Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada; Department of Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Prev Vet Med. 2021 Apr;189:105296. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2021.105296. Epub 2021 Feb 17.
A controlled trial on zero-grazed smallholder dairy farms was conducted to determine the effect of environmental and comfort improvements on sucking and lying behaviours in heifer calves on Kenyan smallholder dairy farms. The study involved 187 heifer calves from 150 farms in two Kenyan counties, 75 farms per county. Farms in one county received animal welfare training and improvements in the calf pen that included: 1) placement of rubber mats on the lying area; 2) fixing gaps/holes in the flooring and roofing; and 3) attaching a rubber nipple on the wall of the calf pen. During the 16-month data collection period, bimonthly farm visits were used to collect data on lying time (using accelerometers) and other animal- and farm-level factors. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression was used to model daily lying times and frequency of lying bouts, with the animal as a random effect. Over the visits, daily lying times and lying bout durations averaged 12.6-86.7 min/bout, respectively, while the median for the frequency of lying bouts was between 30-46/day. Provision of rubber nipples for non-nutritive sucking lowered proportions of cross-sucking, self-sucking and object-sucking behaviours slightly but not significantly. In a final daily lying time model, superficial lymph node enlargement, body condition score and use of wood shaving/ sawdust/ crop waste as beddings had positive associations. In contrast, group housing and rubber mat use had negative associations with daily lying time. In an interaction term, lying time was significantly higher for calves on clean versus dirty floors if the age was <190 days but this difference diminished significantly in older animals. In a second interaction term, lying time was lower for calves with leaking versus non-leaking roofs, regardless of the pen floor level, but lying time was higher on elevated than non-elevated floors if the roof was intact. In the final model of the frequency of lying bouts, the use of a rubber mat, the years of experience in dairy farming, and calf body weight had negative associations. In contrast, body condition score had a positive association. In an interaction, the frequency of daily lying bouts was lower on clean floors than dirty floors, irrespective of tethering status, but when the floor was dirty, the lying bouts were higher for animals not tethered than the ones sometimes tethered. We conclude that the comfort improvements enhanced the welfare and lying experience of heifer calves on smallholder dairy farms.
在肯尼亚的小农奶牛场进行了一项零放牧小农户奶牛场的对照试验，以确定环境和舒适度的改善对肯尼亚小农奶牛场小母牛的吮吸和躺卧行为的影响。该研究涉及来自肯尼亚两个县的 150 个农场的 187 头小母牛，每个县有 75 个农场。一个县的农场接受了动物福利培训和牛栏的改进，包括：1）在躺卧区放置橡胶垫；2）固定地板和屋顶上的缝隙/孔；3）在牛栏墙上安装橡胶奶嘴。在 16 个月的数据收集期间，每两个月进行一次农场访问，以收集躺卧时间（使用加速度计）和其他动物和农场水平因素的数据。使用多水平混合效应线性回归模型来模拟每日躺卧时间和躺卧次数，动物为随机效应。在访问期间，每日躺卧时间和躺卧时间分别平均为 12.6-86.7 分钟/次，而躺卧次数的中位数在 30-46 次/天之间。提供非营养性吮吸的橡胶奶嘴略微但无显著降低了交叉吮吸、自我吮吸和物体吮吸行为的比例。在最终的每日躺卧时间模型中，浅表淋巴结肿大、身体状况评分以及使用木屑/锯末/农作物废物作为床上用品与每日躺卧时间呈正相关。相比之下，群体饲养和橡胶垫的使用与每日躺卧时间呈负相关。在一个交互项中，如果年龄<190 天，则在清洁地板上的小牛躺卧时间明显高于在脏地板上，但在年龄较大的动物中，这种差异显著减小。在另一个交互项中，无论牛栏地板水平如何，对于有漏水屋顶的小牛，躺卧时间都较低，但如果屋顶完好无损，则在高架地板上的躺卧时间高于非高架地板。在躺卧次数的最终模型中，使用橡胶垫、奶牛养殖年限和小牛体重与负相关。相比之下，身体状况评分呈正相关。在一个交互项中，无论系绳状态如何，在清洁地板上的每日躺卧次数都低于脏地板，但如果地板脏，则未系绳的动物的躺卧次数高于有时系绳的动物。我们得出的结论是，舒适度的提高增强了小农奶牛场小母牛的福利和躺卧体验。
