Eye temperature measured using infrared thermography (IRT) can be used as a non-invasive measure of autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in cattle. The objective of this study was to evaluate if changes in eye temperature (measured using IRT) can be used to non-invasively measure ANS activity in sheep. Twenty, 2 to 4-year-old, Romney ewes were randomly assigned to receive either epinephrine (EPI) or physiological saline (SAL) for 5 min administered via jugular catheter (n = 10 ewes/treatment). Eye temperature (°C) was recorded continuously using IRT for approximately 25 min before and 20 min after the start of infusion. Heart rate and heart rate variability, measured using the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) and the standard deviation of all inter-beat intervals (SDNN), were recorded for 5 min before and up to 10 min after the start of infusion. Blood samples were taken before and after the infusion period to measure plasma epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol and packed cell volume (PCV) concentrations. During the infusion period, maximum eye temperature was on average higher (P<0.05) in sheep that received epinephrine than those that received saline. On average, heart rate was higher (SAL: 87.5 beats/min, EPI: 123.2 beats/min, SED = 7.07 beats/min; P<0.05), and RMSSD (SAL: 55.3 ms, EPI: 17.3 ms, SED = 14.18 ms) and SDNN (SAL: 54.3 ms, EPI: 21.5 ms, SED = 10.00 ms) lower (P<0.05) in ewes during the 5 min post-infusion period compared with ewes that received saline. An infusion of epinephrine resulted in higher geometric mean epinephrine (P<0.05) and cortisol (P<0.05) but not norepinephrine (P>0.05) concentrations in ewes compared to an infusion of saline. PCV concentrations were higher (P<0.001) by 7 ± 1.0% (mean±SED) in ewes after an epinephrine infusion. These results suggest that heart rate variability is a sensitive, non-invasive method that can be used to measure ANS activity in sheep, whereas change in eye temperature measured using IRT is a less sensitive method.

Anesthesia of the horn bud for calf disbudding commonly is attained by injection of local anesthetic over branches of the cornual nerve, with anesthesia achieved in 3 to 20 min. With experienced and trained staff, this method is effective in 88 to 100% of calves. Variability in response and time of onset can compromise calf welfare if calves are disbudded before anesthesia is attained. Proposed legislative reliance on effective local anesthetic as the minimal method of pain relief for calves at disbudding means that administration of local anesthetic must achieve a repeatable level and rapid onset of analgesia. We describe an alternative method of local anesthesia administration that uses local site infiltration of anesthetic over the horn bud. However, this method has not yet been scientifically validated. This study assessed differences between disbudding using the cornual nerve block and disbudding with local anesthesia administered by local site infiltration. Efficacy of local anesthesia was assessed at 30-s intervals after administration by absence of reaction to 3 consecutive needle pricks over the horn buds. Behavior indicating pain was assessed during disbudding and scored from 0 to 3. Calf behavior was also recorded for 3 h after disbudding. Accelerometer data loggers were fitted to each calf for 24 h before and after disbudding to assess lying and standing times. Median time to cutaneous desensitization for local infiltration was 60 s compared with 225 s for cornual nerve block, and the variance in time to desensitization was less with local infiltration. Calves disbudded under cornual block had a larger behavioral response (indicated by a graded aversive body reaction) than calves disbudded under local infiltration. A multivariable model predicted that the mean body reaction score would be 0.6 for calves disbudded under local infiltration and 1.2 for calves disbudded under cornual block. There was no difference in any behaviors between the treatment groups in the 3 h after disbudding. Method of analgesia had no effect on lying time over the 24 h after disbudding. In this study, local infiltration was at least as effective in providing analgesia for disbudding as the cornual nerve block. Our results suggest that a more consistent, effective level of analgesia during disbudding was achieved using local infiltration and that there was no difference in postoperative expressions of pain.

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.

The aim of this series of studies was to evaluate the behavioral and physiological responses (experiment 1), the electroencephalographic response (experiment 2), and the efficacy (experiment 3) of cryoablation to determine if it could provide an alternative to cautery disbudding (DB) for calves. In experiment 1, at approximately 3 d of age, 58 female Friesian dairy calves were allocated to one of five treatments: (1) control handling (CON, n = 11), (2) cautery DB (n = 11), DB plus local anesthetic (n = 12), DB using cryoablation (CR, n = 12), and CR plus local anesthetic (n = 12). Behavioral and physiological (complete blood cell counts and plasma cortisol concentrations) measures were recorded for up to 4 and 72 h post-treatment, respectively. In experiment 2, at approximately 4 d of age, the electroencephalographic response was recorded in 20 male and female Friesian-cross dairy calves disbudded using cautery (DB, n = 10) or cryoablation (CR, n = 10). In experiment 3, at approximately 4 d of age, 274 female Friesian-cross dairy calves were enrolled from two dairy farms and each calf had one of two treatments randomly assigned to each horn bud: cryoablation applied for 10 s (CR-10, n = 274 buds) or 15 s (CR-15, n = 274 buds). At approximately 6 months of age, calves were checked for scur or horn growth. In experiment 1, DB calves spent less (P < 0.05) time lying than DB plus local anesthetic, CR, and CR plus local anesthetic calves. At 3 h post-treatment, the total white blood cell counts and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio were higher (P < 0.05) in CR than DB and CON calves. Plasma cortisol concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) 30 min after DB and CR compared with CON; however, concentrations did not differ between DB and CR calves. Cortisol concentrations were greater (P < 0.05) in CR calves 90 min post-treatment compared with all other treatments. In experiment 2, cryoablation elicited increases in median frequency and 95% spectral edge frequency and a decrease in total power, whereas cautery elicited an increase in 95% spectral edge frequency only. In experiment 3, cryoablation successfully prevented horn growth in only 19% and 33% of CR-10 and CR-15 calves, respectively. Spraying liquid nitrogen directly onto the horn bud region appeared to cause more acute pain than cautery DB and did not effectively prevent horn growth. (C) 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between stress and temperament on the humoral immune response of ewes. Eighty ewes were allocated to one of four treatment groups in a 2 × 2 factorial design (n = 20 ewes/treatment): low (LR) and high (HR) reactive ewes were either exposed to no stress (CON) or were visually isolated (STRESS). Ewes remained in treatment pens for 23 h: heart rate was measured continuously, and saliva samples were collected prior to testing and at 0.5 h and 23 h for measurement of cortisol, CarLA IgA and total IgA concentrations. After the first 0.5 h, heart rate was elevated, and cortisol concentrations tended to be higher, whereas CarLa IgA concentrations were lower in STRESS than CON ewes. Similarly, after 23 h, cortisol concentrations remained elevated and CarLA IgA concentrations remained lower in STRESS than CON ewes. Interestingly, total IgA concentrations were not influenced by a 0.5 h or 23 h stressor. Overall, CarLA IgA concentrations were lower in HR than LR ewes at 0.5 h, but there was no significant stress × temperament interaction. Therefore, stress appears to have an immunosuppressive effect on CarLA IgA but not total IgA concentrations in ewes.

Cautery disbudding of goat kids is painful, but may be alleviated with pain mitigation. We therefore evaluated the effect of administering general anesthesia (isoflurane) or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (meloxicam) on goat kid behavior and physiology following cautery disbudding. Trial 1 (n = 12/treatment) evaluated behavioral responses in 72 female Saanen dairy goat kids (mean ± standard error of the mean; 3.9 ± 0.15 d old) and trial 2 (n = 10/treatment) evaluated physiological responses in 60 female Saanen dairy goat kids (4.3 ± 0.14 d old). Goat kids were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 treatment groups that were either (1) sham-handled only (simulated disbudding; SHAM) or disbudded with (2) no pain relief (CAUT), (3) isoflurane gas (ISO), (4) isoflurane and s.c. meloxicam combined (ISO+MEL), (5) meloxicam s.c. (0.5 mg/kg of body weight; I-MEL), or (6) oral meloxicam (0.2 mg/kg of body weight; O-MEL). Head shaking, head scratching, self-grooming, feeding, and body shaking were continuously video recorded for 24 h pre- and post-treatment. Lying behavior was recorded continuously for 24 h pre- and post-treatment using accelerometers. Plasma cortisol, glucose, and lactate concentrations were measured from blood samples collected immediately before treatment (baseline) and at 15, 60, and 120 min post-treatment. Body temperature was measured immediately after blood sampling at all blood sampling time points. Head shaking and body shaking frequencies were 50% higher in CAUT than SHAM kids 5 min post-treatment; ISO+MEL and ISO kids performed 25% less body shakes than CAUT kids. Head scratching durations 1 h post-treatment were higher in CAUT than SHAM kids, whereas O-MEL were similar to SHAM kids from 2 h post-treatment. Self-grooming, feeding, and lying did not differ between groups. Cortisol concentrations were higher in CAUT than SHAM kids (156.4 ± 26.41 and 104.1 ± 26.41 nmol/L, respectively), whereas ISO+MEL and ISO kids (88.3 ± 26.41 and 113.2 ± 26.41 nmol/L, respectively) had lower cortisol concentrations than CAUT kids over the 2-h sampling period. Moreover, O-MEL and I-MEL kids (163.0 ± 26.41 and 130.9 ± 26.41 nmol/L, respectively) had similar cortisol concentrations to CAUT kids. We found no evidence that plasma glucose and lactate concentrations or body temperature were affected by treatment. The administration of isoflurane, with or without meloxicam, appeared to reduce pain associated with cautery disbudding.

For specific applications of infrared thermography (IRT) in the field of human medicine diagnosis, well defined standard operating procedures are used (e.g. controlled ambient conditions). In contrast, when IRT is used in the veterinary and animal science field, examinations are not always performed under controlled ambient conditions. This leads to unavoidable influences to the surface temperatures measured with IRT. This paper quantifies this effect and proposes a novel modelling and correction approach. This approach results in a significant increase in the quality of the data and provides a more accurate measurement of IRT for assessing animal health and welfare.

The human-animal relationship can influence how an animal responds to situations involving humans and affect animal well-being and production. The objectives of this research were to (1) determine if there is a relationship between the behavioral reactivity of New Zealand dairy heifers toward humans and the behavioral response to cluster placement during milking and milk production measures and (2) determine if this relationship changes as heifers become habituated to the milking process. A total of 150 primiparous heifers were randomly selected from 3 commercial dairy farms. Approximately 1 month before calving, 2 behavioral tests, avoidance distance in response to an approaching human and exit speed from a restraint, were performed on 50 heifers at each farm. For each heifer, behavioral observations were recorded during the morning milking period (during the first and sixth weeks of lactation). Behaviors recorded during cluster placement at milking included flinching, stepping, and/or kicking (FSK). Milk yields, milking durations, and average milk flow rates were recorded for each individual heifer during the first and sixth weeks of lactation. Avoidance distance and exit speed were positively correlated (P < 0.001). The FSK response during cluster placement was negatively (P < 0.01) correlated with exit speed during week 6 of lactation, but there was no relationship (P > 0.05) between avoidance distance and FSK. Avoidance distance was positively (P < 0.005) correlated with milk flow rates during weeks 1 and 6 of lactation and milk yields (P < 0.01) during week 6 of lactation. However, there was no relationship (P > 0.05) between exit speed and milk yields, durations, or flow rates. Furthermore, the FSK response was negatively (P < 0.05) correlated with milk yield during weeks 1 and 6 of lactation. Therefore, the behavioral response of heifers toward humans and the milking process appears to be related to milk production measures. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The combination of heat generation and reducing heat loss from the skin surface is important for maintaining core body temperature in a neonate. Thermogenesis studies traditionally focus on measurement of core body temperature but not the contribution of radiated heat loss at the skin surface. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of using thermal imaging to measure radiated heat loss in newborn lambs. Continuous thermal images of newborn lambs were captured for 30 min each during the baseline (11−18°C), cold-exposure (0°C) and recovery (11−18°C) periods by using an infrared camera. Core body temperature measured by rectal thermometer was also recorded at the end of each period. In all, 7 of the 10 lambs evaluated had reduced rectal temperatures (0.4−1°C) between the baseline and recovery periods, while three maintained body temperature despite cold exposure. During the baseline period, infrared heat loss was relatively stable, followed by a rapid decrease of 5°C within 5 min of cold exposure. Heat loss continued to decrease linearly in the cold-exposure period by a further 10°C, but increased rapidly to baseline levels during the recovery period. A temperature change of between 20°C and 35°C was observed during the study, which was likely to be due to changes in vasoconstriction in the skin to conserve heat. The present study has highlighted the sensitivity of infrared thermal imaging to estimate heat loss from the skin in the newborn lamb and shown that rapid changes in heat loss occur in response to cold exposure.

The aim was to study the practical feasibility of raising lambs with intact tails to satisfy welfare concerns over tail-docking. On four farms, two groups of ewes were bred with either a farm ram (Normal) or a Dorper ram (Dorper). Lamb body weight and dag scores were monitored at weaning and before transport to slaughter. Tail length was measured at weaning. Dorper-sired lambs were not tail-docked. Farmers recorded all management procedures and participated in a post-trial questionnaire. On average, the number of handling and health treatments, farm labour and measurements at weaning and transport were similar for the Normal and Dorper-sired lambs. Dag scores averaged 1.2 and 1.3 at weaning, and 0.6 and 0.8 at transport for Normal and Dorper-sired lambs, respectively. Three farms returned a higher value/head for their Dorper-sired lambs. Three farmers stated they would not raise lambs with intact tails in the future unless they received a higher premium. One farmer reported that he would continue to raise undocked Dorper-sired lambs. These results suggest that while it is possible to meet retailer demands for higher welfare standards by raising lambs with intact tails, industry uptake may be dependent on higher premiums that satisfy the perceived extra costs of the farmers.

This study examined the effects of a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agent (NSAID) on physiological responses of calves immediately after hot-iron dehorning (DH) and during the time that local anesthetic (LA) wears off (2 to 3 h) after this procedure. Forty-six calves (33 +/- 0.3 d of age) were randomly assigned to 6 treatments: hot-iron DH versus sham DH with either no pain mitigation, LA alone, or LA with NSAID (i.v. Meloxicam). Eye temperature (measured using infrared thermography) was recorded every 5 min for 3 h after treatments. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were recorded continuously; for analysis of HRV, short segments of 512 interbeat intervals were examined. After DH without LA or NSAID, HR increased by 35 +/- 3.0 beats/min in the first 5 min and remained elevated above baseline for 3 h. The HRV around the time of DH did not differ between treatments; however, the root mean square of successive differences decreased from 68 to 41 +/- 12.6 ms immediately following DH without pain relief, suggesting a decrease in vagal tone at this time. Between 2 and 3 h following DH with LA, there was a decrease in eye temperature (-0.6 +/- 0.1 degrees C), an increase in HR (8 +/- 3.0 beats per min) and changes in HRV. Changes in HRV at this time included a decreased high-frequency power and an increase in the low-frequency power and low-frequency/high-frequency ratio, indicating a change in sympatho-vagal balance. The changes in eye temperature, HR, and HRV between 2 and 3 h following DH with LA indicated the onset of pain coinciding with the time that the LA effects wear off. In addition, this study demonstrated that the combination of LA and NSAID mitigated the onset of pain responses when the LA wanes.

The possibility that pain can be detected from changes in eye temperature and heart rate variability (HRV) during disbudding was examined in thirty calves, randomly assigned to four treatments: 1) sham handling (control), 2) local anaesthetic (LA, cornual nerve injection) and sham disbudded, 3) sham LA and disbudded, 4) LA and disbudded. During a 40 min sampling period, maximum eye temperature, behavior and HRV parameters were recorded continuously. One week later, twelve disbudded calves were injected with adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) or saline and maximum eye temperature was recorded. There was a rapid drop in eye temperature during the 5 min following disbudding without LA (P<0.05). Eye temperature then increased and was higher than baseline over the remaining sampling period following both disbudding procedures (P<0.001), a response which could not be explained by increased physical activity LA increased eye temperature prior to disbudding (P<0.001). Heart rate increased (P<0.001) during the 5 min following disbudding with and without LA, however, LF/HF ratio only increased during this time (P<0.01) following disbudding without LA. Eye temperature did not change following ACTH, suggesting that hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) activity is not responsible for the changes in eye temperature following disbudding. The increase in LF/HF ratio following disbudding without LA suggests an acute sympathetic response to pain, which could be responsible for the drop in eye temperature via vasoconstriction. HRV and eye temperature together may be a useful non-invasive and more immediate index of pain than HPA activity alone.