Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
J Dairy Sci. 2013 Mar;96(3):1638-46. doi: 10.3168/jds.2012-6000. Epub 2013 Jan 16.
Cows are often moved from a group to an individual maternity pen just before calving. However, it is unclear whether moving cows during labor may alter their behavior or affect the progress of labor. The aim of this study was to determine if moving cows to a maternity pen at different stages of labor would influence calving behavior or the length of the second stage of labor. Seventy-nine multiparous Holstein dairy cows were moved from 1 of 2 group pens to 1 of 10 maternity pens adjacent to each group pen either 3 d before expected calving date or when one or more behavioral or physical signs of labor were observed. These signs were noted, and were used to retrospectively categorize cows into 1 of 3 movement categories: (1) moved before labor, (2) moved during early stage I labor (signs of suddenly tense and enlarged udder, raised tail or relaxed pelvic ligaments; could also be immediately prelabor), or (3) moved during late stage I labor (signs of viscous, bloody mucus or abdominal contractions; could also be transitioning to stage II labor). Calves were weighed within 12h of birth and remained with their dam for 3 d. The length of the second stage of labor (the time between first abdominal contractions to the delivery the calf) and the total time of abdominal contractions, lying time, and number of position changes from standing to lying made by the cow in the hour before calving were recorded. A single blood sample was taken from the jugular vein of cows 3 to 27 h after calving to determine content of haptoglobin, a marker of systemic inflammation. The effect of movement category on length of the second stage of labor and behavioral variables was tested with ANOVA; category was a fixed effect and calf body weight (BW) and cow parity were covariates. The relationship between haptoglobin and the length of the second stage of labor was tested in a model with time of sampling relative to calving as a covariate. Cows moved during late stage I had the longest labor, but did not have longer contractions compared with cows in the other categories. These same cows spent half as much time lying in the 1h before calving compared with cows in the other categories, but did not differ in the number of position changes from standing to lying. We did not have the power to test the effect of movement category on haptoglobin, but cows with longer stage II labor had higher haptoglobin postcalving. Moving cows to a maternity pen during the late part of the first stage of labor caused a delay in the second stage of labor, and this was likely driven by altered lying behavior.
奶牛通常在分娩前从一群转移到一个单独的产房。然而，目前尚不清楚在分娩过程中移动奶牛是否会改变它们的行为或影响分娩的进程。本研究旨在确定在分娩的不同阶段将奶牛转移到产房是否会影响产犊行为或第二产程的持续时间。79 头经产荷斯坦奶牛从 2 个群体围栏中的 1 个转移到与每个群体围栏相邻的 10 个产房之一，要么在预计分娩日期前 3 天，要么在观察到 1 个或多个分娩的行为或身体迹象时。记录这些迹象，并用于回顾性地将奶牛分为 3 个移动类别之一：(1) 在分娩前移动，(2) 在 I 期早期劳动期间移动（突然紧张和增大的乳房、抬高的尾巴或放松的骨盆韧带的迹象；也可能是立即临产），或 (3) 在 I 期晚期劳动期间移动（粘性、血性黏液或腹部收缩的迹象；也可能是向第二产程过渡）。犊牛在出生后 12 小时内称重，并与母畜一起饲养 3 天。记录第二产程的持续时间（从第一次腹部收缩到分娩犊牛的时间）和总腹部收缩时间、卧息时间以及在分娩前 1 小时内从站立到卧息的位置变化次数。在分娩后 3 至 27 小时内，从颈静脉采集奶牛的单个血液样本，以确定触珠蛋白的含量，触珠蛋白是全身炎症的标志物。用方差分析检验移动类别对第二产程和行为变量的影响；类别为固定效应，犊牛体重（BW）和奶牛胎次为协变量。用包含产犊时间作为协变量的模型检验触珠蛋白与第二产程持续时间的关系。在 I 期晚期移动的奶牛产程最长，但与其他类别的奶牛相比，收缩时间没有延长。这些奶牛在分娩前 1 小时内卧息的时间减少了一半，但从站立到卧息的位置变化次数没有差异。我们没有能力测试移动类别对触珠蛋白的影响，但第二产程较长的奶牛产后触珠蛋白水平较高。在第一产程的晚期将奶牛转移到产房会导致第二产程的延迟，这可能是由于躺卧行为的改变所致。
