Individual and group level health factors influence social networks of dairy calves.

Evidence across species supports a relationship between health and social relationships, which may have important welfare implications for intensively housed animals. We evaluated how individual and group-level health factors are related to social behavior of group-housed dairy calves, using social network analysis. Holstein dairy calves (heifer: n = 55; bull: n = 32) were grouped (9 groups; 10 calves/group) at 2 weeks of age until after weaning from milk at 8 weeks of age.

Effects of reward type and previous social experience on cognitive testing outcomes of weaned dairy calves.

Animal cognitive and behavioral testing often requires a reward to motivate task acquisition, yet reward perception may depend on reward type and previous experience. We first assessed the effects of reward types on initial discrimination and reversal learning ability in weaned dairy calves, with calves tested in a T-maze containing either a food, social, or exit reward. During the initial stage, success rate was greater for calves provided the social vs.

Technical note: ShinyAnimalCV: open-source cloud-based web application for object detection, segmentation, and three-dimensional visualization of animals using computer vision.

Computer vision (CV), a non-intrusive and cost-effective technology, has furthered the development of precision livestock farming by enabling optimized decision-making through timely and individualized animal care. The availability of affordable two- and three-dimensional camera sensors, combined with various machine learning and deep learning algorithms, has provided a valuable opportunity to improve livestock production systems. However, despite the availability of various CV tools in the public domain, applying these tools to animal data can be challenging, often requiring users to have programming and data analysis skills, as well as access to computing resources.

Behavioral and Physiological Reactions to a Sudden Novel Object in the Weanling Horse: Quantitative Phenotypes for Future GWAS.

The startle response can be defined as a reflexive reaction to the sudden appearance of a novel stimulus that influences the survival and resilience of animals. In domesticated species, the behavioral component of the startle response can, in some cases, cause serious injury to the animal or human handlers if inappropriately expressed. Here, we describe a longitudinal study in a population of stock-type horses that quantified behavioral startle responses elicited by the presentation of a sudden novel object (rapidly opening umbrella).

Early-life heat stress exposure impacts dairy calf feeding and thermoregulatory behavior.

Heat stress has well-known influences on dairy calf physiology, but less is understood about calf behavioral responses to heat stress. Herein, we evaluated milk replacer intake, standing activity, and lying behaviors of calves exposed to prenatal or postnatal heat stress or both. Holstein calves were born to dams experiencing heat stress (HT; shade of a freestall barn) or cooling (CL; shade, fans, and soakers) during late gestation [~44 d before calving, prenatal; mean daily temperature-humidity index (THI) = 78].

Social networks respond to a disease challenge in calves.

Changes in network position and behavioral interactions have been linked with infectious disease in social animals. Here, we investigate the effects of an experimental disease challenge on social network centrality of group-housed Holstein bull dairy calves. Within group-housed pens (6/group) calves were randomly assigned to either a previously developed challenge model, involving inoculation with Mannheimia haemolytia (n = 12 calves; 3 calves/group) or a control involving only saline (n = 12 calves; 3 calves/group).

Impact of Stationary Brush Quantity on Brush Use in Group-Housed Dairy Heifers.

Our objectives were to evaluate the effect of stationary brush quantity on brush use and competition in weaned dairy heifers naïve to brushes. Sixty-three Holstein heifers (95 ± 5.7 days old) were housed in groups of eight (with the exception of 1 group of 7) with two or four stationary brushes ( = 4 groups/treatment).

Effects of Social Housing on Dairy Calf Social Bonding.

Social housing for dairy calves has a range of benefits for social development, yet there is limited understanding of how social bonds form early in life. We characterized effects of early life social contact on the development of social preference for calves varying in familiarity. A total of 40 calves were tested in a social preference test at 4 weeks of age to assess the formation of social bonds and preference for their peers.

Performance and feeding behavior of Holstein and Holstein × Gyr crossbred heifers grazing temperate forages.

This study aimed to investigate the difference between Holstein and Holstein × Gyr breeds on feeding behavior and performance of heifers grazing temperate pasture. The experiment was carried out in 89 days, split into 14 days of adaptation, and 3 periods of 25 days. Two treatments were used: Holstein (HOL; n = 7) and Holstein × Gyr (HG; n = 7).

Effects of hay provision and presentation on cognitive development in dairy calves.

In the dairy industry, feeding management has considerable influence on calf behavioral development, yet there is limited understanding of how aspects of diet or accommodating more varied feeding behavior may affect cognitive development in young calves. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of provision and presentation of hay on the cognitive ability of pre-weaned dairy calves. Individually-housed Holstein heifer calves were assigned at birth to 1 of 3 treatments: pelleted starter only (n = 10), hay (chopped to 5 cm) and starter provided in separate buckets (n = 12), or hay and starter offered as a mixture (n = 11).

Technical note: validation of a system for monitoring individual behavior in beef heifers.

The objectives of the 2 studies conducted were to validate the accuracy of an automated monitoring device (AMD; HR-LDn tags, SCR Engineers Ltd., Netanya, Israel) for different types of behaviors or cow-states (side lying, resting, medium activity, high activity, rumination, grazing, walking, and panting) in beef heifers and to determine if the total time per cow-state recorded by the AMD corresponds to the total time per cow-state recorded by instantaneous observations. Cow-state is recorded every second and, within 1 min, the most prevalent cow-state is considered to be the behavior presented by the animal during that interval.

Identifying the optimal course delivery platform in an undergraduate animal behavior research course.

There is a critical need to evaluate pedagogical delivery platforms best suited for undergraduates in the information age. Our goal was to identify the optimum course delivery platform for a basic research course based on student performance and critical thinking scores. Students were expected to plan, conduct, and report on an animal behavior research project of their own design.