Optimism and pasture access in dairy cows

Crump, Andrew; Jenkins, Kirsty; Bethell, Emily; Ferris, C.P.; Kabboush, Helen; Weller, Jennifer E.; Arnott, Gareth

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-84371-x

Cited by 37 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…Therefore, we cannot exclude the possibility that our housing conditions effectively influenced heifer affective states but that our JBT set-up was not sensitive enough to detect shifts in judgement bias. Our results are in line with Crump and colleagues 52 who also failed to detect a shift in cows’ pessimism given access to pasture, while using a similar Go/NoGo spatial JBT. Therefore, we encourage researchers to develop alternatives of our JBT set-up (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Housing and personality effects on judgement and attention biases in dairy cows

Kremer

Bus

Webb

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Affective states can be inferred from responses to ambiguous and threatening stimuli, using Judgement Bias Tasks (JBTs) and Attention Bias Tasks (ABTs). We investigated the separate and interactive effects of personality and housing conditions on dairy cattle affective states. We assessed personality in 48 heifers using Open-Field, Novel-Object and Runway tests. Personality effects on responses to the JBT and to the ABT were examined when heifers were housed under reference conditions. Heifers were subsequently housed under positive or negative conditions, and housing effects on animal responses in both tasks were investigated while controlling for personality. A Principal Component Analysis revealed three personality traits labelled Activity, Fearfulness and Sociability. Under reference conditions, personality influenced heifers’ responses to the JBT and to the ABT, therefore questioning the tasks’ generalizability across individuals. Against expectations, housing did not influence responses to the JBT and heifers in the negative conditions looked at the threat later than heifers in the positive or reference conditions. More research is warranted to confirm the validity and the repeatability of the JBT and of the ABT as appropriate measures of affective states in dairy cows.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Housing and personality effects on judgement and attention biases in dairy cows

Kremer

Bus

Webb

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Sensitivity to housing conditions along the lines predicted by the theory has been shown in several species, e.g., rats (Van der Harst et al, 2003;Makowska and Weary, 2016) and mink (Vinke et al, 2004). A recent study on calves showed differences in the predicted direction when comparing the anticipatory response of calves from basic and enriched housing (Neave et al, 2021), and similar results have been found for adult cattle (Crump et al, 2021) (Table 4). However, care needs to be taken since very bad situations may also lead to reduced anticipatory behaviour due to anhedonia (Lecorps et al, 2019).…”

Section: Anticipatory Behavioursupporting

confidence: 63%

Towards a Positive Welfare Protocol for Cattle: A Critical Review of Indicators and Suggestion of How We Might Proceed

et al. 2021

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Current animal welfare protocols focus on demonstrating the absence (or at least low levels) of indicators of poor welfare, potentially creating a mismatch between what is expected by society (an assurance of good animal welfare) and what is actually being delivered (an assurance of the absence of welfare problems). This paper explores how far we have come, and what work still needs to be done, if we are to develop a protocol for use on commercial dairy farms where the aim is to demonstrate the presence of positive welfare. Following conceptual considerations around a perceived “ideal” protocol, we propose that a future protocol should be constructed (i) of animal-based measures, (ii) of indicators of affective state, and (iii) be structured according to indicators of short-term emotion, medium-term moods and long-term cumulative assessment of negative and positive experiences of an animal's life until now (in contrast to the current focus on indicators that represent different domains/criteria of welfare). These three conditions imposed the overall structure within which we selected our indicators. The paper includes a critical review of the literature on potential indicators of positive affective states in cattle. Based on evidence about the validity and reliability of the different indicators, we select ear position, play, allogrooming, brush use and QBA as candidate indicators that we suggest could form a prototype positive welfare protocol. We emphasise that this prototype protocol has not been tested in practice and so it is perhaps not the protocol itself that is the main outcome of this paper, but the process of trying to develop it. In a final section of this paper, we reflect on some of the lessons learnt from this exercise and speculate on future perspectives. For example, while we consider we have moved towards a prototype positive welfare protocol for short-term affective states, future research energy should be directed towards valid indicators for the medium and long-term.

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“…In VRG, grazing management is planned to offer high-quality nutrition from multispecies pastures, and paddocks are designed to have water and shade available at all times, minimising the effect of animal dominance over resources, i.e., resources are placed in ways that maximise the access of subordinated animals (e.g., [ 41 ]). Therefore, animals are able to fulfil their ethological needs of grazing and having outdoor access [ 164 , 165 ] forming social bonds [ 166 , 167 ] and grooming freely, a behaviour that is highly valuable for some ruminant species [ 168 ].…”

Section: Voisin Rational Grazing Responds To Current Global Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voisin Rational Grazing as a Sustainable Alternative for Livestock Production

Filho

Seó

Daros

et al. 2021

Animals

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Current livestock practices do not meet current real-world social and environmental requirements, pushing farmers away from rural areas and only sustaining high productivity through the overuse of fossil fuels, causing numerous environmental side effects. In this narrative review, we explore how the Voisin Rational Grazing (VRG) system responds to this problem. VRG is an agroecological system based on four principles that maximise pasture growth and ruminant intake, while, at the same time, maintaining system sustainability. It applies a wide range of regenerative agricultural practices, such as the use of multispecies swards combined with agroforestry. Planning allows grazing to take place when pastures reach their optimal resting period, thus promoting vigorous pasture regrowth. Moreover, paddocks are designed in a way that allow animals to have free access to water and shade, improving overall animal welfare. In combination, these practices result in increased soil C uptake and soil health, boost water retention, and protect water quality. VRG may be used to provide ecosystem services that mitigate some of the current global challenges and create opportunities for farmers to apply greener practices and become more resilient. It can be said that VRG practitioners are part of the initiatives that are rethinking modern livestock agriculture. Its main challenges, however, arise from social constraints. More specifically, local incentives and initiatives that encourage farmers to take an interest in the ecological processes involved in livestock farming are still lacking. Little research has been conducted to validate the empirical evidence of VRG benefits on animal performance or to overcome VRG limitations.

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Optimism and pasture access in dairy cows

Cited by 37 publications

References 94 publications

Housing and personality effects on judgement and attention biases in dairy cows

Housing and personality effects on judgement and attention biases in dairy cows

Towards a Positive Welfare Protocol for Cattle: A Critical Review of Indicators and Suggestion of How We Might Proceed

Voisin Rational Grazing as a Sustainable Alternative for Livestock Production

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