Social Environment and Individual Differences in Feeding Behavior Are Associated with Risk of Endometritis in Dairy Cows

被引：5

作者：

Thompson, Alexander ^{[1
]}

Proudfoot, Kathryn L. ^{[2
]}

Franks, Becca ^{[3
]}

von Keyserlingk, Marina A. G. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ British Columbia, Anim Welf Program, Fac Land & Food Syst, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada

[2] Ohio State Univ, Coll Vet Med, Vet Prevent Med, Columbus, OH 43210 USA

[3] NYU, Dept Environm Studies, 550 1St Ave, New York, NY 10003 USA

来源：

ANIMALS | 2019年 / 9卷 / 10期

基金：

加拿大自然科学与工程研究理事会;

关键词：

individual variation; predictability; social stress; animal welfare; SHORT-COMMUNICATION; EATING BEHAVIOR; CHRONIC STRESS; CATTLE; COMPETITION; DISEASE; HEALTH; IMMUNITY; DENSITY; DOMINANCE;

D O I：

10.3390/ani9100828

中图分类号：

S8 [畜牧、动物医学、狩猎、蚕、蜂];

学科分类号：

0905 ;

摘要：

Simple Summary The aim of this study was to determine how individual differences in behavior affect disease risk in Holstein dairy cows housed in two different social environments: (1) a predictable and non-competitive social environment and (2) an unpredictable and competitive social environment. Individual differences in feed intake and feeding behavior before calving were associated with cytological endometritis post-calving; however, the direction and magnitude of these effects were dependent on the social environment. These results provide the first evidence that individual differences in feeding behavior affect cytological endometritis risk differently depending on the social environment. Abstract Our aim was to determine whether individual differences in feeding and social behavior in different social environments affect health outcomes in dairy cows. We used eight groups of four animals per treatment assigned to either a 'predictable' or an 'unpredictable' and competitive social environment. Predictable cows were given free access to six feed bins with no change in feed delivery times; whereas, the unpredictable cows were required to share one feed bin with one resident cow and morning feed was delayed 0, 1, 2, or 3 h every other day. On alternate days, the unpredictable cows were also re-assigned to a new bin and a new resident partner. Low daily dry matter intake (DMI) was a risk factor for cytological endometritis in predictable cows (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval): 0.17 (0.02, 0.53)), but low daily DMI was protective for unpredictable cows (OR: 1.93 (1.09, 4.14)). Although low rate of DMI (kg/min) was a risk factor for cytological endometritis for predictable cows (OR: 4.2 x 10(-101) (8.6 x 10(-206), 4.8 x 10(-30))) it was unrelated to disease for unpredictable cows. There were no associations between feed bin visits or percentage of non-nutritive visits with the likelihood of cytological endometritis. This is the first evidence that individual differences in feeding behavior influence cytological endometritis risk in dairy cows, but the direction and magnitude of these effects is dependent on the social environment.

引用

页数：10