Aims: To compare the recovery of lambs, goats, and calves from head-only (HO) or high-frequency head-to-body stunning and evaluate the complementary use of behaviour and electroencephalography (EEG) to assess return to consciousness after electrical stunning in these species. Methods: Six-month-old lambs, adult goats and calves (< 7 days old) were subjected to reversible head-only stunning (50 Hz, 1 A, 2 seconds) or reversible high-frequency head-to-body stunning (RHTB: HO followed by 2,000 Hz, 2 A, 4-second stun to body). Following stunning, behavioural recovery was assessed in 21 lambs, 22 goats, and 20 calves. Latencies to first perform behaviours (end of convulsions, head lift, attempt to right, successful righting, attempt to stand, successful standing) after stunning were scored from video recordings. Recovery of electrical brain activity indicative of consciousness was assessed using EEG in a separate cohort of minimally-anaesthetised lambs, goats and calves (n = 20 per species). EEG traces collected before and after stunning were classified as normal, epileptiform, isoelectric, or transitional activity. Following stunning, the duration of epileptiform and isoelectric activity combined (states of brain activity incompatible with conscious awareness) was calculated, as was latency to return of normal (pre-stun) EEG. Results: The RHTB stun was reversible in all three species, although one sheep failed to recover and was euthanised. Both methods caused tonic and clonic convulsions in all species. Behavioural recovery of sheep and calves was similar for both methods while goats took longer to recover from RHTB than HO stunning. There was no evidence of differences between methods in the duration of EEG incompatible with consciousness or the latency to recovery of normal EEG. Conclusions: Head-to-body stunning as applied here produced a reversible electrical stun in lambs, adult goats and young calves, although the benefits in terms of meat quality and operator safety are uncertain. Goats took longer to recover behaviourally from head-to-body stunning, possibly due to disrupted motor function, but there was no indication that post-stun unconsciousness lasted longer than following head-only stunning in any species. The normal behaviour for the animals' developmental age should be considered when deciding on behavioural indicators of recovery. The minimal anaesthesia model provided excellent quality EEG data that was valuable for interpretation of the behavioural responses. Clinical relevance: For the purposes of pre-slaughter stunning of sheep, goats and young calves, recovery appears comparable between the two methods, with all but 1/63 animals in the behaviour study recovering normal function.

Dairy cattle are particularly good at converting forage into metabolic energy, making them well suited for milk production from grazing. Major efforts have been put into improving pasture production to suit the grazing characteristics of dairy cows. While this is a very efficient way to produce milk and has the inherent naturalness of outdoor grazing, the system is more complex to manage than concentrate-based systems. Many aspects of the welfare of the cows can be compromised. Many of the welfare challenges arise from the seasonal nature of pasture production and the limitations of energy supply from pasture. This can cause periods of significant negative energy balance for cows, leading to hunger and low body condition. Genetic selection for high milk production exacerbates this issue. Additional welfare challenges come from the climate, particularly wet and muddy conditions, whether on or off pasture, which cows distinctly dislike. Heat stress is another common welfare issue and is exacerbated by high-producing cows and a lack of provision of shade. Skilled management is required to maintain acceptable welfare. This chapter describes the welfare issues of dairy cows in pasture-based systems, providing an understanding of the risks that lie alongside the positive aspects of grazing systems.

There is growing evidence that animal personality is linked to a range of productivity traits in farm animals, including dairy cattle. To date, the methodology for assessing personality traits of dairy cattle is time consuming and often requires a test arena, which limits the opportunity for commercial farms to use personality traits of dairy cattle for individualized management. This study investigated whether personality traits of pastured dairy cattle, scored in short behavioral tests, are associated with daily behavioral patterns and milk production. Cows (n = 87) were exposed twice to each of 5 behavioral tests, where their responses to novel or putatively stressful situations were scored on an ordinal scale for investigative and reactive behavior toward a novel object and a novel human after exiting the milking parlor, response to restraint in a crush, avoidance distance from an approaching human in the paddock, and response to milking (step-kick behavior). Most behavior test scores were consistent over the 2 test repeats (using repeatability estimates, Mann-Whitney U test of difference between repeats, and Spearman rank correlation). Behavior test scores were subjected to a principal components analysis that revealed intertest relationships in 3 factors of correlated sets of test scores, interpreted as personality traits (fearful of humans, calm-investigative, and reactive to milking). Regression analyses determined how these traits were associated with daily grazing, ruminating, and lying behaviors, and milk production (after controlling for cow age, breed, lactation status, group, and climate variables). Cows that were more fearful of humans (high avoidance distance, reactive toward the novel human) had reduced lying time compared with cows that scored low on this trait. Cows that were more calm (during restraint) and investigative (toward the novel object) had greater grazing time, which likely contributed to their greater milk production compared with cows that scored low on this trait. Cows that were more reactive to milking produced less milk than cows that scored low on this trait. These results indicate that individual differences in daily behavior patterns and milk production of dairy cattle are associated with personality traits of cows, measured using several short behavioral tests. These methods may be useful for characterizing grazing dairy cattle on commercial farms, which could aid in understanding individual behavior patterns and provide opportunities for individualized management.

Our objective was to identify practical indicators of calf dehydration that could be used in an industry context. Eleven healthy 4-d-old commercial dairy calves were fed 2 L of mixed colostrum, then deprived of food and water for 24 h. Total body water was determined in the fed state using the deuterium dilution method. Body weight, along with a range of behavioral and physiological variables, was recorded 1 h after feeding, then at 90-min intervals through to 24 h. Blood samples were collected at every second sampling to assess changes in plasma hemoglobin, hematocrit, and osmolality. Linear mixed-effects models were used to explore associations between hydration status (% body water) and outcome variables. All calves remained bright and alert with good suckling reflexes throughout the 24-h period. After 24 h, total body water had decreased by an average of 8.4% (standard error 1.18), consistent with mild to moderate dehydration. Skin tent return time, capillary refill time, and detectable enophthalmos were associated with hydration status. Calves with skin tent return times of 3 s or longer were 4.4 percentage points less hydrated than those with return times of less than 3 s. Similarly, a capillary refill time of 3 s or longer was associated with a 4.3 percentage point reduction in hydration compared with refill times of less than 3 s. Calves with detectable enophthalmos (≥1 mm) were 3.5 percentage points less hydrated than those without enophthalmos. The skin tent, capillary refill, and enophthalmos tests are all relatively simple to perform and, although requiring the calf to be briefly restrained, can easily be performed by a single operator. The outcome of these tests was relatively consistent, in that calves above the threshold in any test were 3.5 to 4.5% less hydrated than calves below the threshold. As such, these tests may be of practical utility to identify calves with mild to moderate dehydration in an industry setting.

The objective of this study was to identify risk factors for morbidity and mortality of bobby calves across the whole dairy supply chain in New Zealand. A case-control study was carried out in the 2016 spring calving season. A total of 194 bobby calves, comprising 38 cases (calves that died or were condemned for health or welfare reasons before the point of slaughter) and 156 controls (calves deemed acceptable and presented for slaughter) were included in the study. Case and control calves were selected by veterinarians located at 29 processing premises across New Zealand. Information regarding management of selected calves on-farm, during transport and at the processor was obtained retrospectively via questionnaires administered to supplying farmers, transport operators and processing premises personnel. Associations between management variables and calf mortality (death or condemnation) were examined using multivariable logistic regression models. Factors associated with an increased risk of calf mortality included time in the farm of origin's calving season, duration of travel from farm to the processor and processing slaughter schedule (same day or next day). Every additional week into the farm's calving season increased the odds of mortality by a factor of 1.2 (95%CI 1.06, 1.35). Similarly, each additional hour of travel time increased the odds of mortality by a factor of 1.45 (95% CI 1.18, 1.76). Risk of mortality was significantly greater for calves processed at premises with a next day slaughter schedule than those processed at premises with a same day slaughter schedule (OR 3.82, 95% CI 1.51, 9.67). However, when the data set was limited to those cases that died or were condemned in the yards (i.e. excluding calves that were dead or condemned on arrival) the effect of same day slaughter was not significant. In order to reduce bobby calf mortality and morbidity, transport duration should be kept as short as possible and a same day slaughter schedule applied. While these factors can be regulated, New Zealand's pastoral dairy system means that calves will inevitably be transported for slaughter across several months each spring. Although farm management factors did not apparently influence the risk of mortality in this study, the effect of time in farm's calving season suggests there may be farm-management related factors that change over the season. This requires further investigation.

Bedding quality and cow lying time were measured during five weeks in a normal farm practice (NFP) off-paddock system with no bedding refreshment. Two groups of 100 non-lactating dairy cows were compared to groups of 8 cows with fresh bedding (FB). The cows were on a woodchip pad for 18 h/d at a space allowance of 5.4 m2/cow, with 6 h/d on pasture for 5 weeks. Lying times were recorded continuously for 60 cows per group using accelerometers. Bedding moisture content was measured weekly. Data for each NFP group were analysed and compared with those of their respective FB group using repeated measures. The lying time declined over five weeks from 11.6 h/day during the first week to 5.6 h/day during the fifth week (SED = 0.3; F1,25 = 351.56; p < 0.001). The moisture content of the bedding increased over the five weeks and was significantly higher for both NFP groups (NFP Group 1: F5,59 = 8.33; p < 0.001; NFP Group 2: F5,61 = 5.54; p < 0.001) than those of the respective FB groups. The percentage of total time lying when in the paddock increased for the NFP groups, reaching 15% in the last week of the trial. During five weeks on a stand-off pad, bedding quality deteriorated, and cows lay down less, to such an extent that welfare was compromised.

Stress negatively impacts gut and brain health. Individual differences in response to stress have been linked to genetic and environmental factors and more recently, a role for the gut microbiota in the regulation of stress-related changes has been demonstrated. However, the mechanisms by which these factors influence each other are poorly understood, and there are currently no established robust biomarkers of stress susceptibility. To determine the metabolic and microbial signatures underpinning physiological stress responses, we compared stress-sensitive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats to the normo-anxious Sprague Dawley (SD) strain. Here we report that acute stress-induced strain-specific changes in brain lipid metabolites were a prominent feature in WKY rats. The relative abundance of Lactococcus correlated with the relative proportions of many brain lipids. In contrast, plasma lipids were significantly elevated in response to stress in SD rats, but not in WKY rats. Supporting these findings, we found that the greatest difference between the SD and WKY microbiomes were the predicted relative abundance of microbial genes involved in lipid and energy metabolism. Our results provide potential insights for developing novel biomarkers of stress vulnerability, some of which appear genotype specific.

Commercially-housed dairy goats are typically fed from ground level, but their natural feeding behaviour includes foraging from variable heights. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feed intake and behaviour of dairy goats when offered different feeding heights in a competitive feeding environment. Thirteen group-housed, non-lactating goats were exposed to 3 feeder heights: floor-level (head lowered), head-level, and elevated-level (head angled upwards). One feeder height was provided daily for 12 d, resulting in 4 presentations of each height. Each feeder contained ad libitum alfalfa haylage and a corn-based supplement (230 g), refreshed twice daily. Feeding space was restricted to 13.5 cm/goat. Goats ate more from the elevated- compared to the floor- and head-level feeders (0.77 ± 0.06 vs 0.92 ± 0.06 kg vs 0.99 ± 0.06 kg DM/d, for floor-, head- and elevated-level feeders, respectively; P=0.03). Feeding time was generally highest at head-level, but lowest at floor-level during morning feeding and lowest at elevated-level during afternoon feeding feeding (morning: 15.9 ± 1.8 vs 25.3 ± 1.9 vs 20.0 ± 1.9 min/d; P<0.01; afternoon: 26.8 ± 2.0 vs 29.0 ± 2.1 vs 21.1 ± 2.1 min/d; P<0.1). This corresponded to increased waiting time for feeder access during afternoon feeding for floor-level compared to head- and elevated-level feeders [4.2(3.2–5.4) vs 2.8(2.1–3.6) vs 2.1(1.6–2.8) min/d; P<0.1). Aggression while feeding [3.4(2.5–4.6) vs 8.5(6.2–11.7) vs 9.8(5.2–11.1) bouts/d; P<0.001] and pushing to gain feeder access (7.5 ± 0.8 vs 9.9 ± 0.8 vs 10.6 ± 0.8 bouts/d; P<0.1) was highest for the head- and elevated-level compared to floor-level feeders during morning feeding, but was not different during afternoon feeding. Agonistic physical contact (butting, chasing, head-clashing) was greatest at floor-level compared to elevated-level during afternoon feeding (19.7 ± 2.1 vs 14.6 ± 2.1 vs 12.2 ± 2.1 bouts/d; P=0.03). These results show that elevated feeding surfaces may promote increased feed intake but also greater competition; this may be due to a preference to feed from raised heights or due to aspects of the feeding trough.

Public interest is stimulating farming industries to improve animal welfare in production systems. Indoor housing of ruminants has received scrutiny because of perceived intensiveness and lack of naturalness. Animal welfare has traditionally focused on health benefits (e.g., bedding management and reducing disease) and reducing negative experiences (e.g., painful husbandry practices). Recent attention to animals having "a life worth living" extends expectations to provide increased care and opportunities for positive experiences and natural behaviors. Although not all natural behaviors necessarily contribute to improved welfare, we present evidence for why many are important, and for how they can be promoted in commercial systems. Worldwide, commercial dairy goats (Capra hircus) are frequently housed in large open barns with space to move and soft bedding for lying; however, this is not sufficient to promote the range of natural behaviors of goats, which in turn suggests that commercial housing could be improved. The basis for this thinking is from the range of behaviors expressed by the Capra genus. Collectively, these species have evolved cognitive and behavioral strategies to cope with harsh and changing environments, as well as variable and limited vegetation. The rocky and often steep terrain that goats inhabit allows for predator avoidance and access to shelter, so it is not surprising that domesticated goats also seek out elevation and hiding spaces; indeed, their hoof structure is designed for the movement and grip in such rugged environments. The browsing techniques and flexibility in diet selection of wild, feral and extensively managed goats, appears to be equally important to housed goats, highlighting the need for more complexity in how and what goats are fed. Goats naturally live in small, dynamic groups, governed by complex social structures in which horns play a strong role. Commercial housing systems should consider the benefits of more natural-sized social groups and revisit the rationale behind horn removal. We suggest that cognitive stimulation is a potential welfare improvement for goats in commercial settings. Goat cognitive abilities, which enabled success in complex and variable social and physical environments, are unchallenged in uniform environments, potentially leading to negative affective states. We make suggestions for housing improvements that could be readily adopted into current systems without compromising production efficiency.

Providing opportunities for the expression of natural behavior is an important component of good animal welfare. In a natural setting, goats readily climb; however, the extent to which naive commercial dairy goats express this behavior is not known. This study aimed to determine the time lactating dairy goats, naive to raised surfaces, would spend on a raised platform when given the opportunity.

The use of high and low electrical frequencies in pre-slaughter electrical stunning and their implications for meat quality and animal welfare in ruminants and poultry are reviewed. There are different views regarding the appropriateness of high and low frequency stunning with respect to religious and animal welfare requirements. High electrical frequency when applied head-to-back does not initiate cardiac arrest, reduces carcass damage, enhances bleeding efficiency and eliminates the need for subsequent electrical immobilization for operator's safety. Conversely, low frequency when similarly applied kills the animal, which has animal welfare advantages, but reduces bleeding efficiency and negatively affects the quality of meat. The ability of high frequency to effectively stun without killing the stunned animal enables the process to meet this fundamental requirement for halal slaughtering when used in head-to-back in ruminants and water bath electrical stunning in poultry. Thus, it is necessary to appraise the efficacy of high and low frequency stunning in order to optimize meat quality and animal welfare attributes vis-a-vis their compliance with halal requirements.

A low frequency (50Hz) reversible head-only electrical pre-slaughter stunning (LFHOS) system is widely accepted in the production of halal meat. We determined the compliance of a new reversible head-to-body electrical pre-slaughter system (RHTB) to halal requirements using post-stun recovery, behavioural and EEG studies. Forty sheep, goats and bobby calves each (n = 120) were stunned using LF-HOS and RHTB systems and brain EEG and ethograms of the behaviour of the animals following stunning were determined (Figs 1 & 2). RHTB stunned sheep and goats took longer to recover compared to LF-HOS. All the animals recovered following the stun with no noticeable adverse effect on their behaviour or welfare. Hence, both stunning systems met the current animal welfare and halal meat production requirements.

The demand for organically-grown produce is increasing worldwide, with one of the drivers being an expectation among consumers that animals have been farmed to a high standard of animal welfare. This review evaluates whether this expectation is in fact being met, by describing the current level of science-based knowledge of animal health and welfare in organic systems. The primary welfare risk in organic production systems appears to be related to animal health. Organic farms use a combination of management practices, alternative and complementary remedies and convenional medicines to manage the health of their animals and in many cases these are at least as effective as management practices employed by non-organic producers. However, in contrast to non-organic systems, there is still a lack of scientifically evaluated, organically acceptable therapeutic treatments that organic animal producers can use when current management practices are not sufficient to maintain the health of their animals. The development of such treatments are necessary to assure consumers that organic animal-based food and fibre has not only been produced with minimal or no chemical input, but under high standards of animal welfare.

Biotite and amphibole containing up to 4.6 and 5.1 wt% Cl, respectively, are found in gneisses from Black Rock Forest, located within the Hudson Highlands of New York. The area was metamorphosed to granulite facies during the Grenvillian orogeny at similar to 1100 Ma. Small, subeconomic magnetite deposits coexist with the gneisses.Cl contents in biotite range from 0.1 to 4.6 wt%. Some individual biotite grains are spectacularly zoned, with Cl contents varying from 1.0 to 4.6 wt% within <20 mu m. In zoned biotite, an increase in Cl content correlates with increasing Fe and decreasing Mg, Ti, and F. When data from five specimens are compared, however, Cl contents in biotite show only two strong correlations: Cl contents correlate positively with Fe (r(2) = 0.75) and negatively with Ti (r(2) = 0.84). Cl and Mg are uncorrelated for the complete dataset but show strong correlation within individually zoned grains (r(2) = 0.74). F contents show only one correlation, a positive one with Mg (r(2) = 0.62). The structural formula for the most Cl-rich biotite analyzed is (K2.00Na0.02)(Mg1.94Fe3.90Ti0.07Al0.04) (Si5.85Al2.15)O-20(OH2.46F0.25Cl1.29), as normalized to 24 (O + OH + F + Cl). This biotite is one of the most Cl rich ever reported.Cl contents in amphibole range from 0.2 to 5.1 wt%. Cl contents correlate positively with Fe2+/(Fe2+ + Mg) (r(2) = 0.84) and K (r(2) = 0.70) and negatively with Si/(Si + Al-[4]) (r(2) = 0.49) and Ti (r(2) = 0.76). F contents are uncorrelated with any of the other elements analyzed. The structural formula for the most Cl-rich amphibole, a hastingsite, is (K0.57Na0.31)(Ca1.90Na0.10)(Fe2.692+Mg0.90Mn0.03Ti0.06Fe1.023+Al0.29)(Si5.80Al2.20)O-22(OH0.55F0.07Cl1.38), as normalized to 13 octahedral and tetrahedral cations.In rocks with coexisting amphibole and biotite, Cl partitions preferentially into the amphibole and F partitions preferentially into the biotite. Infiltration of the gneisses by fluids rich in Fe and Cl (perhaps as an FeCl2 compound) could explain the formation of magnetite bodies as well as the Fe- and Cl-enriched phases found in and around Black Rock Forest.