Pain and animal welfare

1
Pain and animal welfare

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• Adroaldo Zanella
• Michigan State University

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Lameness

• Can cause changes in behavior that are indicative
  of pain
• Body posture
• Gait
• Reluctance to move
• Speed of movement...

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Objective

• To study the consequences of lameness on
  indicators of animal welfare

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Overall hypothesis

• The welfare of lame cows is poor and can be
  measured using behavioral and physiological
  markers

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Hypothesis

• 1) Lame cows will have a different time budget
  than sound cows (following Maslows hierarchical
  characterization)

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Predictions 1

• Time budget (lame x sound cows)
• Decrease the frequency of drinking and feeding
  activities
• Increase in the duration of feeding and drinking
  bouts
• Decrease in the performance of social behavior

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Hypothesis

• 2) Lame cows will show higher heart rate and more
  reluctance to move when taken to the milk parlor
  than sound cows

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Predictions 2

• Heart rate
• No differences in basal HR are expected between
  lame and sound cows
• In response to exercise and postural changes a
  higher increase in heart rate is expected to be
  found in lame cows
• Reluctance to move
• Lame cows will take longer to walk from their
  pens to the milk parlor than sound cows

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Hypothesis

• 3) Lame cows will exhibit higher pain
  responsiveness as measured by behavioral and
  physiological responses to milking

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Predictions 3

• Pain responsiveness
• Lame cows will show higher levels of activity
  during milking (e.g. tail mov. legs shifting
  balance) than sound cows. This difference will
  be accentuated during the time when the milking
  machine will be operating
• Lame cows will have higher heart rate than sound
  cows during milking
• Levels of stress hormones will be higher in the
  milk of lame cows

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Methods

• Prior to the visit
• Class should be divided in 10 groups
• Preliminary information regarding the behavior of
  lame and sound cows should be obtained (tapes
  direct observation)
• Questions to the farm manager can be addressed
  next Wednesday (phone conference ?)

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Methods

• Prior to the visit
• List of materials to be gathered
• Heart rate monitors and belts
• (ask Christel you may need to put things
  together yourself)
• Computers
• Video cameras (10), cables field switchers (2)
• Video tapes
• Tubes for milk collection
• Check sheets

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Methods

• Objective 1)
• Five lame cows and 5 sound cows will be selected
  and numbered
• One lame and one sound cow will be allocated to
  each group
• Cows will be fitted with heart rate monitors

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Methods

• Objective 1)
• Cows will be observed continuously (1 student/cow
  1 student entering data)
• 900-1100 700-900
• Posture feeding drinking social behavior
• Time to change posture...

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Methods

• Objective 1)
• Duration (states) and frequency (events states)
  will be recorded
• Data will be recorded and analyzed for individual
  cows
• Results will be compiled (100 PM Saturday)

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Methods

• Objective 2)
• Five lame cows and 5 sound cows will be used (the
  same animals used for objective 1)
• One lame and one sound cow will be allocated to
  each group
• Cows will be fitted with heart rate monitors
• Video cameras will be installed in the milking
  parlor

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Methods

• Objective 2)
• Cows will be moved from their pens to the milk
  parlor in a standardized way (e.g. halter
  gatesm/min)
• At the end of milking cows will be moved back to
  their pens in a standardized way (see above)
• Heart rate monitors will be removed and data will
  be downloaded into a computer

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Methods

• Objective 2)
• Data will be collected
• Between 700- 800 PM
• and
• Between 500-600 AM
• Data will be compiled(100 PM Saturday)

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Methods

• Objective 3)
• Video cameras will be installed in the milking
  parlor
• Video recording will be carried out during
  milking (700-900 500-700)
• Tapes will be decoded
• Data will be compiled
• Milk samples will be collected and frozen
• Analysis will be carried out later on.