Fogsgaard K K, Bennedsgaard T W, Herskin M S
Department of Animal Sciences, Aarhus University, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Department of Animal Sciences, Aarhus University, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
J Dairy Sci. 2015 Mar;98(3):1730-8. doi: 10.3168/jds.2014-8347. Epub 2014 Dec 26.
Dairy cows exhibit classic signs of sickness behavior during mastitis. However, knowledge about the consequences of naturally occurring mastitis in freestall-housed dairy cows, milked in automatic milking systems, is lacking. The aim of the present study was to describe the behavior of dairy cows after diagnosis and antibiotic treatment of mastitis. In the days before and after antibiotic treatment, the milking behavior, feeding, and activity were examined in 30 mastitic and 30 control Danish Holstein-Friesian cows kept in freestalls and milked by an automatic milking system. Sickness behavior was evident in the mastitic dairy cows and local clinical signs in the udder as well as behavioral changes persisted beyond the 3 d of antibiotic treatment. In the days before diagnosis and treatment, feed intake was reduced compared with the control animals. Although reduced by the antibiotic treatment, this difference persisted until at least 10 d after diagnosis. Sick cows spent less time lying in the initial days after treatment, reversing to the level of the control cows within the 10 d posttreatment period. In the 48 h before antibiotic treatment, the mastitic cows showed increased restlessness during milking, as seen by a higher frequency of tripping and kicking. Mastitic cows continued to show increased kicking during milking even after the antibiotic treatment period. These results show that the behavioral changes induced by naturally occurring mastitis persisted beyond the days of antibiotic treatment, thereby calling for further investigation into management of mastitic dairy cows to optimize recovery and ensure animal welfare during the recovery period after clinical mastitis.
奶牛在患乳腺炎期间会表现出典型的疾病行为症状。然而，对于在自由牛舍饲养且采用自动挤奶系统挤奶的奶牛自然发生乳腺炎的后果，我们还缺乏相关了解。本研究的目的是描述奶牛在乳腺炎诊断及抗生素治疗后的行为表现。在抗生素治疗前后的数天里，我们对30头患乳腺炎的丹麦荷斯坦 - 弗里生奶牛和30头对照奶牛的挤奶行为、采食情况及活动状况进行了观察。这些奶牛饲养在自由牛舍中，并通过自动挤奶系统挤奶。患乳腺炎的奶牛出现了明显的疾病行为症状，乳房局部临床症状以及行为变化在抗生素治疗3天后仍持续存在。在诊断和治疗前的几天里，与对照动物相比，患乳腺炎奶牛的采食量减少。尽管抗生素治疗使其有所下降，但这种差异至少持续到诊断后的10天。患病奶牛在治疗后的最初几天躺卧时间减少，在治疗后的10天内恢复到对照奶牛的水平。在抗生素治疗前的48小时内，患乳腺炎的奶牛在挤奶时表现出更多的烦躁不安，表现为绊倒和踢腿的频率更高。即使在抗生素治疗期过后，患乳腺炎的奶牛在挤奶时仍继续表现出更多的踢腿行为。这些结果表明，自然发生的乳腺炎所引发的行为变化在抗生素治疗期过后仍持续存在，因此需要进一步研究乳腺炎奶牛的管理方式，以优化其恢复过程，并确保在临床乳腺炎后的恢复期内动物的福利。
