Garcia-Alvarez J, Teruel E, Cozzi A, Harris E, Rutter S M, Beaver A
Animal Science Research Centre, Harper Adams University, Newport, TF10 8NB, England.
Research Institute for Semiochemistry and Applied Ethology (IRSEA), Quartier Salignan, 84400 Apt, France.
J Dairy Sci. 2025 Feb;108(2):1964-1977. doi: 10.3168/jds.2024-25452. Epub 2024 Nov 8.
Environmental enrichment in the form of synthetic analogs of appeasing pheromones have shown promising results in improving the welfare of domestic animals, including dogs, pigs, horses, and cattle. The main objective of this study was to determine if the use of the bovine appeasing pheromone (BAP) would improve the welfare of dairy calves; therefore, in this randomized controlled trial, 72 Holstein Friesian dairy calves were housed in individual hutches after birth and were randomly allocated to receive BAP or a placebo once every 2 wk from birth through weaning. After weaning, calves were moved to group hutches according to treatment for 4 additional weeks. It was hypothesized that dairy calves treated with BAP would display fewer signs of stress compared with calves receiving the placebo during the weaning process. To operationalize stress, calves were fitted with triaxial accelerometers on the hind leg after birth, and activity levels were monitored throughout the experiment. Data on live weight gain (ADG) and cortisol levels in saliva and hair were also obtained. Calves were fitted with heart rate monitors every week for at least 24 h to assess heart rate variability (HRV). The use of BAP had a positive effect on ADG after weaning and during group housing and resulted in increased resting time after weaning. Moreover, BAP was associated with a reduction in the activation of the neuroendocrine system evidenced by higher HRV parameters after weaning, including increased standard deviation of beat to beat of normal sinus beats and root mean squares of successive differences. These results suggest a potential welfare benefit of the use of BAP during the artificial rearing of dairy calves.
以安抚性信息素的合成类似物形式存在的环境富集已在改善包括狗、猪、马和牛在内的家畜福利方面显示出有希望的结果。本研究的主要目的是确定使用牛安抚性信息素（BAP）是否会改善奶牛犊牛的福利；因此，在这项随机对照试验中，72头荷斯坦弗里生奶牛犊牛出生后被安置在单独的畜栏中，并从出生到断奶每2周随机分配接受一次BAP或安慰剂。断奶后，根据处理方式将犊牛转移到集体畜栏中，再饲养4周。假设在断奶过程中，接受BAP处理的奶牛犊牛与接受安慰剂的犊牛相比，应激迹象会更少。为了衡量应激，犊牛出生后在后腿上佩戴三轴加速度计，并在整个实验过程中监测活动水平。还获得了关于体重增加（ADG）以及唾液和毛发中皮质醇水平的数据。每周给犊牛佩戴心率监测器至少24小时，以评估心率变异性（HRV）。BAP的使用对断奶后和集体饲养期间的ADG有积极影响，并导致断奶后休息时间增加。此外，BAP与神经内分泌系统激活的减少有关，这在断奶后较高的HRV参数中得到证明，包括正常窦性心律逐搏标准差的增加和连续差值的均方根。这些结果表明在奶牛犊牛人工饲养过程中使用BAP具有潜在的福利益处。
