Bruno Kelsey, DeSocio Elizabeth, White Jason, Wilson Blake K
Oklahoma State University, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Stillwater, OK.
Transl Anim Sci. 2020 Nov 28;4(4):txaa220. doi: 10.1093/tas/txaa220. eCollection 2020 Oct.
In research settings, certain experimental designs may require cattle to be housed individually. Individual housing of cattle may make the animals more susceptible to boredom and result the development of undesirable behaviors. The objective of this trial was to investigate the effects of different environmental enrichment devices (EED) on the behavior and feed intake of heifers. Twenty mixed-breed single-sourced heifers were used in a completely random design. Heifers were housed individually (3.05 m × 3.66 m) with the ability to have physical contact with adjacent heifers. Heifers were randomly assigned to one of the four EED treatments, including a jolly ball (JLY), a broom head (SRCH), a 182 cm 5-knot rope (RP), or a Pas-a-Fier roller (RLR). Behavior was recorded using 8 h long daily instantaneous scan sampling in 30 min intervals over three periods: 7 d prior to EED addition (PR), 7 d with EED (EDP), and 7 d after removing EED (PST). Standing, laying, eating, drinking, and exploratory behaviors were evaluated. Exploratory behaviors included: interaction with water trough, feed bunk, water pipe, pen gate, pen wall, EED, grooming, or allogrooming. Rumination behavior was also recorded during each observation time. Time standing and standing bouts were greatest for RP ( < 0.05), while JLY and RLR spent the most time lying down ( < 0.05). All heifers spent the majority of observation times lying down, followed by solely standing ( < 0.05). Heifers on the RP treatment interacted the most with their EED, followed by SRCH ( < 0.001). Rumination increased during EDP compared to PR ( < 0.001). These results suggest that a RP suspended from the ceiling in the pen may be used most frequently by individually housed beef heifers.
在研究环境中，某些实验设计可能要求将牛单独饲养。牛的单独饲养可能会使动物更容易感到无聊，并导致不良行为的发展。本试验的目的是研究不同环境富集装置（EED）对小母牛行为和采食量的影响。采用完全随机设计，使用了20头单一来源的杂种小母牛。小母牛单独饲养在（3.05米×3.66米）的空间内，能够与相邻的小母牛进行身体接触。小母牛被随机分配到四种EED处理之一，包括一个快乐球（JLY）、一个扫帚头（SRCH）、一根182厘米长的5节绳索（RP）或一个帕萨菲耶滚筒（RLR）。在三个时间段内，每天使用8小时的即时扫描抽样，以30分钟为间隔记录行为：添加EED前7天（PR）、使用EED的7天（EDP）和移除EED后7天（PST）。对站立、躺卧、进食、饮水和探索行为进行了评估。探索行为包括：与水槽、饲料槽、水管、围栏门、围栏壁、EED、梳理毛发或相互梳理毛发的互动。在每次观察时间也记录了反刍行为。RP组的站立时间和站立次数最多（P<0.05），而JLY和RLR组躺卧的时间最长（P<0.05）。所有小母牛在大部分观察时间里都在躺卧，其次是单独站立（P<0.05）。接受RP处理的小母牛与它们的EED互动最多，其次是SRCH（P<0.001）。与PR期相比，EDP期的反刍增加（P<0.001）。这些结果表明，围栏内天花板上吊着的RP可能是单独饲养的肉牛小母牛最常使用的。
