Stress detection/assement in dairy cows by the determination of cortisol in hair by near-infrared (NIR), mid-infrared (MIR) and Raman spectroscopy.

Chronic stress in dairy cows could adversely affect their emotional well-being, immune function, reproductive capability and milk yield. Effective measurement and assessment of chronic stress in herds is crucial for maintaining welfare and addressing issues. Hair cortisol concentration is a promising biomarker of chronic stress that is typically measured using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which is reliable but costly and time-consuming. This study explores the potential of three vibrational spectroscopic techniques near-infrared (NIR), mid-infrared (MIR), and Raman spectroscopy to predict cortisol content in dairy cow hair samples as a more efficient alternative. 134 hair samples from 30 cows were analysed using bench-top spectrometers to obtain NIR, MIR and Raman spectra. Hair cortisol levels, determined by ELISA, ranged from 8.3 to 91.5 pg/mg, with an average of 27.1 pg/mg. The partial least squares (PLS) model yielded R values of 0.63, 0.62, and 0.52 and RMSE values of 9.5, 9.2, and 9.1 for NIR, MIR, and Raman respectively. MIR and Raman spectroscopy showed better performance than NIR, with MIR chosen for further study. Subsequently, 1183 additional samples were collected from five countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Austria) for a robust prediction model using MIR. The full dataset now included 1316 samples. Various machine learning techniques: principal component regression (PCR), partial least squares (PLS), elastic net regression (ENR), and support vector machine regression (SVM-R) were employed, with tenfold cross-validation and random external validation (excluding 20% of samples). RMSEv values were 6.65, 6.05, 5.94, and 6.24 pg/mg for PCR, PLS, ENR, and SVM-R respectively.