Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine.
Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
J Dairy Sci. 2017 Jun;100(6):4807-4817. doi: 10.3168/jds.2016-12180. Epub 2017 Apr 21.
Housing preweaned dairy calves in individual outdoor hutches is common in North America. However, this type of housing lacks stimulation and minimizes calves' ability to express natural behavior. Providing a social companion has been shown to stimulate natural behavior and promote growth, but no research has assessed the effect of providing physical enrichment items to calves pre-weaning. The objective of this study was to determine calf use of physical items added to an individual hutch, and if providing these items affected growth, behavior (e.g., locomotor play and sucking on pen fixtures), and response to novelty after weaning. At birth, Jersey heifer calves were allocated to 1 of 2 types of hutches: furnished (n = 9 calves) or standard (n = 10 calves). Calves were housed in individual hutches on loose gravel and bedded with straw. The outdoor enclosure of furnished hutches contained 2 artificial teats, a stationary brush, a calf "lollie," and a rubber chain link for calves to manipulate. Calves were video-recorded continuously between 0800 and 2000 h twice weekly at 1, 3, 5, and 7 wk of age; behavioral data were collected using the Noldus Observer software program (Noldus Inc., Wageningen, the Netherlands). At 63 d of age (after weaning), calf response to social and environmental novelty was tested. Starter consumption was measured daily, and calves were weighed at birth and weekly thereafter. Pre-weaning behavioral data were not normally distributed, so raw data were square-root-transformed before analysis. Calves used all of the items depending on the time of day, but they spent the most time using the brush. Calves housed in furnished hutches spent almost 50% more time engaged in locomotor play, but they spent the same amount of time sucking pen fixtures as calves housed in standard hutches. We observed no effect of treatment on growth, starter intake, or behavioral response to social and environmental novelty after weaning. Results suggest that providing some physical complexity to a standard hutch has some benefits for young calves, but further research is encouraged to determine the long-term effects of physical and social complexity for young dairy heifer calves.
在北美，将哺乳期前的奶牛犊饲养在单独的户外畜栏中很常见。然而，这种类型的畜栏缺乏刺激，使奶牛犊表达自然行为的能力最小化。提供社交伴侣已被证明可以刺激自然行为并促进生长，但没有研究评估在哺乳期前向奶牛犊提供身体丰富物品对其的影响。本研究的目的是确定添加到单个畜栏中的身体物品被奶牛犊使用的情况，以及提供这些物品是否会影响生长、行为（例如，运动性玩耍和吮吸畜栏固定装置）以及断奶后的新奇反应。在出生时，泽西小母牛犊被分配到 2 种畜栏中的 1 种：带家具（n = 9 头犊牛）或标准（n = 10 头犊牛）。犊牛被安置在单独的畜栏中，畜栏铺有松散的砾石，并铺有稻草。带家具畜栏的户外围栏包含 2 个人工奶嘴、一个固定刷子、一个小牛“棒棒糖”和一个橡胶链式链接，供小牛操作。在 1、3、5 和 7 周龄时，每周两次在 0800 和 2000 小时之间连续对犊牛进行视频记录；使用 Noldus 观察者软件程序（Noldus Inc.，荷兰瓦赫宁根）收集行为数据。在 63 日龄（断奶后）时，测试了犊牛对社会和环境新奇事物的反应。每天测量犊牛的饲料摄入量，并在出生时和此后每周对犊牛进行称重。在进行分析之前，由于预饲养行为数据未呈正态分布，因此对原始数据进行了平方根转换。犊牛会根据一天中的时间使用所有物品，但他们使用刷子的时间最多。住在带家具畜栏中的犊牛进行运动性玩耍的时间几乎增加了 50%，但他们吮吸畜栏固定装置的时间与住在标准畜栏中的犊牛相同。我们没有观察到处理对断奶后生长、饲料摄入量或对社会和环境新奇事物的行为反应有任何影响。结果表明，为标准畜栏提供一些物理复杂性对幼小牛犊有一些好处，但鼓励进一步研究以确定身体和社会复杂性对年轻奶牛小母牛的长期影响。
