Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia; School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia; School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
Animal. 2024 Mar;18(3):101091. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2024.101091. Epub 2024 Feb 1.
Pasture-based beef cattle are raised in a range of production environments. Some paddocks may contain trees and other objects that allow for grooming, hence being naturally enriching, whilst others may be barren without these opportunities. Additionally, it is not uncommon for cattle to move between these enriched and barren environments as part of routine management. While the benefits of enrichment are well studied, how this 'enrichment loss' impacts cattle welfare as access to stimuli is removed is unknown. This trial assessed the impacts of the loss of an enriching object (grooming brush) on grazing beef cattle welfare and production characteristics. When grooming brush access was blocked, cattle became dirtier, showed reduced average daily gain, and had elevated faecal cortisol metabolites, although this varied according to the degree of initial individual brush use. Additionally, allogrooming and grooming on other objects were reduced when access to the brush was returned, potentially indicating a rebound effect. These results demonstrate that the loss of adequate grooming objects can impair the overall welfare of grazing cattle; however, further work is needed to determine exactly which natural or artificial objects provide adequate grooming opportunities.
放牧式肉牛饲养在多种生产环境中。一些围场可能有树木和其他物体，可以供其进行梳理，从而自然地丰富其环境，而其他围场可能没有这些机会，相对贫瘠。此外，牛在这些丰富和贫瘠的环境之间移动是很常见的，这是常规管理的一部分。虽然人们对丰容的好处进行了广泛的研究，但当刺激物的获取被移除时，这种“丰容损失”如何影响牛的福利是未知的。本试验评估了失去一种丰容物体（梳理刷）对放牧肉牛福利和生产特性的影响。当梳理刷的使用被阻止时，牛变得更脏，平均日增重降低，粪便皮质醇代谢物水平升高，尽管这因个体对梳理刷初始使用程度的不同而有所差异。此外，当梳理刷再次被使用时，其他物体上的同群梳理和梳理行为减少，这可能表明存在反弹效应。这些结果表明，缺乏足够的梳理物体可能会损害放牧牛的整体福利；然而，还需要进一步的工作来确定哪些自然或人工物体提供了足够的梳理机会。
