Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Dairy cow behaviour in relation to health, welfare and milking Animal welfare includes both physiological and mental health and is affected by several external and internal factors. In dairy cows, human care and the ability of the cows to cope with daily challenges are the most significant factors. The research presented in this dissertation focused on cow behaviour and aspects impacting on behavioural changes during mastitis and milking. To deepen knowledge of the relationship between the behaviour and health of cows and associated detection methods, we experimentally manipulated the health status of dairy cows through mastitis induction. Moreover, we tested and validated a thermal infrared camera for recording the udder skin temperature, which could be helpful in the case of early mastitis detection. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between cow behaviour and milking in herringbone and automatic milking systems. We established that cow behaviour changed during mastitis. The most apparent changes were in lying, eating and stepping behaviour. It was shown that inflammation affected the cow health status, which changed the behavioural priorities. In contrast to our expectations, visual signs in the udder and changes in milk composition occurred only 2 hours post-challenge, while clinical and behavioural changes were first recorded 4 hours post-challenge. However, changes in lying and restlessness behaviours were promising indicators for detecting signs in cows exposed to mastitis. The transient increase in body temperature of cows with experimentally-induced clinical mastitis was successfully detected by udder skin temperature detection with the help of a thermal camera. The udder skin temperature rose simultaneously with the rectal temperature. However, local inflammatory changes in the udder, appearing earlier than the rectal temperature increase, were not detected with udder skin temperature measurement by using the thermal infrared camera. Regarding cow behaviour as an indicator of the success and quality of the milking process, we found that half of the deviations occurring during automatic milking originated from cow behaviour, such as cows kicking, lifting their legs and moving during milking, and had their origins in machine failures. To conclude, cow behaviour can be used as an indicator for detection of mastitis and (un)successful milking. However, effectively functioning human animal technology interactions should be studied more in the future in order to enhance husbandry practices that can improve animal welfare.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Jutta Kauppi
Language: English
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1556396251