Riley Beth B, Duthie Carol-Anne, Corbishley Alexander, Mason Colin, Bowen Jenna M, Bell David J, Haskell Marie J
Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Clinical Sciences, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Aug 3;10:1204580. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1204580. eCollection 2023.
Technology-derived behaviors are researched for disease detection in artificially-reared calves. Whilst existing studies demonstrate differences in behaviors between healthy and diseased calves, intrinsic calf factors (e.g., sex and birthweight) that may affect these behaviors have received little systematic study. This study aimed to understand the impact of a range of calf factors on milk feeding and activity variables of dairy-bred calves. Calves were group-housed from ~7 days to 39 days of age. Seven liters of milk replacer was available daily from an automatic milk feeder, which recorded feeding behaviors and live-weight. Calves were health scored daily and a tri-axial accelerometer used to record activity variables. Healthy calves were selected by excluding data collected 3 days either side of a poor health score or a treatment event. Thirty-one calves with 10 days each were analyzed. Mixed models were used to identify which of live-weight, age, sex, season of birth, age of inclusion into the group, dam parity, birthweight, and sire breed type (beef or dairy), had a significant influence on milk feeding and activity variables. Heavier calves visited the milk machine more frequently for shorter visits, drank faster and were more likely to drink their daily milk allowance than lighter calves. Older calves had a shorter mean standing bout length and were less active than younger calves. Calves born in summer had a longer daily lying time, performed more lying and standing bouts/day and had shorter mean standing bouts than those born in autumn or winter. Male calves had a longer mean lying bout length, drank more slowly and were less likely to consume their daily milk allowance than their female counterparts. Calves that were born heavier had fewer lying and standing bouts each day, a longer mean standing bout length and drank less milk per visit. Beef-sired calves had a longer mean lying bout length and drank more slowly than their dairy sired counterparts. Intrinsic calf factors influence different healthy calf behaviors in different ways. These factors must be considered in the design of research studies and the field application of behavior-based disease detection tools in artificially reared calves.
研究技术衍生行为以检测人工饲养犊牛的疾病。虽然现有研究表明健康犊牛和患病犊牛的行为存在差异，但可能影响这些行为的犊牛内在因素（如性别和出生体重）却很少受到系统研究。本研究旨在了解一系列犊牛因素对奶牛养殖犊牛的喂奶和活动变量的影响。犊牛从约7日龄至39日龄进行群养。每天通过自动喂奶器提供7升代乳粉，该喂奶器记录喂奶行为和体重。每天对犊牛进行健康评分，并使用三轴加速度计记录活动变量。通过排除健康评分差或治疗事件前后3天收集的数据来选择健康犊牛。对31头犊牛（每头犊牛10天的数据）进行了分析。使用混合模型来确定体重、年龄、性别、出生季节、入组年龄、母牛胎次、出生体重和父本品种类型（肉牛或奶牛）中的哪些因素对喂奶和活动变量有显著影响。较重的犊牛比较轻的犊牛更频繁地前往喂奶机，每次停留时间更短，喝奶速度更快，并且更有可能喝完每日的代乳粉量。年龄较大的犊牛平均站立 bout 长度较短，并且比较小的犊牛活动更少。夏季出生的犊牛每日躺卧时间更长，每天进行的躺卧和站立 bout 更多，并且平均站立 bout 比秋季或冬季出生的犊牛更短。雄性犊牛的平均躺卧 bout 长度更长，喝奶速度更慢，并且比雌性犊牛更不可能喝完每日的代乳粉量。出生体重较重的犊牛每天的躺卧和站立 bout 较少，平均站立 bout 长度更长，每次喝奶量更少。肉牛父本的犊牛平均躺卧 bout 长度更长，喝奶速度比奶牛父本的犊牛更慢。犊牛内在因素以不同方式影响不同的健康犊牛行为。在人工饲养犊牛的研究设计和基于行为的疾病检测工具的现场应用中，必须考虑这些因素。
