping.

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Section: Descriptive Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Familiarity influences social networks in dairy cows after regrouping

Foris

Haas

Langbein

et al. 2021

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…During the first 8 and last 8 h of regrouping, agonistic behaviors initiated or received by the focal heifer were continuously recorded (WV-CW504SP, Panasonic, Osaka, Japan). Behaviors were collected according to Nogues et al (2020). Briefly, these included displacements, replacements, avoidances, and fights (Table 1).…”

Section: Regrouping Induces Anhedonia-like Responses In Dairy Heifersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although regrouping has been shown to cause negative physiological (Veissier et al, 2001) and behavioral effects in dairy cattle (von Keyserlingk et al, 2008;Nogues et al, 2020), little is known regarding the effects of this routine practice on the affective states of cattle. Stressors originating from the social environment may trigger negative affective states (Beery and Kaufer, 2015) and when applied as chronic stressors can induce depressive-like states in laboratory animals (Wang et al, 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Regrouping induces anhedonia-like responses in dairy heifers

2020

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Regrouping (i.e., mixing individuals to form a new social group) is common on dairy farms. The practice is known to be stressful, but how cattle react emotionally to this stressor is still poorly understood. We studied whether heifers experience anhedonia (i.e., the reduced ability to experience pleasure) following regrouping by comparing their use of a mechanical brush before and after regrouping. Heifers reduced their use of the brush 8 h after regrouping, suggesting that they were experiencing anhedonia. This method shows promise for assessing affective states when animals are subjected to routine stressors. Highlights• Regrouping is a stressful experience for cattle • Reduced ability to experience pleasure (anhedonia) indicates negative mood state • We measured changes in brush use to assess anhedonia in 6-mo-old heifers • Regrouping resulted in reduced brush use, indicative of low mood Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems,

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“…Researchers have demonstrated that rats and pigs may react to social stressors by engaging in more aggressive behavior ( 40 , 41 ). Alternatively, Nogues et al ( 42 ) reported that some heifers avoided engaging in aggressive interactions, whereas, other heifers engaged in more aggressive interactions after regrouping. Interestingly, in that study, those heifers less willing to engage spent less time feeding and resting than the heifers that were more willing to engage in aggressive interactions to access important resources (i.e., feed bunk, lying stalls, waterers).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of a Dietary Citrus Extract on the Behavior and Production of Lactating Dairy Cows Following Regrouping: A Preliminary Study

et al. 2022

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Exposure of lab animals, humans, and pigs to olfactory sensory feed additives may reduce response to stress and anxiety. The objective of this preliminary study was to determine if feeding a citrus-based olfactory sensory functional feed extract (derived from Citrus sinensis) reduces the negative impact of regrouping of lactating dairy cows. Thirty-two (parity = 2.0 ± 1.2; mean ± SD), mid-lactation Holstein dairy cows (169.8 ± 16.8 DIM) were enrolled as focal cows in this study and housed individually in a tie-stall facility where they were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment diets: (1) control total mixed ration (TMR) (control; n = 16; primiparous = 7; multiparous = 9), or (2) control TMR with 4 g/d of citrus extract (CE) (Phodé, Terssac, France) (CE; n = 16; primiparous = 7; multiparous = 9). Cows were fed their experimental diets for 7 d in the tie-stall facility (baseline), then moved to 1 of 2 experimental free-stall pens (containing 29 other cows) for a period of 7 d, where they remained on the same treatment diet as before. Compared with their baseline, primiparous control cows had decreased rumination time on d 1 and 2, had decreased lying time on d 1, and tended to have decreased lying time on d 2 and 3 following regrouping. In contrast, primiparous cows fed the CE diet did not experience a change in rumination and lying time. Primiparous CE cows had greater feeding time on d 1 and tended to have greater feeding time on d 2 after regrouping compared to primiparous control cows. Primiparous control cows had greater idle standing time, as compared to the CE cows, across the 7 d after regrouping. Primiparous CE cows initiated less total competitive behavior after regrouping, but were also displaced more frequently from the feed bunk and from the free stalls on d 1 after regrouping, as compared to the primiparous control cows. For multiparous cows, CE supplementation was not consistently associated with any benefits to behavior or production after regrouping, possibly because these cows were more experienced with social stressors. Results indicate that feeding CE to mid-lactation naïve primiparous dairy cows may reduce the initiation of competitive interactions and lessen the reduction in rumination and lying time after regrouping. These results need to be verified in further studies where potential confounding effects (e.g., pen social dynamics, pen location) are minimized.

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Individual Variability in Response to Social Stress in Dairy Heifers

Cited by 17 publications

References 43 publications

Familiarity influences social networks in dairy cows after regrouping

Familiarity influences social networks in dairy cows after regrouping

Regrouping induces anhedonia-like responses in dairy heifers

Impact of a Dietary Citrus Extract on the Behavior and Production of Lactating Dairy Cows Following Regrouping: A Preliminary Study

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