SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: NC_old1029 : Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare
- Period Covered: 01/01/2018 to 12/31/2018
- Date of Report: 10/01/2019
- Annual Meeting Dates: 06/05/2019 to 06/07/2019
Participants
Washington State University Auburn University Colorado State University Minnesota State University Purdue University Texas A&M University Tarleton State University and Texas A&M AgriLife Research Stephenville Michigan State University University of California – Davis Oregon State University University of Wisconsin – Madison
Thursday June 6, 2019
8:00 Meet at MSU campus
9:00-12:00 W3173 reports
12:00-14:00 lunch at Rendezvous Dining Pavilion
14:00 – 16:30 NC1029 reports
Friday June 7, 2019
8:00 Meet at MSU campus
9:00-12:00 NC1029 reports
12:00-14:00 lunch with Dr. Paul Cross, USGS
14:00 – 16:30 W3173 reports
Saturday June 8, 2019
8:30 Meet at MSU campus
9:00 – 11:00 Selection of next year’s leadership team and meeting location
Accomplishments
The goal of the Washington State University station is to work directly with dairy industry stakeholders to identify and address dairy cattle well-being issues through applied research and Extension activities. Recent research has focused on determining: 1) how pest birds affect dairy cattle well-being; 2) which training methods for dairy cattle handling training are most effective at improving dairy employee knowledge retention and, ultimately, dairy cattle well-being; and 3) how behavioral changes can be used to identify hoof disorders in dairy cattle.
Researchers at Auburn University are working in two main areas including poultry euthanasia and stunning. Projects include the assessment of euthanasia of large poultry utilizing mechanical, captive bolt, controlled atmosphere and electrical methods and the assessment of physiological responses to controlled atmosphere and electrical broiler stunning methods.
Researchers at Colorado State University initiated and completed live animal and cell culture experiments to help understand mineral homeostasis and interactions with immunity in beef cattle.
Researchers at Minnesota State University published scientific, peer-reviewed manuscripts - Robotic systems, calf welfare, sensor validation. Completed general public survey data collection and analyses and completed calf feeding behavior data collection. Analysis not yet conducted.
Researchers at Purdue University published scientific peer-reviewed manuscripts and completed animal work of projects that are part of their efforts to develop novel behavioral and physiological indicators of animal welfare.
Through the National Pork Board, the U.S. pork industry provides recommendations for humane handling tools and acceptable non-ambulatory pig handling. While these recommendations are useful, there is a lack of published evidence regarding humane handling tool options for moving non-ambulatory pigs. Wean-to-finish mats are commonly used on-farm to provide comfortable resting areas for newly weaned pigs and to minimize feed waste around feeders. A commercial wean-to-finish mat was modified, however the results from Iowa State University do not support this mat as an effective handling tool for moving non-ambulatory grow-finish pigs.
MSU has contributed to Objectives 1 and 2 which overlaps with NE 1442 and with the new NCDC 235. Manuscripts are being prepared and submitted on the delayed placement of pullet project. Wrapping up work for the USDA funded project on social phenotype and genotype. Completed the 2nd collection of on-farm animal welfare assessment data at 10 sites in three SE states. Survey information cattle management collected by social science team is currently undergoing review and analysis. Development of a broader survey to adjacent SE states is in progress.
At UC-Davis, Our group aims to develop, refine and validate animal welfare assessment tools, and develop basic scientific knowledge to strengthen the basis of animal welfare assessments. Our objective is to develop novel behavioral, physiological, and cognitive indicators of animal welfare using advanced technology (e.g., wearable sensors) as well as innovative psychological experiments to infer an animal's affective state. Our team has published scientific, peer-reviewed manuscripts. Completed animal work of projects and started analyses. Presented at scientific and Industry Conferences.
Researchers at Oregon State University have the overall objective is to create, validate, and refine behavioral approaches for evaluating animal welfare, with an emphasis on evaluation of human-animal interactions and social enrichment. They have Published scientific, peer-reviewed manuscripts. While companion animals were used as a model, we are also utilizing this information to apply these methods to production animals including swine and sheep. Continued collaboration and analysis on a project looking at the impact of socialization on swine cognition and welfare. Taught courses focused on animal behavior and cognition & animal learning, covered a wide range of methods and welfare evaluation considerations and strategies
At the University of Wisconsin – Madison our group's work focuses on understanding dairy cattle behavior, including using behavioral indicators of animal welfare to bring a scientific basis to evaluating welfare on farm. A major mission of our research is to identify low-barrier solutions to improve welfare across a variety of dairy farm sizes, facility types, and management. Current research focuses on social housing of preweaned calves, enrichment for post-weaned heifers, and reducing feed competition for cattle of all ages. Began animal work on 3 new projects. Delivered extension presentations and publications. Applied for and gained USDA Hatch funding for 2 projects.
Impacts
- Objective 1: Automated measurement of animal responses Researchers at Washington State University presented pest bird management project data to 70 dairy, beef, and crop producers across the Pacific Northwest. Offered dairy safety training to over 200 dairy employees. Completed data collection for a two-year-long research study on behavioral patterns in cows with hoof disorders. Dairy producers reported an up to 40% adoption rate of management practices to improve dairy cattle well-being. Two graduate and six undergraduate students gained training in dairy cattle behavior and well-being. Collaborations were established among land-grant universities, non-land-grant universities, dairy producers, and dairy processors to develop and implement dairy employee training aimed at reducing employee and dairy cattle injuries. Researchers at Minnesota State University are conducting research on the use of technology, such as feeding behavior collected by autofeeders, as an early detection for calf diseases. In addition, we validate behaviors collected by an accelerometer sensor in grazing dairy cows. Technology such as autofeeders, sensors and robotic milking systems can help farmers better manage their animals and reduce the incidence of more severe disease or mortality. Our research is helping define how these technologies can be better utilized to improve animal welfare. Researchers at Tarleton State University and Texas A&M AgriLife Research Stephenville evaluated dairy systems management – cow comfort with regards to housing and heat stress, precision dairy monitoring technologies focusing on disease detection and cow comfort evaluation, lameness – especially detection and digital dermatitis prevention Michigan State University: Objective 1: Siegford wrapped up work on the effects of delayed placement of pullets into aviary with University of Bern and completed a project on how swine social behavior phenotypes relate to underlying genotypes and production traits. Objective 2: On-farm welfare assessment Researchers at Minnesota State University conducted a survey of public perceptions of calf welfare and housing. The latter study can be used to develop benchmarks for animal welfare audits and assessments that meet public expectations. Reported benchmark data on lameness and hock lesions for dairy catltle housed in robotic milking farms. Researchers at Iowa State University have identified that this modified wean-to-finish mat is not a suitable handling tool to move non-ambulatory pigs on farm. This mat was not suitable for manually moving non-ambulatory grow-finish pigs. Further mat modifications could improve ease of movement and positioning to keep the pig secured. Research at Texas A&M University focused on cattle and poultry stress and welfare. Including heat stress mitigation via nutrition, euthanasia methods in neonatal and market age birds (chicken, ducks, turkeys), effect of lighting on poultry, enrichment of poultry to improve welfare, improving gut health to improve welfare, improving nutrient utilization to improve welfare. Research at was also conducted on feedlot cattle welfare and the human-animal interaction. Including mixing strategies in heifers and steers, impact of handling frequency on behavior and productivity, relationship between rumination, feeding behavior, and non-nutritive oral behaviors, impact of environmental enrichment on behavior and productivity of feedlot steers, exercise in receiving calves, and pen rider attitudes and perceptions. Michigan State University: Objective 2:Swanson Co-PI on the on-farm cattle welfare portion of an Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing project. Data collection completed May 2019 survey portion is on-going. Siegford has an additional poultry and swine project in progress. We are gaining insight into the differences in cattle and pasture management between adaptive multi-paddock grazers versus continuous grazers. Also identifying common high risk behaviors of managers and herd health and welfare management. These multistate efforts added to our knowledge about how both manual and automated behavioral measures can be used as sensitive toolsets for making semi-real time decisions for animal management and welfare. Our multistate efforts have added to our knowledge of 1) measuring impacts of proposed environmental enrichments on broiler welfare, 2) impacts of rearing on health and welfare of hens in their adult environments, and 3) on-farm assessment of commercial ducks. Research from Oregon State University added to our knowledge about how human-animal interactions can be better quantified and how they relate to social, cognitive and welfare outcomes across multiple species in ways that can be used to repurpose or serve as novel tools and measures for welfare analysis. These multistate efforts extended to producers and the dairy industry information about the growing body of literature on the performance and welfare benefits of socially rearing preweaned dairy calves and the importance of appropriate outlets for highly motivated behaviors (e.g., grooming).
Publications
Peer review articles
Jacobs, L., D.V. Bourassa, C.E. Harris, R.J. Buhr. (2019). Euthanasia: Manual versus mechanical cervical dislocation for broilers. Animals 9:47 doi: 10.3390/ani9020047
Tolera, A. Nufeta, and T. Engle. 2018. Indigenous mineral supplements of livestock and farmers’ perception on the supplements in Wolaita Lowlands, Southern Ethiopia. Eth. J. Anim. Prod. 18:74-87.
Carlson, J. C., R. S. Stahl, S. T. DeLiberto, J. J. Wagner, T. E. Engle, R. M. Engeman, C. S. Olson, J. W. Ellis, and S. J. Werner. 2018. Nutritional depletion of total mixed rations by European starlings: Projected effects of dairy cow performance and potential intervention strategies to mitigate damage. J. Dairy. Sci. 101: 1777-1784.
Siewert, J.M., J.A. Salfer, and M.I. Endres. 2019. Milk yield and milking station visits of primiparous versus multiparous cows on automatic milking system farms in the Upper Midwest United States. J. Dairy Sci 102:3523–3530DOI: https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2018-15382
Pereira, G.M., B.J. Heins, and M.I. Endres. 2018. Technical note: Validation of an ear-tag accelerometer sensor to determine rumination, eating, and activity behaviors of grazing dairy cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 101: 2492-2495.
Medrano-Galarza, C., S.J. LeBlanc, T.J. DeVries, J. Rushen, M.I. Endres, and D.B. Haley. 2018. Associations between management practices and within-pen prevalence of calf diarrhea and respiratory disease on dairy farms using automated milk feeders. J. Dairy Sci. 101: 2293-2308
Medrano-Galarza, C., S.J. LeBlanc, T.J. DeVries, J. Rushen, M.I. Endres, and D.B. Haley. 2018. Effect of age of introduction to an automated milk feeder on calf learning and performance and labor requirements. J. Dairy Sci. 101: 9371-9384
Salfer, J. A., J.M. Siewert, and M.I. Endres. 2018. Housing, management characteristics, and factors associated with lameness, hock lesion, and hygiene of lactating dairy cattle on Upper Midwest United States dairy farms using automatic milking systems. J. Dairy Sci. 101: 8586-8594
Stevenson, R., H.A. Dalton and M. Erasmus. 2018. Validity of micro-data loggers to determine walking activity of turkeys and effects on turkey gait. Frontiers Vet. Sci. Anim. Behav. Welfare. Jan 31;5:319
Robbins, L., A. Green-Miller, J. Johnson, and B. Gaskill. "230 Assessing Thermal Preference of Piglets Exposed to Early Life Thermal Stress." Journal of Animal Science 96, no. suppl_3 (2018): 9-10.
Akin, E. E., A. K. Johnson, J. W. Ross, S. T. Millman, C. D. Jass, J. P Stinn, and K. J. Stalder. 2019. Is the modified wean-to-finish mat a useful handling tool to move grow-finish pig cadavers on a commercial farm? Accepted to the Journal of Swine Health and Production. May 2019.
Ali, A., D. Campbell, D. M. Karcher, and J. M. Siegford. 2019. Daytime occupancy of resources and flooring types by 4 laying hen strains in a commercial style aviary. J. Vet. Behav. 31:59-66. doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2019.03.010
Ali, A. B., D. Campbell, D. M. Karcher, and J. M. Siegford. 2019. Nighttime roosting substrate type and height among four strains of laying hens in an aviary system. Poult. Sci. 98:1936-1946. doi:10.3382/ps/pey574
Wurtz, K. E., J. M. Siegford, C. W. Ernst, N. E. Raney, R. O. Bates, and J. P. Steibel. 2018. Genome-wide association analyses of lesion counts in group-housed pigs. Anim. Genet. 49: 628-631. doi:10.1111/age.12713
Jimenez, R. E., S. J. J. Adcock, and C. B. Tucker. 2019. Acute pain responses in dairy calves undergoing cornual nerve blocks with or without topical anesthetic. J. Dairy Sci. 102:3431-3438.
Edwards-Callaway, L. N., J. Walker, and C. B. Tucker. 2019. Culling decisions and dairy cattle welfare during transport to slaughter in the United States. Front. Vet. Sci. 5:1-5.
"Sirovica, L., Creamer, M., & Horback, K. 2019. Preference for and behavioural response to environmental enrichment in a small population of sexually mature, commercial boars. Animal Welfare (28) 271-278."
Horback, K. M., & Parsons, T. D. (2019). Judgement bias testing in group-housed gestating sows. Behavioural processes, 159, 86-92.
Vitale, KR, and Udell, M.A.R. (2019). The quality of being sociable: The influence of human attentional state, population, and human familiarity on domestic cat sociability. Behavioral Processes. 158: 11-17.
Kirchoff, N.S., Udell, M.A.R., Sharpton, T. J. (2019). The gut microbiome correlates with conspecific aggression in a small population of rescued dogs (Canis familiaris). Peer J. 7: e6103.
Brubaker, L., Udell, M. A. R. (2018). The Effects of Past Training, Experience, And Human Behaviour On A Dog’s Persistence at an Independent Task. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 204: 101-107.
Krause, M. A. Udell, M. A. R., Leavens, D. A., Skopos, L. (2018). Animal Pointing: Changing Trends and Findings from 30 Years of Research. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 132(3), 326-345.
Outreach
Caskin, T., K. Cirillo, and A. Adams-Progar. 2018. Physical management of pest birds in agricultural settings. WSU Extension.
Adams Progar, A. 2018. Pest birds cause real problems on dairies. Progressive Dairyman magazine.
Adams Progar, A. 2018. Do hoof lesions affect heat detection? Hoard's Dairyman magazine.
Adams Progar, A. 2018. New hoof health research reveals cows with hoof lesions spend less time eating. Progressive Dairyman.
Adams Progar, A. 2018. Top ten tips: what we learned about pest birds on Washington dairies. WSU Dairy News.
Endres, Marcia and Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein. 2018. Overview of cattle production systems. Pg 1-26 In: Advances in Cattle Welfare, C. Tucker, ed, Woodhead Publ., Elsevier, Doxford, UK
Erasmus, M. 2018. Animal well-being: horses. Purdue University Extension Publication AS-648-W. http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-648-W.pdf
Erasmus, M. 2018. Animal well-being: poultry. Purdue University Extension Publication AS-645-W. http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-645-W.PDF.
Erasmus, M. 2018. Animal well-being: cattle. Purdue University Extension Publication AS-664-W. http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/AS/AS-664-W.pdf
Weimer, S., D. Karcher and M. Erasmus. 2018. Farm animal welfare: audits and certification programs. Purdue University Extension Publication AS-639-W. https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/newsearch.asp
Akin, E., J. Ross, K. Stalder, S. Millman, C. Jass, J. Stinn, and A. Johnson. 2019. Movement ease for grow-finish pig cadavers’ on-farm using a sked, deer sled and modified deer sled. Accepted May 2019.
Akin, E., J. Ross, K. Stalder, S. Millman, C. Jass, J. Stinn, and A. Johnson. 2019. Employee survey to determine movement ease for grow-finish pig cadavers’ on-farm using a sked, deer sled and modified deer sled. Accepted May 2019.
Tucker, C.B. 2019. The nuts and bolts of dairy welfare programs. Progressive Dairyman. 4:38-39
Adockck, S.J.J., Tucker, C.B. 2018. New research shows calves experience pain for 9 weeks after disbudding. Progressive Dairyman 5:58-59.
Van Os, J.M.C. (2019). Animal care includes providing dairy cattle with opportunities for important behaviors. Progressive Dairyman.
Reports
Croney, C, J. Mench and W. Muir (Co-chairs). 2018. Scientific, Ethical and Economic Aspects of Farm Animal Welfare. Task Force Report No. 143. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST). Ames, IA.
Book Chapters
An overview of the segments of the beef cattle industry and animal welfare implications of been industry practices. 2018. Ahola, J. K., J. J. Wagner, and T. E. Engle. In: The Welfare of Cattle. Eds. T. E. Engle, D. J. Klingborg, and B. E. Rollin. CRC Press Boca Raton, FL. USA. Pp.173-179. (ISBN 978-1-138-19706-0).
Books
N/A