Pre-partum udder massaging as a means for reduction of fear in primiparous cows at milking.

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During the first 76 days of lactation, primiparous cows were observed to determine the effects of varying frequencies of pre-partum udder massage (45, 30 or 15 massaging sessions on alternate days during last trimester of pregnancy) on temperament score, milk letdown time, milk flow rate, and frequency of urination and defecation. During milking, the restlessness of the animals that had been exposed to pre-partum udder massage was reduced significantly compared to animals in the control group. The median value of milk letdown time varied from 23 to 31 s while the median value of milk flow rate varied from 13 to 16 g/s in the massaged groups compared to 46-50 s and 8-9 g/s, respectively in the control group. All of the differences were significant. Both urination and defecation frequencies were significantly high up to the 16th day of lactation in the non-massaged group. Conclusions stated that udder massaging for 30 sessions would reduce the level of fear in primiparous cows and also facilitate clean milk production.

Long-term detrimental effects of tooth clipping or grinding in piglets: a histological approach.

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Histological examination was carried out on young piglets in order to assess the consequences of tooth resection over the days following the tooth clipping. The methods of tooth clipping with clippers, and grinding by use of a rotating grindstone were compared. Piglets were slaughtered at days 3, 6, 13, 27, and 48 after tooth resection in order to collect their teeth and prepare the teeth for histological examination. Both clipping and grinding were found to induce lesions such as pulp cavity opening, fracture, hemorrhage, infiltration or abscess, and osteodentine formation. Most of these effects occurred sooner and were a larger problem after teeth clipping than after grinding. Conclusions stated that tooth grinding was still likely to cause severe pain in piglets. Thus, it was proposed that the rationale of the practice should be reevaluated.

Short-term spatial memory in the domestic horse

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This study was conducted to determine if horses could successfully remember where to find food after a delay in seeing and hearing where the food was initially placed. Twelve horses were tested individually in an arena. At the beginning of the test, the horses were maintained immobile in the arena where they could see and hear the food being delivered in one of two positions in the arena. The horse’s ability to find the food was tested immediately after the food was delivered and after a delay of 10 seconds after the food was delivered. Each test was repeated 40 times initially and repeated 40 times three months later. The results indicated that horses were successful in the immediate release tests, but not in the 10 second delayed release tests. The authors concluded that horses may not have a prospective type of memory and therefore limitations in recall abilities. These results are important to consider for the welfare of horses and during training, such as problems in overestimating their mental abilities and the effects of delaying reinforcements.

Feather pecking in laying hens: new insight and directions for research?

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Based on behaviour, physiology, development and genetics, the new findings and future research studies on feather pecking in laying hens were outlined in the this article. Four topics were covered, first being the relationship between gentle and severe feather pecking. The occurrence of gentle feather pecking at a young age was not a good predictor as to whether or not the hens would feather peck later on in life. Researchers than compared the response to restraint of hens that were highly prone to feather peck with those that were not likely to feather peck. Birds that were more likely to feather peck tended to be proactive to restraint, which means they develop rigid routine and are motivated by internal mechanisms. While hens that were not prove to feather peck tended be reactive to restraint, which means that these hens have a more flexible behavioural repertoire and respond more to external stimuli. This research may lead to identifying hens that are more likely to feather peck. Researchers than examined the underlying cause of feather pecking, and found that it could be how the hens redirect the motivation to ground peck (either because of the inability to dustbathe or forage). However, feather pecking in young hens could also be a form of social exploration. Feather pecking is known to be a trait that can be passed onto the offspring. By combining the efforts from various research disciplines, may by the most practical way to prevent feather pecking in the future.

Welfare implications of avian osteoporosis

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In the mid-20th century, after laying hens started being housed in cages, cage layer fatigue began appearing. It was discovered that cage layer fatigue was due to excessive bone loss, causing osteoporosis and bone brittleness. The ribs, keel and thoracic vertebrae are common sites for bone fractures to occur. Sometimes paralysis also occurs due to vertebral fracture damaging the spinal cord. Highly productive caged laying hens inevitably develop osteoporosis. Metabolic deficiencies of calcium, phosphorous, or vitamin D can worsen the condition. Increased physical activity among laying hens has been shown to reduce the incidence of osteoporosis and cage layer fatigue. Bone weakness may have a genetic component that can be selected against and therefore reduce the incidence of this problem. Pain, debility, and mortality are some of the welfare concerns. Also, with increased bone brittleness there are welfare concerns about catching and transporting these hens. Hunane on-farm killing methods for spent hens should be considered a high priority research agenda.

Pathogens in the Environment

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A study completed recently for the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative and the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council by Dr. R. A. Holley at the University of Manitoba reviewed the results of a lot of research on the risk of intestinal illness in humans from pathogens originating in both humans and animals. The study consisted of a review and analysis of the literature. It was not based on any laboratory or field experiments of its own although several databases were analyzed. The study revealed that a lot is known on the subject but it also revealed significant gaps in the science and in surveillance data. Dr. Holley’s study focused initially on the mechanisms for contracting enteric illness in humans from animals through food, water, air and direct contact with animals and humans. One observation made by Dr. Holley is that, notwithstanding that Canada’s export of pork is increasing (while domestic consumption remains constant); food-borne illness caused by pork in Canada is declining. This would suggest that hog producers and pork processors are doing a good job. He cautions, on the other hand, that surveillance data is not very comprehensive and that more confidence could be placed in this observation if the data were more robust. Dr. Holley concludes that, “given the currently available data, pork is not considered a major source of food-borne infection in Canada and reports of illness from any food contaminated by hog manure do not exist in North America”. However, he warns, “the potential exists for manure to be an important vector”. He expresses concern that standard culture methods for pathogens are periodically unreliable and suggests that there is a need to improve sensitivity and specificity. Dr. Holley’s study confirmed the knowledge that pathogens can migrate for significant distances and at high rates in the environment. More specifically, he found that some studies have shown that pathogens from manure, using currently acceptable application practices, can travel through soil and reach receiving waters, which are subsequently used as public water sources. He declares that “although it is impossible to predict the mobility of these pathogens in soil in Manitoba, it is clear that the potential exists for microorganisms to be transported in the environment and to contaminate regional water supplies.” He notes, in concluding, that the regulation of manure management in most jurisdictions is based on nutrients and odour rather than risk from pathogens.

Nursery Management: Hygiene and Feeding Management Practices to Ensure Healthy Pigs

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Intestinal diseases are still a problem with nursery-aged pigs. Good hygiene practices are essential for minimizing disease, and this includes running all-in-all-out and washing/sanitization. Barns should be built with materials that are easy to clean. This involves smooth surfaces because of the fact that more infectious organic matter can be lodged in crevices in rough surfaced materials. Dampening the room before high-powered washing can sustain the fecal matter and make removal easier. Proper disinfection should follow immediately after washing to help minimize such diseases as PCV2. Dipping in boot baths along is not suffice; boots need to be scrubbed and cleaned prior to disinfecting in the boot bath.

Three basic rules for a nursery pigs nutritional program include: 1) Start with as heavy a pig as possible. Due to the industry weaning early, the heavier and older pigs tend to grow faster and do better health-wise. 2) Feed as simple diets as possible. This includes lowest-cost feed (to an extent), which can include soybean and grains. The pigs energy feed intake must be maximized (by use of ingredients such as fats) and we make sure that the ingredients used are digestible by the piglets. Supplementing nursery diets with 3000 ppm Zinc Oxide post-weaning has also been observed to have beneficial effects in helping control post-weaning E. coli infections. 3) Focus on nursery feeding management. Adding fiber or restricting feed intake are not viable options for controlling intestinal disease. Feeders need to be adjusted properly as to not allow too much or too little, both of which cases can increase the chance of intestinal disease. Approximately 25 to 50% of the feeding pan should be visible in the first few days after weaning.

Cattle discriminate between individual familiar herd members ion a learning experiment

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This study was conducted to determine if cattle could discriminate between two familiar herdmates. The ability to discriminate is necessary for animals to form affiliative relationships (friendships) with other cattle in their herd. It is also helpful, although perhaps not essential, for the formation of stable social structures or hierarchies within the herd. Six heifers were used and trained to distinguish between two herdmates in a Y-maze. Approaching one herdmates resulted in a reward, while approaching the other did not. All of the cattle quickly learned which animal was linked to the reward, indicating that some form of discrimination occurred. When animals were given a second task, of learning the discriminate between two additional herdmates, they were slower to learn the task. There appeared to be some carryover effect that caused confusion in the animals. This is a fairly basic study examining the basis for social behaviour in herds of cattle, but nonetheless produced some unexpected results in that the second test took longer than the first.

Individual differences in responses of piglets to weaning at different ages.

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Eight litters were studied from birth to 37 days of age. The effects of weaning on the physiological responses of each piglet within the litter were examined, with focus being on the effects of relative weight and weaning age on piglet responses. Four litters were weaned at 21 days of age, while the other four litters were weaned at 35 days of age. On the day of weaning, the piglets were moved to a separate weaning room and placed in straw-bedded pens with a heated creep box, a water bowl, and a 3-space feeder. They were allowed ad libitum access to both feed and water. Data on weight gain, behaviour, and salivary cortisol levels (as an indicator of stress) were collected throughout the study. In general, during the pre-weaning period, heavier pigs were more likely to occupy the sow’s front teats during suckling, they were more likely to make low-pitched vocalizations, they carried out less nosing behaviour, and they were more aggressive than lighter pigs. Similar results were found at weaning for the heavier pigs. Those pigs having heavier weaning weights had occupied the sow’s front teats most during suckling (pre-weaning). Heavier pigs made less high-pitched and more low-pitched vocalizations after weaning, and they continued to be more aggressive. As a result, heavier piglets experienced higher cortisol levels. During the first two days after weaning, there was an increase in high-pitched vocalizations for pigs weaned at 21 days. Frequency of low-pitched vocalizations increased for both treatments on the first day after weaning. Aggression, nosing and chewing behaviours, and cortisol levels were highest on the first day after weaning. Aggression and cortisol levels among pigs weaned earlier decreased faster than for pigs weaned later. Earlier weaning was more stressful than later weaning for both small and large pigs. However, the challenges they have to endure appear to differ. Larger pigs seemed to have more difficulty adapting to their nutritional demands. Smaller pigs may have more difficulty adapting to maternal separation, as they had received less milk during lactation.

Human-animal interactions in livestock production

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Human-animal interactions are inevitable in intensive production systems. Understanding the effects of this relationship has improved over the past 20 years, but there are still questions to be answered. Handling studies have indicated that fear of humans negatively affects productivity and welfare parameters in most livestock species. Stress responses that result from fear of humans have been implicated in limiting performance. The fear of humans may also result because of the attitude and behaviour of stockpeople. Fear of humans can make animals more prone to injuries, more likely to experience acute and chronic stress (which could lead to immunosuppression, possibly compromising the animal’s health). Also, if the stockperson has a poor attitude, they could be less diligent in ensuring the needs of the animals are met. Therefore, it seems logical that if the attitudes and behaviour of stockpeople could be improved, then the animal’s fear would decrease and welfare and productivity would increase. But, attitudes that have been developed and instilled over many years are difficult to change. However, research has shown that there are modification techniques (for behaviour and attitude) that do result in improvement. Perhaps there are better selection criteria that could be used when hiring stockpeople. For example, it has been found that attitudes towards some job-related variables (apart from the animal work) are related to attitudes towards pigs. Certain personality characteristics have been found to be correlated with job productivity. There are many areas of research that still require investigation. There is some evidence suggesting that the negative effects of some housing conditions and husbandry procedures are improved through positive handling procedures. This provides further support for the importance of human factors on animal welfare. Most research has focused on the effects of physical interactions. Less attention has focused on more subtle visual (eg. stockperson’s posture and movement) and auditory (eg. shouting or clanging metal) interactions. However, some research has shown these factors to strongly influence the animal’s behaviour. Some research has suggested that exposing animals to positive human interactions or a rewarding experience (eg. food) during negative husbandry procedures can decrease the severity of the pain or fear experienced. Also, animals can make associations between a negative procedure and where and by whom it is performed. Therefore, if the regular stockperson wore a different color while performing the procedure, the animal might not associate the procedure with the person, thereby decreasing the fear of the regular handler. Stockpeople have a significant impact on the welfare and productivity of livestock. Training programs can aid in improving the attitudes and behaviour of stockpeople towards animals. More research is needed to understand not only the effect of tactile interactions, but also auditory and visual interactions. The effects of rewarding human-animal interactions also requires more research.