More than 70% of the buffaloes in the world belong to the River type.[2] MEAT, MILK, AND DRAFT ATTRIBUTES In general, the River types are mainly used for milk inSouth Asian countries, wh
Trang 1rumen; the remaining proportion is presumably directed to
the omasum Within the remainder of the ruminant gut,
quantitative net water absorption is greatest in the
proximal small intestine, followed by the omasum and
large intestine.[5]Recent data[6]indicate that the lower net
water absorption in the large intestine by cattle than by
sheep results from a reduced ability to retain absorbed
water because more absorbed solvent/solute is drawn back
into the lumen through the larger paracellular pores
between colonic cells in cattle
TRANSPORTATION-INDUCED
DEHYDRATION
Transport of animals on semitrailer trucks from the site of
birth to the site of growing and finishing can involve
periods of up to 24 hours or more without access to water,
and variable magnitudes of dehydration can occur Feeder
calves seem to lose approximately 3.3% of body weight
during the loading and unloading process and can lose an
additional 0.3 to 0.4% of body weight/hour of
trans-port.[7,8]Weight losses of feeder pigs during transport can
be up to 0.6% of body weight/hour.[9] Loss of
gastroin-testinal tract contents and carcass weight has accounted
for 48 and 32%, respectively, of transport shrink by feeder
steers[8]and has accounted for 62 and 27%, respectively,
of transport weight loss by feeder pigs Feces, urine, and
respiration accounted for 12.6, 26, and 60% of the water
loss.[10] Water accounted for 80% of weight lost by
wethers during 48 hours of feed and water deprivation.[11]
Of total body water loss, 57% was from the intracellular
compartment and 29% was from the gastrointestinal tract
In steers deprived of water for 4 days, thiocyanate space
(assumed to be extracellular space) accounted for 47% of
the weight lost (total loss = 16% of body weight).[12]
Thiocyanate space decreased 23% and plasma volume
decreased 28% during the 4-day period without water The
exchange of water within the body in response to
dehydration is depicted in Fig 2
Water Mineral CompositionDrinking water is a source of various minerals that aregenerally readily available for absorption unless com-plexed by an interfering nutrient Minerals ingested inwater and feed are a variable mix of positively andnegatively charged ions that contribute to the dietarycation anion difference of consumed material (DCAD)and have a direct influence on fluid and acid basebalance The DCAD is calculated as the milliequivalents(mEq) of Na+, K+, Ca+ +, and Mg+ +minus the mEq of Cl ,
S=, and P=.[13]As anion consumption and concentration inthe body increase, cellular acidosis can occur As theDCAD increases from negative to positive (e.g., 20 to+ 100 mEq/kg), feed intake and performance are generallyincreased However, the prepartum dairy cow is oneexception to the generalization Inducing mild metabolicacidosis by feeding anionic diets before calving has been
an effective means of preventing milk fever by ating calcium resorption from bone before the dramaticcalcium needs at parturition arise.[13]
potenti-Few data are available on the contribution of waterminerals to overall DCAD Socha et al.[14] reportedaverage mineral profiles of more than 3600 drinking water
Fig 2 Water change between body compartments duringdehydration Water is osmotically drawn from transcellular andintracellular compartments to interstitial and plasma compartments during dehydration, in response to losses by urinary andfecal excretion and insensible routes The magnitude ofreduction in compartmental volumes is dependent on the degree
of dehydration
Fig 1 Typical body water compartments (% of total body
water)
Trang 2samples collected across the United States Assuming that
a growing feedlot steer weighing approximately 300 kg
and consuming 9 kg of a mixed diet (>85% dry matter)
meeting mineral requirements would drink 30 L of water/
day,[2]this steer would consume twice as much weight in
water compared to the weight of feed consumed, and
approximately 3 to 7% of calcium, sodium, and sulfur
consumed would be derived from water However,
ap-proximately 20% of chloride consumed would be derived
from drinking water in this example The DCAD
cal-culated for the surveyed samples[14] was approximately
0.4 mEq/kg Estimates of the contribution of drinking
water minerals to overall DCAD are needed
CONCLUSION
The polarity and ability of water to facilitate hydration of
polar and ionic molecules are central to the flow of water
and metabolites within the body Saliva appears to be a
greater proportion of ruminal fluid than previously
thought, considering recent observations that some water
consumed by drinking in nonsuckling cattle bypasses the
rumen, but more intensive study is needed The ability of
sheep to form drier feces than cattle results from tighter
junctions between colonic cells and a greater ability to
establish an osmotic gradient to retain absorbed water
Cattle may lose approximately 3% of body weight during
loading and unloading for transport, plus an additional 0.3
to 0.4% of body weight per hour of transport Indirect data
suggest that water may constitute up to 80% of this weight
loss Estimates of the contribution of drinking water
minerals to overall cation anion difference and of the
influence of water cation anion difference on animal
performance are needed
REFERENCES
1 Bohinsky, R.C Modern Concepts in Biochemistry, 5th Ed.;
Allyn and Bacon, Inc.: Boston, MA, 1987
2 Parker, D.B.; Brown, M.S Water Consumption forLivestock and Poultry Production In Encyclopedia ofWater Science, 1st Ed.; Stewart, B.A., Howell, T.A., Eds.;Marcel Dekker, Inc.: New York, NY, 2003
3 Christopherson, R.J.; Webster, A.J.F Changes duringeating in oxygen consumption, cardiac function and bodyfluids of sheep J Physiol 1972, 221, 441 457
4 Zorrilla Rios, J.J.; Garza, D.; Owens, F.N Fate ofDrinking Water in Ruminants: Simultaneous Comparison
of Two Methods to Estimate Ruminal Evasion; AnimalScience Research Report MP 129; Oklahoma AgriculturalExperiment Station: Stillwater, OK, 1990; 167 169
5 Sklan, D.; Hurwitz, S Movement and absorption of majorminerals and water in ovine gastrointestinal tract J DairySci 1985, 68, 1659 1666
6 McKie, A.T.; Goecke, I.A.; Naftalin, R.J Comparison offluid absorption by bovine and ovine descending colon invitro Am J Physiol 1991, 261, G433 G442
7 Bartle, S.J.; Preston, R.L Feedlot Cattle ReceivingExperiments, 1988 89; Animal Science Research Report
# T 5 263; Texas Tech University: Lubbock, TX, 1989;
28 30
8 Self, H.L.; Gay, N Shrink during shipment of feeder cattle
J Anim Sci 1972, 35, 489 494
9 Jesse, G.W.; Weiss, C.N.; Mayes, H.F.; Zinn, G.M Effect
of marketing treatments and transportation on feeder pigperformance J Anim Sci 1990, 68, 611 617
10 Mayes, H.F.; Hahn, G.L.; Becker, B.A.; Anderson, M.E.;Nienaber, J.A A report on the effect of fasting andtransportation on liveweight losses, carcass weight lossesand heat production measures of slaughter hogs Appl.Eng Agric 1988, 4, 254 258
11 Cole, N.A Influence of a three day feed and waterdeprivation period on gut fill, tissue weights, and tissuecomposition in mature wethers J Anim Sci 1995, 73,
2548 2557
12 Weeth, H.J.; Sawhney, D.S.; Lesperance, A.L Changes inbody fluids, excreta and kidney function of cattle deprived
of water J Anim Sci 1967, 26, 418 423
13 Goff, J Factors to Concentrate on to Prevent PeriparturientDisease in the Dairy Cow, Proceedings of the Mid SouthRuminant Nutrition Conference, Texas Agricultural Extension Service: College Station, TX, 1998; 63
14 Socha, M.T.; Ensley, S.M.; Tomlinson, D.J.; Ward, T.Water composition variability may affect performance.Feedstuffs 2003, 75 (24), 10
Trang 3Water Buffalo
Nguyen van Thu
Cantho University, Can Tho City, Vietnam
INTRODUCTION
The water buffalo is considered to be a very useful
animal in many countries, supplying draft power, meat,
milk, and other by-products such as hides, horn, etc
The water buffalo is closely associated with water or
mud, and with smallholder farmers in the rice fields
In recent years, buffalo production has developed well,
not only in Asia, but also in Europe, South America,
and other continents where the buffalo has been
introduced This article aims to introduce some basic
knowledge of the water buffalo, with an emphasis on
its great contribution to our living standards and
improved productivity that could be better exploited
for a more sustainable agriculture development in the
21st century
TAXONOMY AND TYPES
The world’s buffaloes are classified into two groups,
the African and the Asian, with genus names Syncerus
and Bubalus, respectively According to the zoological
classification,[1]buffaloes belong to the class Mammalia,
subclass Ungulata, order Artiodactila, suborder
Ruminan-tia, family Bovidae, subfamily Bovinae, tribe Bovini The
tribe Bovini includes three groups: Bovina (cattle),
Bubalina (the Asian buffalo), and Syncerina (the African
buffalo) The Asian and African buffaloes are generally
similar, but there are some anatomic differences The
African buffalo includes only one species, Syncerus
caffer, while the Asian buffalo comprises three species:
Anoa (Bubalus depressicornis) from the Island of
Celebes, Tamarao (Bubalus mindorensis) from the Island
of Mindoro, and Arni (Bubalus Arnee), or the Indian wild
buffalo Of these four species of African and Asian
buffalo, only the India Arni buffalo has been domesticated
and given the species name bubalis Therefore, the
domestic buffalo currently reared with the name of water
buffalo is classified as bubalus bubalis It is believed that
the domestication of the buffalo occurred about 5000
years ago on the Indian subcontinent, and the
domestica-tion of the Swamp buffalo took place in China about 1000
years later
The water buffalo can be classified into two breedtypes, the River type (2n = 50) and the Swamp type(2n = 48) River breeds consist of: 1) Asian breeds such
as those in India and Pakistan (including Murrah, NiliRavi, Surti, etc.; and 2) Mediterranean breeds found inItaly, Romania, and the Middle East The skin of Riverbuffaloes is black, but some specimens have a dark slate-colored skin The horns of the River buffalo growdownward and backward, then curve upward in a spiral.The Swamp type is found mainly in China and SoutheastAsia The skin of the Swamp buffaloes is gray at birth, butbecomes slate blue later Albinoid Swamp buffaloes arequite common in some areas, for example, in the north ofThailand Normally, the horns of Swamp buffaloes arelonger than those of the River buffaloes, grow outward,and curve in a semicircle More than 70% of the buffaloes
in the world belong to the River type.[2]
MEAT, MILK, AND DRAFT ATTRIBUTES
In general, the River types are mainly used for milk inSouth Asian countries, while the Swamp types are usedfor draft power in Southeast Asian countries and China(Table 1) However, both the River and Swamp types havebeen used for multiple purposes such as work, milk, meat,manure, fuel, etc by small farmers in different croplivestock farming systems In addition, crossbreedingprograms of the River and Swamp buffaloes have showngreat potential for improving meat, work, and milkoutputs Recently, the U.S Department of Agriculture(USDA) estimated the nutritional value of water buffalomeat and compared it to beef and chicken The findingsshowed that water buffalo meat has 41% less cholester-
ol, 92% less fat, and 56% fewer calories than traditionalbeef Furthermore, there are as yet no reports on theoccurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE),also known as mad cow disease, in buffaloes in any part
of Asia.[4]
The milk yield of the buffalo is lower than that ofcattle, and average milk production is 1500 kg per lac-tation However, some individuals can produce 3500 kgper lactation Buffalo milk has high nutritive value and
is excellent for the preparation of dairy products Using
DOI: 10.1081/E EAS 120019837 Copyright D 2005 by Marcel Dekker, Inc All rights reserved.
Trang 4buffaloes for a single purpose makes them less
compet-itive with cattle and tractors This is believed to be an
important reason for the serious decline of the buffalo
population in a number of Southeast Asian countries,
including some parts of Vietnam Alexiev reported that
the Swamp-type Wenzhou buffalo in China can give an
average milk yield of 1030 kg per 280-day lactation.[2]
Thus, milk production of the Swamp buffalo is sufficient
for family consumption In addition, the Swamp buffalo
provides draft power, and thus has potential in rural areas
of China and Southeast Asian countries In Europe and the
Near East, the main purpose of raising buffaloes is for
milk Milk can be used for liquid consumption and making
different cheeses or yogurt, particularly in Italy, where
most of the buffalo milk is used for making a well-known
cheese called Italian Mozarella, which retails at a very
high price.[5,6]
The total number of buffalo in the World in 2002 was
about 167,126,000 and it is increasing, particularly in
India, China, Brazil, etc., where the River buffaloes are
raised However, there is a serious reduction of the Swamp
buffalo population in some countries such as Thailand,
Malaysia, and Cambodia due to mechanization, slaughtering for meat, and other reasons (Table 2)
over-In many cases, knowledge from studies on cattle canalso be applied to buffalo research and practices How-ever, differences in anatomy, physiology, feeding behav-ior, reproductive characteristics, and productivity betweenthe species have been reported.[8]The water buffalo is aruminant, and the rumen reticulum of buffaloes is similar
to that of cattle However, it is heavier than in cattle and
5 10% more capacious.[9]Studies comparing buffaloes tocattle have suggested a higher feed intake, longer retentiontime of feed in the digestive tract, longer rumination, lessdepression of cellulose digestion by soluble carbohydrates,
a wider range of plant preferences, and a higher tion of cellulolytic bacteria.[9] However, some authorshave found no significant difference in feed digestibilitybetween the two species It was suggested that the betterperformance of buffaloes fed coarse fodder may not berelated to a superior capacity for fiber digestion, but ratherthat they are less discriminating against plants not readilyeaten by cattle In Colombia, cattle are sometimes firstused to graze pasture, whereafter buffaloes are allowed tograze the remaining and less desirable parts of thesward.[10]Recently, in a comparative study on cattle andSwamp buffaloes raised under the same village conditions,some authors reported higher bacteria, lower protozoa, andhigher fungal zoospore counts in Swamp buffaloes.[11]Itwas also found that the Swamp buffalo can adapt better inthe acid sulphate soil areas compared to the cattle andgoats in the Mekong delta of Vietnam
popula-Based on results of a number of studies, buffalo mightutilize protein more efficiently than cattle.[9]An ability ofbuffaloes to utilize endogenous urea more efficiently thancattle may explain in part their apparent superiority inutilizing high-fiber and low-nitrogen feed resources It isconcluded that there have been contradictory results forfiber digestion abilities of buffaloes compared to cattle.Buffaloes, however, seem to have a superior ability toconsume coarse roughage, perhaps as a result of a betterrumination capacity There is evidence that urea recyclingand purine excretion in buffaloes are different from those
in cattle, but more comprehensive studies are lacking
Table 2 Buffalo population (head) in the world and in selected countries (1970 2000)
Table 1 Plowing and harrowing performance of swamp
buffaloes in the Mekong delta, Vietnam
SexFemale
(na= 24)
Male(na= 24)
Plowing timeb
(hrs/day)
5.35 ± 0.58 5.39 ± 0.31Plowed area
(ha/pair/day)
0.29 ± 0.025 0.31 ± 0.035Harrowing timeb
(hrs/day)
5.05 ± 0.17 5.28 ± 0.30Harrowed area
Trang 5It may be concluded that the water buffalo has a great
potential to develop in the future A number of promising
buffalo farming models have been developed in Brazil,
Australia, Italy, Philippines, Colombia, etc Valuable
products of water buffaloes, such as milk, meat, draft
power, and manure, are relevant for the people and our
living environment, particularly with respect to the trend
toward organic agriculture in many parts of the world
REFERENCES
1 Alexiev, A The Water Buffalo; St Kliment Ohridski
University Press: Sofia, 1998
2 Chantalakhana, C Long term breeding strategies for ge
netic improvement of buffaloes in developing countries
Asian Aust J Anim Sci 1999, 12, 1152 1161
3 Thu, N.V A Study of Performance, Physiological Param
eters and Economic Efficiency of Working Buffaloes in the
Mekong Delta of Vietnam In Working Animals in
Agriculture and Transport; Pearson, R.A., Lhoste, P.,
Saastamoinen, M., Martin Rosset, W., Eds.; EAAP Tech
nical Series, Wageningen Academic Publisher, 2003; Vol
6, 165 171
4 Ranjhan, S.K A Vision of buffalo production with special
reference to milk and meat production Proc Symp Series
1 of the 8th World Conf Anim Prod., Seoul, Korea, June
28 July 4, 1998; 263 270
5 Borghese, A.; Moioli, B.; Tripadi, C Processing andProduct Development in Mediterranean Countries InProceedings of the Third Asian Buffalo Congress, Kandy,Sri Lanka, 2000; 37 46
6 Chantalakhana, C Long term breeding strategies forgenetic improvement of buffaloes in developing countries.Asian Aust J Anim Sci 1999, 12 (7), 1152 1161
7 FAO Live Animals FAOstat Agriculture Data; 2003.http://apps.fao.org/page/collections?subset = agriculture
8 Cockrill, W.R The Husbandry and Health of DomesticBuffalo; FAO: Rome, 1974
9 Khajarern, S.; Khajarern, J.M Feeding Swamp Buffalo forMilk Production In Feeding Dairy Cows in the Tropics;FAO Animal Production and Health Paper, WageningenAcademic Publishers: The Netherlands, 1991; Vol 86,
115 125
10 Thu, N.V A Study of the Use of Female Cattle and BuffaloCrusing Sugar Cane in Colombia M.Sc Thesis; SwedishUniversity of Agricultural Sciences: Uppsala, Sweden,Food and Agriculture of the United Nations, 1994
11 Wanapat, M.; Ngarmsang, A.; Korkhuntot, S.; Nontaso,N.; Wachirapakorn, C.; Keakes, G.; Rowlinson, P Acomparative study on the rumen microbial population ofcattle and Swamp buffalo raised under traditional villageconditions in the Northeast of Thailand Asian Aust J.Anim Sci 2000, 13 (7), 918 921
Trang 6Well-Being and Handling
Temple Grandin
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S.A
INTRODUCTION
Reducing stress during handling for procedures such as
vaccinations, milking, and herding will improve both
animal welfare and productivity Pigs and dairy cows that
are afraid of people have reduced productivity Pigs have
lower weight gains and fewer piglets and dairy cows
produce less milk Fearfulness was assessed by measuring
the animal’s willingness to approach people Cows on
dairies where the employees had received training in
stockmanship and animal behavior had a smaller flight
zone and gave more milk.[1] The trained employees
engaged in fewer negative interactions with the cows,
such as hitting or yelling Further studies have shown that
wild, excitable cattle that become highly agitated in the
squeeze chute had lower weight gains,[2] poor beef
quality, and tougher meat
BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF FEAR
Fear is a strong stressor and it can be detrimental to both
productivity and welfare People working with animals
should take steps to reduce the animal’s fear Other
stressors such as weather extremes often cannot be
avoided, but livestock producers can easily reduce fear
Fear is a basic emotion and it motivates animals to
avoid predators The amygdala is the brain’s fear center.[3]
If the amygdala is destroyed, the animal will no longer
become fearful of things that would normally cause fear,
such as sudden loud noise It also loses learned fear
responses An example of a learned fear response is
refusing to enter a squeeze chute for vaccinations because
the cow was accidentally hit on the head by the headgate
In wild animals that are not accustomed to handling,
destruction of the amygdala will make them act tame
INDICATORS OF FEARFULNESS
One indicator of fearfulness in grazing animals is the size
of the flight zone Animals with larger flight zones are
more fearful Another indicator is the startle response to
a sudden stimulus such as a firecracker Some other
behavioral indicators of fear are a cow struggling in a
squeeze chute, sweating in horses when there is littlephysical exertion, flapping in caged layers, and a horserearing when he is suddenly startled Isolation is a strongstressor, and a single cow or lamb may run into a fence ortry to jump it when it is separated from its herdmates.Physiological measures such as cortisol in the bloodcan also be used as indicators of fear stress that occursduring nonpainful restraint in a squeeze chute.[4]Cortisol
is a time-dependent measure and it takes 10 to 20 minutesfor it to reach peak levels It is important to differentiatebetween fear and pain stress Cortisol levels can also rise
in response to pain from procedures such as hot ironbranding The variable of the handling stress needs to beseparated from the variable of pain caused by a proceduresuch as castration Handling stress is mostly fear, andstress from castration is caused by pain and injury
to tissues
VARIATIONS IN HANDLING STRESSFear stress during handling can vary from almost none toextreme Extensively raised cattle that were not accus-tomed to close contact with people had much highercortisol levels when they were restrained in a squeezechute compared to hand-reared dairy cattle.[5]Taming of
an animal may reduce physiological reactivity of thenervous system Hand-reared deer that were raised inclose contact with people had significantly lower cortisollevels after restraint than free-range deer.[6]
There are three basic variables that will affect boththe intensity of fear stress during handling and the size ofthe animal’s flight zone They are: 1) genetic factors;2) amount of contact with people; and 3) previousexperiences with handling that can be either aversive
or nonaversive
GENETIC FACTORSThe domestic phenotype has reduced responses to changes
in its environment.[7] Several studies have shown thatthere are differences in how different breeds of cattle react
to handling Brahman cattle had higher cortisol levelsafter restraint than crosses of the English breeds such as
DOI: 10.1081/E EAS 120019847
Copyright D 2005 by Marcel Dekker, Inc All rights reserved.
Trang 7Hereford or Angus Some genetic lines of cattle, pigs,
or chickens are more likely to be extremely agitated
during handling
Animals that have flighty, excitable, high-fear genetics
are more likely to become highly agitated when they
are suddenly placed in a new situation, compared to
animals with a calmer temperament Flighty animals
have to be introduced more gradually to new things to
avoid agitation and panic, compared to animals with a
calmer temperament
An experiment by Ted Friend showed that
measure-ments of epinephrine (adrenalin) showed that some pigs
habituated to a novel, nonpainful swimming task where
they were suddenly placed in a pool of water The task
was repeated over a series of days In some of the pigs, the
elevated epinephrine levels returned to normal and in
other individuals, the epinephrine levels remained high
Some of the pigs lost their fear of swimming and others
remained scared Genetic factors may have accounted for
these differences
EFFECT OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES
An animal’s previous experiences with handling will
affect how it will react in the future Cattle that had been
accidentally bumped on the head in a squeeze chute were
more reluctant to reenter the chute a month later Sheep
that had been turned upside down in a restraint device
were more reluctant to reenter the facility the following
year compared to sheep that were restrained in an upright
position.[8]
It is important that an animal’s first experience with a
new person or new place be a good one Progressive
ranchers walk cows and calves through the corrals prior to
doing procedures so that they will associate corrals with
being fed Sometimes painful procedures have to be done,
but it is recommended that they not be associated with the
animal’s first experience with either a new person or a
new place A rat experiment indicated that if a rat was
shocked severely the first time it entered a new arm on a
maze, it would never enter that arm again However, if the
rat was fed the first time he went into the new arm and
then subjected to gradually increasing shocks, he would
keep entering the arm to get the food.[9]
FEAR MEMORIES
If an animal is subjected to either a frightening or a painful
experience, it may form a permanent fear memory that
cannot be erased.[3] This memory is formed in the lower
subcortical pathway in the brain, and extinguishing the
conditioned fear is difficult because it has to be pressed by an active learning process that requires inputfrom higher parts of the cortex The fear memory issuppressed by the cortex, but it can sometimes reappear.Careful, quiet handling of animals will help prevent theformation of fear memories that may compromise welfare,lower productivity, or cause behavior problems, as inhorses Animals can associate certain types of clothing or
sup-a person’s voice with either sup-a frightening or sup-a psup-ainfulexperience Animals also have the ability to recognize thevoice of a familiar safe person who can calm them down
FEAR OF NOVELTYNew experiences and new things are both scary andattractive to animals They are attractive when the animal
is allowed to voluntarily approach, but frightening whensuddenly introduced.[7]If a flag is placed in the middle of
a large field, cattle and horses will approach it andinvestigate However, if the same flag is suddenly wavednext to a horse, he may become highly agitated.[7]Animals can be trained to tolerate new things if theyare gradually introduced Cattle should become accus-tomed to being handled and fed by different people indifferent vehicles This will help reduce stress when theyare moved to a new place Training animals to toleratenew experiences will help keep them calmer It isimportant to train cattle on being moved by both people
on foot and people on horses Cattle appear to perceive aperson riding a horse and a person walking on foot as twodifferent things
TRAIN FOR HANDLINGTraining calves and pigs to handling procedures helps toproduce calmer adult animals Pigs differentiate between aperson in the aisle and a person in their pens Pigs willmove more easily in and out of trucks and through chutes
at a meat plant if the producer trained them by walkingthrough their pens several times each week
Animals will have the lowest amount of fear stresswhen they voluntarily cooperate with being restrained andhandled Zoos and aquariums are training animals, such asapes, lions, and dolphins, to cooperate with blood testingand veterinary procedures Highly excitable Bongoantelope were trained to enter a box and allow bloodsamples to be taken when they were fed treats Almostbaseline cortisol (stress hormone) levels were obtained.The levels of glucose in the blood of trained animals wassignificantly lower compared to the same animal immo-bilized with a dart.[10]
Trang 8Reducing fear during handling will improve animal
productivity.[1] There are many different stressors that
animals encounter such as stimuli that evoke fear, heat
stress, cold stress, pain, or fatigue Fear is a strong stressor
and it is one stressor that is easy to reduce Fearful animals
have lower productivity Animals remember frightening
or painful events and producers should be careful to avoid
creation of fear memories An animal’s first experience
with a new corral or person should be low stress Training
animals to handling procedures will help reduce fear
stress Both animal welfare and productivity will be
improved by reducing fear stress
ARTICLE OF FURTHER INTEREST
Animal Handling-Behavior, p 22
REFERENCES
1 Hemsworth, P.H.; Coleman, G.J.; Barnett, J.C.; Berg, S.;
Dowling, S The effect of cognitive behavioral interven
tions on the attitude and behavior of stock persons and
the behavior and productivity of commercial dairy cows
J Anim Sci 2002, 80, 68 78
2 Voisinet, B.D.; Grandin, T.; Tatum, J.D.; O’Connor, S.F.;Struthers, J.J Feedlot cattle with calm temperamentshave higher daily weight gains than cattle with excitabletemperaments J Anim Sci 75, 892 896
3 LeDoux, J The Emotional Brain; Simon and Schuster:New York, New York, 1996
4 Grandin, T Assessment of stress during handling andtransport J Anim Sci 1997, 75, 249 257
5 Lay, D.C.; Friend, T.H.; Bowers, C.C.; Grissom, K.K.;Jenkins, O.C A comparative physiological and behavioralstudy of freeze and hot iron branding using dairy cows
J Anim Sci 1992, 70, 1121 1125
6 Hastings, B.E.; Abott, D.E.; George, L.M.; Staler, S.G.Stress Factors influencing plasma cortisol levels andadrenal weights in Chinese water deer Res Vet Sci
1992, 53, 375 380
7 Grandin, T.; Deesing, M.J Behavioral Genetics andAnimal Science In Genetics and the Behavior of DomesticAnimals; Grandin, T., Ed.; Academic Press: San Diego,
CA, 1998; 1 30
8 Hutson, G.D The influence of barley food rewards onsheep movement through a handling system Appl Anim.Behav Sci 1985, 14, 263 273
9 Miller, N.E Learning resistance to pain and fear, effects ofover learning exposure and rewarded exposure in context
J Exp Psych 1960, 60, 137 142
10 Phillips, M.; Grandin, T.; Graffam, W.; Irlbeck, N.A.;Cambre, R.C Crate conditioning of Bongo (Tragelaptous eurycerus) for veterinary and husbandry procedures at Denver Zoological Garden Zoo Bio 1998, 17,
25 32
Trang 9Well-Being Assessment: Behavioral Indicators
J C Swanson
M Rassette
Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.A
INTRODUCTION
Animal well-being can be characterized as the harmony an
animal is experiencing mentally and physically with its
environment Animal well-being is often used
inter-changeably with the term animal welfare Domestic
livestock and poultry are raised under a variety of
environmental conditions that are vastly different from
those of their wild ancestors The scientific assessment of
the well-being of livestock and poultry has become
important to the sustainability of raising them for food
The best scientific approach and criteria to assess animal
well-being have yet to achieve a scientific consensus, but
it is generally accepted that behavior, physiology, health,
productivity, cognition, and system ecology are indicators
of animal well-being
BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS
The repertoire of behavior expressed by a domestic animal
reflects a living history of its natural and artificial
selection Generally, behavior is used to identify and
assess animal needs, preferences, state of health, ability to
adapt and cope with its social and physical environment,
emotional state, and to gain insight into what an animal
may comprehend or feel about its environment
Several behavioral indicators are commonly cited as
useful to understanding and assessing animal well-being
including abnormal behavior, posture, vocalization,
re-sponsiveness, grooming and displacement behavior,
pre-ferences animals express toward features of their living
environment, and the presence/absence of stereotypies
Abnormal Behavior
The use of abnormal behavior as an indicator of
well-being requires a clear knowledge of what constitutes
normal behavior for a species Species behavior is
se-quenced, measured, described, and recorded to construct
an ethogram The ethogram characterizes both instinctive
and learned behavior displayed throughout a species’ life
cycle Ethograms of wild ancestors, close relatives, or
feral members of the same species are useful in studying
the behavioral similarities and differences induced bydomestication An example of abnormal behavior is anoutbreak of tail biting in pigs The interpretation ofbehavior elicited under domestic conditions is complicat-
ed and requires that we understand the cause, mental aspects, and function of the behavior within theconstruct of the evolutionary and domestic history ofthe species
develop-PostureThe posture of an animal represents a coping response to astimulus Posture is often coupled with other behavioralindicators such as vocalization and locomotion to assesswell-being Researchers have studied the usefulness ofposture to correctly assess the amount of pain and distress
an animal may experience after being subjected tocommon animal management procedures For example,
a behavioral method using posture was validated to assessacute pain associated with different castration proceduresused on lambs.[1]Each procedure was ranked according to
an established index of expected pain Physiologic andbehavioral data (including posture) were then collected for
a period of 60 minutes postprocedure The data wereanalyzed according to the ability to place a lamb into thecorrect procedure group A combination of behavior andposture data correctly placed 79% of the lambs into theirrespective treatment groups.[1]
As technology advances, so too does the sophistication
of using an animal’s posture or movement for assessingwell-being For example, computer image analysis hasbeen used to measure the severity of head movements ofcattle undergoing various types of branding to measuretheir aversion to the procedure,[2] and to evaluate thethermal comfort of pigs based on their proximity to oneanother.[3]While assessments must be validated for otherspecies and for different types of practices, posturalmeasures appear to be useful behavioral indicators ofwell-being
VocalizationAnimals convey a range of emotional states throughvarious types of vocalizations Vocalizations are context-
DOI: 10.1081/E EAS 120019844 Copyright D 2005 by Marcel Dekker, Inc All rights reserved.
Trang 10specific, and the circumstances under which vocalizations
are emitted must be carefully considered For example, a
recent study compared the vocalizing of cattle in slaughter
plants before and after modifications were made in animal
handling procedures.[4]The data were used to evaluate the
effectiveness of the plant modifications Indeed, a
reduction in observable aversive events (prod use,
slippage, excessive restraint pressure) decreased the
amount of vocalization behavior.[4] Other researchers
have found similar uses for vocalization in different
species One study measured the occurrence and
frequen-cy of calls in piglets being castrated, and found a
significantly greater rate of high-frequency calls (> 1000
Hz) compared with controls who were handled similarly
but not actually castrated.[5]The researchers were able to
isolate the most painful part of the procedure itself, and
the effect these vocalizations had on other piglets, both of
which have important implications for well-being
Responsiveness
The degree of an animal’s responsiveness to stimuli also
acts as an indicator of well-being For example, the
attitudes and behavior of dairy stockpersons toward
cows have been researched and a correlation found
between the stockperson’s behaviors and the avoidance
distance of cows.[6] Avoidance behavior can shed light
on an animal’s past relationship with humans and reflect
the well-being of individuals or groups Another
example of responsiveness as an indicator of well-being
comes from a study using tonic immobility.[7] Tonic
immobility is a state of petrification induced by
positioning a bird on its back or side consequently,
no movement is detected for a given period of time The
time until the bird recovers head movement, stands, and
walks is measured Shorter latencies to recovery indicate
a better coping response by the bird Reduced or absent
responsiveness of an animal has been recognized as an
indicator of poor well-being
Grooming and Displacement Behaviors
Grooming as a social and self-maintenance behavior
can reflect the relative well-being of an individual or an
entire group Disruption or abnormal manifestations of
grooming are measurable events The lack of grooming,
indicated by poor hair/fur coat or feather condition, is often
used as an indicator of sickness or depression for
indi-vidual animals Abnormal pulling of hair/fur or feathers
or obsessive grooming activities may occur in
individ-uals or within groups Both are considered abnormal
A displacement behavior is the result of frustration or
behavioral disinhibition, or is performed when an animal
is in conflict with how to behave in a given set of
circumstances For example, abnormal feather pecking inlaying hens may be the displaced behavior of naturalforaging or dustbathing and has been used to assessdifferent housing conditions of egg-laying hens.[8]Featherpecking in hens can lead to significant feather loss or evenskin damage Thus, the occurrence of displacementbehavior and abnormal forms of grooming can bemeasured and used to assess well-being
PreferencesPreference tests are valuable tools to evaluate stimuli orconditions by appealing to the desires of the animal Forexample, such tests can be used to assess the effects onwell-being of different enrichment devices or housingconditions In one study, researchers tested the prefer-ences of dairy cattle for different kinds of flooring sand,straw, or a soft rubber mat.[9]The cows avoided sand andpreferred either the mat or straw The researchers thentested whether a preference existed between the mat andstraw They found that cattle preferred straw in winter, but
in summer, cows showed no special preference for onesystem over the other Preference testing of this typeallows for better design of housing systems However,extreme care must be taken when designing and drawingconclusions from such tests For example, exposure toresource cues can affect the performance of an animal inpreference tests.[10] Cues such as odors can be undetect-able to humans, but obvious to animals Carefullycontrolled preference tests are useful in validating theneeds and choices of animals
StereotypiesStereotypy is a common abnormal behavior observed inintensively farmed species and thought to be the product
of impoverished environments Stereotypies are behaviorpatterns repeated without variation and appear to have noobvious goal or function Examples include bar-biting;fur, hair, or wool chewing; sham chewing; tongue lolling;and a variety of locomotion patterns such as head-weaving Once developed, stereotypies can be difficult toextinguish, even when animals are moved into moreenriched environments This indicates an addictivequality to the behavior that requires an understanding ofits neurophysiological development Performance ofstereotypic behavior is often cited as an indicator of poorwell-being
Researchers have studied stereotypies in nearly allfarmed species, including those farmed for fur, such asmink raised in cages.[11] Potential remedies such asenvironmental enrichment are often explored to providerelief However, the view that all stereotypies indicatepoor well-being is controversial.[12–14] Performance of
Trang 11stereotypy could also indicate excitement or anticipation
of a resource Thus, stereotypic behaviors are complex
and must be fully examined to determine the effect on
well-being
Although the motivation to stereotype in domestic
species has been researched, the neurophysiological
implications are only beginning to be elucidated For
example, recent studies have linked altered brain
func-tioning and enhanced frustration to stereotypies found in
caged birds.[15]Greater understanding of the disruption to
brain function could eventually adjudicate the competing
views on stereotypic behavior At present, the exhibition
of stereotypies in domestic animals should prompt a closer
look at other well-being indicators to further assess the
possibility of a poor state of well-being
CONCLUSION
Behavior is one of several indicators used to assess animal
well-being There is still much to be learned about the
behavior of our domestic livestock and poultry and what
constitutes a state of good well-being or contentment
Although scientific consensus has not been reached
regarding good versus poor well-being, there is general
agreement that behavior provides insight into factors that
promote or detract from an animal’s quality of life
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