Wykorzystanie technik data mining w analizowaniu czynników wpływających na reaktywność krów podczas doju

Motor activity of 158 Polish Holstein-Friesian cows was evaluated 5 times (before and during milking in a DeLaval 2*10 milking parlour) for both the morning and evening milking, on a 5-point scale, according to the method of Budzyńska et al. (2007). The statistical analysis used multiple logistic regression and classification trees (Enterprise Miner 7.1 software which comes in with SAS package). In the evaluation of motor activity, cows that were among the first ten to enter the milking parlour were more often given a score of 3 points before (11.5%) and during milking (23.5%) compared to the other cows. Cows’ activity tended to decrease (both before and during milking) with advancing lactation. The cows’ reduced activity was accompanied by shorter teat cup attachment times and lower milk yields. The criteria calculated for the quality of models based on classification tree technique as well as logistic regression showed that similar variables were responsible for the reactivity of cows before milking (teat cup attachment time, day of lactation, number of lactation, side of the milking parlour) and during milking (day of lactation, side of the milking parlour, morning or evening milking, milk yield, number of lactation). At the same time, the applied methods showed that the determinants of the cow reactivity trait are highly complex. This complexity may be well explained using the classification tree technique.Aktywność ruchową (przed i w czasie doju w hali udojowej DeLaval 2 * 10) 158 krów phf oceniono 5-krotnie, uwzględniając każdorazowo dój ranny i wieczorny, w skali 5 pkt., według metodyki Budzyńskiej i wsp. (2007). W opracowaniu statystycznym wykorzystano wieloraką regresję logistyczną i drzewa klasyfikacyjne (oprogramowanie Enterprise Miner 7.1 wchodzące w skład pakietu SAS). Stwierdzono, że krowy, które wchodziły do hali udojowej w pierwszej dziesiątce, w ocenie aktywności ruchowej przed i podczas doju częściej (11,5% oraz 23,5%) niż w przypadku pozostałych uzyskiwały 3 pkt. Odnotowano tendencję do zmniejszenia aktywności ruchowej krów (zarówno przed jak i w czasie doju) wraz z zaawansowaniem laktacji. Wykazano, że w wraz z mniejszą aktywnością ruchową krów skracał się czas zakładania kubków udojowych, jednocześnie też zmniejszała się wydajność mleka. Obliczone kryteria jakości modeli budowanych w oparciu o technikę drzew klasyfikacyjnych oraz regresji logistycznej wskazały podobne zmienne odpowiedzialne za reaktywność krów przed (czas zakładania kubków, kolejny dzień laktacji, kolejna laktacja i zajmowana strona hali udojowej) i w trakcie doju (kolejny dzień laktacji, zajmowana strona hali udojowej, dój ranny lub wieczorny, wydajność mleka oraz kolejna laktacja). Jednocześnie zastosowane metody wskazały znaczną złożoność uwarunkowania cechy, jak jest reaktywność krów. Złożoność ta może być dobrze wyjaśniona za pomocą techniki drzew klasyfikacyjnych

Behaviour of cattle: molecular biological background and relationship to milk performance

In a genome-wide association study 41 markers were identified for behaviour traits and BTA29 emerged to be an interesting genomic target region. Mutual markers for agitated behaviour and milk production showed competitive genotype effects. Gene expression profiles of the adrenal cortex revealed differentially expressed genes between cows with distinct temperament types. “Fearful/neophobic-alert” cows could be clearly discriminated from others by transcripts involved in the physiological stress response. Moreover, cows that were more fearful had lower milk yields in comparison to the others

Genetics of cattle temperament and its impact on livestock production and breeding – a review

Cattle temperament, which describes individual behaviour differences with regard to a stressor or environmental challenge, is known for its impact on working safety, adaptability to new housing conditions, animal productivity and for evaluation of animal welfare. However, successful use of temperament in animal breeding and husbandry to improve keeping conditions in general or animal welfare in particular, requires the availability of informative and reproducible phenotypes and knowledge about the genetic modulation of these traits. However, the knowledge about genetic influences on cattle temperament is still limited. In this review, an outline is given for the interdependence between production systems and temperament as well as for the phenotyping of cattle temperament based on both behaviour tests and observations of behaviour under production conditions. In addition, the use of temperament as a selection criterion is discussed

The development and assessment of novel non-invasive methods of measuring sleep in dairy cows : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Animal Science at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Onet published article in Appendix C was removed for copyright reasons, but may be accessed via its source: Hunter, L.B., O’Connor, C., Haskell, M.J., Langford, F.M., Webster, J.R., & Stafford, K.J. 2021, September. Lying posture does not accurately indicate sleep stage in dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 242, 105427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105427Sleep is important for animal health and welfare and there are many factors, for example, the environment, illness, or stress, that are likely to have an impact on cow sleep and consequently affect their welfare. Polysomnography (PSG) is considered the gold standard for precise identification of sleep stages. It consists of electrophysiological recordings of the brain activity, eye movements and muscle activity but is costly and difficult to use with cows on farm. Accordingly, the study of sleep in cows may be limited due to the impracticability of PSG. Alternative methods of assessing sleep have been developed for humans. Some such work has been conducted for cows, but this has yet to be validated with PSG. The main aim of this thesis was to investigate alternative methods to PSG to accurately detect sleep stages in dairy cows. Specifically, I aimed to develop a detailed 5-stage scoring system for assessing sleep stages from the cow PSG, to investigate the suitability of using lying postures and heart rate (HR) measures to assess sleep stages and to develop a model to accurately predict sleep stages using non-invasive measures in dairy cows compared with PSG. Two studies were conducted using 6 non-lactating dairy cows in an indoor housed environment in Scotland, and outdoors at pasture in New Zealand. PSG was recorded with each cow over a period of seven days. From these data a 5-stage sleep-scoring criteria with good reliability was developed which identified two stages of light sleep, two stages of deep sleep as well as awake and rumination stages. Video was recorded during sleep recordings and the cow’s behaviour was analysed and compared with the scored sleep stages from the PSG. Some sleep stages were found to occur mainly in specific lying postures; however, overall, postures were not useful indicators of sleep stages. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were measured using a Polar HR monitor ii and data logging device. Differences in the HR and HRV measures were found between the sleep stages, and the patterns of these changes were similar between both Scottish and NZ cows. Finally, machine learning models were developed using supervised learning methods to predict sleep stage from the HR and HRV measures as well as the surface EMG data recorded during PSG. The models were able to learn to recognize and accurately predict sleep stages compared with the PSG scoring. This research demonstrates that non-invasive alternatives can be used to identify sleep stages accurately in dairy cows compared with PSG. Further research is necessary with larger sample sizes and cows of various breeds and life stages; however, the success of the methods developed during this thesis demonstrates their suitability for the future measurement of sleep in cows and in the assessment of cow welfare

Assessment of individual- and group-level behavioral variation in dairy cattle: from personality to social networks

Currently little consideration is given to individuality and social behavior when managing dairy cow groups. This thesis assessed three objectives: 1) Investigating personality in adult lactating cows, 2) comprehensive analysis of social networks in a free-stall barn, 3) facilitating the automated assessment of agonistic behavior. Findings suggest that the level of individuals and the level of social groups should also be taken into account when assessing dairy cattle welfare. The presented automatic method for detecting agonistic behavior and dominance is one important step in this direction

The influence of social networks on welfare and productivity in dairy cattle

Cattle are gregarious animals that form stable social groups based on affiliative and dominance relationships. However the husbandry practices of the modern dairy industry typically do not take social relationships into consideration, despite a growing body of evidence demonstrating important effects of social relationships on health and fitness in wild animals. Keeping cattle in large, unstable groups can lead to reduced welfare and productivity due to social stress and further research is needed to provide a beneficial social environment that can instead provide stress buffering effects. Social network analysis (SNA) is becoming an increasingly popular method to study animal social groups but until very recently has not been applied in animal welfare studies, where it can offer great advantages. This thesis uses SNA to investigate the social structure of a dynamic group of dairy cattle, and to explore the connection between social network position, and health and productivity. Social data was collected using spatial proximity loggers, allowing remote, continuous recording of associations between cattle. This approach was also used to measure relationships between young calves, investigating the effects of the early social environment. First, proximity loggers were tested and found to exhibit a significant sampling bias, which had consequences for SNA; a correction method was developed to improve their robustness. The social network structure of 110 lactating dairy cows on a commercial farm was then quantified, over four one-month periods. The network was highly centralised and social stability was low, however there were heterogeneous relationships between cows and we found evidence for assortment by traits. Social network position was linked to the health and productivity of cows; more gregarious individuals had higher milk yields and higher somatic cell counts which may represent a cost-benefit trade-off. Another study assessed the effects of pair-housing calves on weaning stress, health and production during pen rearing. Calves that were paired with a social companion showed a lower stress response to weaning than those housed individually. This effect was further reduced for calves paired earlier, suggesting that social bond strength is important for social support in cattle. The social networks of calves when grouped together showed some stability and relationships were heterogeneous, with social associations being influenced by prior familiarity. Advancing our understanding of the social requirements of dairy cattle is fundamental for their welfare, and for productivity, and is particularly important in light of recent farming intensification.Department for Environment Food & Rural AffairsUniversity of ExeterDairyC

Thermal environment and social hierarchy influence the location and behavior of dairy cows in a silvopastoral system

Orientador: Prof. Dr. João Ricardo DittrichCoorientador: Prof. Dr. Marcos Martines do ValeAutor não autorizou a divulgação do arquivo digitalTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zootecnia. Defesa : Curitiba, 04/03/2022Inclui referênciasResumo: O conhecimento das estratégias comportamentais de vacas leiteiras dentro de um sistema silvipastoril pode nos ajudar compreender a termodinâmica das vacas. Portanto, neste estudo, avaliamos a influência do microclima, indicadores de conforto térmico e hierarquia social nos comportamentos diurnos e localização (sombra ou sol) de vacas leiteiras criadas em um sistema silvipastoril de clima subtropical. Para alcançar esse objetivo, a tese foi dividida em V capítulos. No capítulo I, realizamos uma revisão sistemática da literatura científica sobre os efeitos do sistema silvipastoril no ambiente físico, indicadores de conforto térmico, comportamento e respostas fisiológicas de bovinos leiteiros. Nossa revisão destacou que os comportamentos (por exemplo: ócio e ruminação) associados a postura deitado e o comportamento social e têm sido pouco explorados nos estudos. Assim, na tentativa de preencher a lacuna do comportamento social, no capítulo II avaliamos quais características fenotípicas de vacas leiterias determinam sua posição social no contexto de rebanho misto (vacas com e sem chifres) e a influência da posição social no tempo em que as vacas permanecem no cocho de alimentação. Para isso, foram calculados os valores de dominância para cada animal e o rebanho foi dividido em três categorias sociais: dominante (D), intermediário (I) e subordinado (S). Encontramos que posição social das vacas foi influenciada pela idade, massa corporal e comprimento do corpo; além da posição social influencia o tempo que cada categoria permaneceu no cocho de alimentação. Para que pudéssemos avaliar o microclima e indicadores de conforto térmico do sistema silvipastoril, no capítulo III desenvolvemos e validamos um registrador de dados autônomo (denominado ADEF) para medir variáveis ambientais. O desempenho do ADEF foi satisfatório, demonstrando que é válido como uma ferramenta de baixo custo para medir a variabilidade microclimática na área de interesse. Para que seja possível avançar no conhecimento da termodinâmica das vacas, é necessário transformar dados coletados em informações úteis; assim, no capítulo IV, aplicamos a técnica de mineração de dados para classificar fatores ambientais com potencial de motivar vacas leiteiras a acessarem sombra natural. Através da mineração de dados, encontramos que a radiação solar foi o fator ambiental com maior potencial para classificar a decisão da vaca leiteira de acessar áreas sombreadas. Pelo padrão encontrado em nosso estudo, sugerimos que trabalhos futuros utilizem indicadores de conforto térmico que considerem a radiação solar (ex. Índice de Globo Negro e Umidade - ITGU) para avaliar o conforto térmico de vacas leiteiras criadas em áreas de pastagem. Por fim, associando os conhecimentos do comportamento social (capítulo II) e conforto térmico (capítulos III e IV), no capítulo V, avaliamos a relação entre conforto térmico, hierarquia social, localização das vacas (sombra ou sol) e seus comportamentos diurnos em um sistema silvipastoril. A localização das vacas foi influenciada pelo ITGU e hierarquia social; além desses fatores, o comportamento de deitar foi influenciado pela temperatura superficial do solo. Vacas dominantes foram mais propensas a utilizar as áreas sombreadas para ócio e ruminação deitadas do que vacas subordinadas e intermediárias; ou seja, vacas dominantes eram mais propensas a expressar seus comportamentos de conforto em áreas sombreadas. Em conclusão, através da interdisciplinaridade deste estudo foi possível avançar no conhecimento da termodinâmica de vacas leiteiras criadas em sistema silvipastoril; o qual foi possível através da integração do conhecimento do comportamento diurno e social das vacas, ferramenta de mineração de dados e o uso de sensores precisos e de baixo custo. Palavras-chave: Abatimento de calor. Bem-estar animal. Biometeorologia. Etologia aplicada. Hierarquia social. Microcontrolador. Mineração de dados. Padrão comportamental. Probabilidade. Áreas sombreadas. Valor de dominância. Zootecnia de precisãoAbstract: The knowledge of the behavioral strategies of dairy cows within a silvopastoral system (SPS) can help us to understand the cows' thermodynamics. Therefore, in this study, we evaluate the influence of microclimate, thermal comfort indicators, and social hierarchy, on cows' location (shade or sun) and their diurnal behaviors in a silvopastoral system of a subtropical climate. To achieve this aim, the thesis was divided into V chapters. In chapter I, we carried out a systematic review of the scientific literature of the effects of silvopastoral systems on the physical environment, thermal comfort indicators, behavior, and physiological responses of dairy cattle. Our review highlighted that the behaviors (e.g., idle, and rumination) associated with lying down posture and social behavior has been low explored in the studies. Thus, to fill the gap of social behavior, in chapter II, we evaluated which animals' phenotypic characteristics determine the social position in the context of a mixed herd (horned and non-horned cows) and determine the influence of cows' social position on time spent at the feeder. For this, dominance values were calculated for each animal and the herd was divided into three social categories: dominant (D), intermediate (I), and subordinate (S). We found that cows' social position was influenced by age, body mass, and body length; further, the social position influenced the time that each category remained at the feeder. So that we could evaluate the microclimate and thermal comfort indicators of the SPS, in chapter III, we developed and validated an autonomous data logger (named ADEF) to measure environmental variables. The performance of ADEF was satisfactory, demonstrating that it is valid as a low-cost tool to measure microclimatic variability in the area of interest. To advance in the knowledge of the thermodynamics of cows, it is necessary to transform measured data into useful information; so, in chapter IV, we applied the data mining technique to classify environmental factors with the potential to motivate dairy cows to access natural shade. Through data mining, we found that solar radiation was the environmental factor with the greatest potential to classify the dairy cow's decision to access shaded areas. Based on the pattern found in our study, we suggest that future studies use thermal comfort indicators that consider solar radiation (e.g., Black-globe humidity index - BGHI) to assess the thermal comfort of dairy cows raised on pasture areas. Finally, associating the knowledge of social behavior (chapter II) and thermal comfort (chapters III and IV), in chapter V, we evaluated the relationship between thermal comfort indicators, social hierarchy, location of cows (shade or sun) and their diurnal behavior in a silvopastoral system. The cows' location was influenced by BGHI and social hierarchy; further to these factors, the lying behaviors was influenced by the soil surface temperature. Dominant cows were more likely to use shaded areas for idling and rumination lying down than subordinate and intermediate cows; i.e., dominant cows were more likely to performed comfort behaviors in shaded areas. In conclusion, through the interdisciplinarity of this study, it was possible to advance on the knowledge of the thermodynamics of dairy cows raised in a silvopastoral system; which was made possible through the integration of knowledge of the diurnal and social behavior of cows, data mining tool and the use of accurate and low-cost sensors. Keywords: Animal welfare. Applied ethology. Behavioral pattern. Biometeorology. Data mining. Dominance value. Heat abatement. Microcontroller. Precision livestock farming. Probability. Shaded areas. Social hierarchy

XIII International Congress in Animal Hygiene, June 17-21, 2007, Tartu, Estonia "Animal health, animal welfare and biosecurity" : proceedings. Volume 1

KonverentsikogumikOn behalf of both the Organising Committee and the Scientific Committee, I am pleased to welcome you in Tartu, Estonia, to participate at the XIII International Congress of the International Society for Animal Hygiene (ISAH). The ISAH (www.isah-soc.org) was founded in 1970 and has today members from 48 countries throughout the world. ISAH can be considered as a group of scientists contributing to efficient, sustainable animal farming with healthy animals, providing wholesome food in a sound environment. Veterinarians and non-veterinary academic scientists (animal science, agricultural economics, engineers, microbiologists, public health professionals, epidemiologists etc., etc) and respective professionals in animal husbandry, who work and/or do research and education in the field of animal hygiene, can apply for a membership of ISAH, and are most welcome to attend ISAH congresses. The first ISAH congress was held in Budapest in 1973. The last ISAH main congress took place in Warsaw, Poland in 2005 and the last in-between symposium in Saint-Malo, France in 2004. Starting from Warsaw congress in 2005, the ISAH, considering the need for a more flexible and frequent exchange of scientific and practical knowledge, organizes its congresses every second year. The present, XIII ISAH congress in Tartu, Estonia, in June 17–21, 2007 is organised under the device "Animal health, animal welfare and biosecurity”. The scientific programme, trying to follow the scope of the ISAH and receive the feedback from modern animal husbandry and food production, concentrates with more profoundness on the following subjects: interaction between the environment and health and welfare of individual animal and herds; managing animal health in large dairy units; ensuring animal welfare during transportation and slaughter; economical implications considering animals’ health; possibilities of precision livestock farming in maintaining good health and welfare of animals; measures for prevention the development and spread of diseases and pathogens in animals including those posing risk to human health (zoonoses); food safety relevant infections and contaminations such as residues in food derived from animals; influence of the animal production on the environment and public health. The Proceedings from the XIII ISAH Congress are herewith presented. The papers on lectures from invited speakers, oral and poster presentations from 11 parallel sessions are included in this excellent compilation. In general, the printed contribution to the ISAH-2007 congress illustrates clearly the broad scientific field of the ISAH and related to it activities. I hereby would like to express my most sincere gratitude in the address of ISAH-2007 organising and scientific committees. Special thanks go to Frens Conference Services for their excellent organizational and technical contribution and to AS Triip for their outstanding printing job of these proceedings. We also appreciate different companies and organisations for their considerable financial support which gave us the opportunity to keep the registration fees affordable. Finally, we thank all participants, contributors, chairpersons, organisational and technical assistants for your considerable efforts – you made the ISAH-2007 in Tartu real success. We wish you all interesting and pleasant congress and enjoyable stay in Tartu. A. Aland Editor Chairman of the ISAH-2007 Organising Committe