Play behaviour in dairy calves is reduced by weaning and by a low energy intake
Play behaviour in dairy calves is reduced by weaning and by a low energy intake
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DOI：
10.1016/j.applanim.2009.12.002
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发表时间：
2010-01-31
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
de Passille, Anne Marie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Krachun, Carla;Rushen, Jeffrey;de Passille, Anne Marie
我们研究了牛奶供给量和断奶对群养奶牛玩耍奔跑持续时间的影响。我们的预测是：（1）低奶量的小牛比高奶量的小牛跑得少;（2）断奶时跑得少，尤其是断奶早的小牛。在三个处理中，牛奶供给量和断奶年龄各不相同：“6L-早期断奶”（饲喂6 Lid牛奶，7周龄断奶）、“12 L-早期断奶”（饲喂12 L/d牛奶，7周龄断奶）和“12 L-后期断奶”（饲喂12 L/d牛奶，13周龄断奶）。在9天内逐渐断奶。在6个年龄段（3、5、7、9、11和13周）观察小牛2天，并计算每个年龄段的平均每日跑步持续时间。在3周时，6L-早期断奶的小牛比接受12 L/d牛奶的小牛跑得少（P < 0.01），但到5周时，处理之间没有差异（P = 0.52）。所有处理均显示断奶时跑步下降，但早期断奶犊牛的下降（均P < 0.001）比后期断奶犊牛（P = 0.06）更明显。在3周龄（断奶前）、7周龄和13周龄（断奶后即刻），消化能摄入量与跑步时间呈正相关（r分别为0.48、0.56和0.29，均P < 0.05）。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，运行的小牛减少了低牛奶津贴和断奶牛奶，他们认为，发挥行为可能是一个有用的措施，如何福利的小牛是受喂养的做法。(C)2009 Elsevier B. V.保留所有权利。
We examined the effects of milk allowance and weaning on the duration of play running in group-housed dairy calves. Our predictions were that (1) calves on a lower milk allowance would run less than calves on a higher allowance: and (2) running would decrease at weaning, especially in calves weaned earlier rather than later. Milk allowance and age of weaning were varied across three treatments: '6L-early weaned' (fed 6 Lid of milk and weaned at 7 weeks of age), '12L-early weaned' (fed 12 L/d of milk and weaned at 7 weeks), and '12L-later weaned' (fed 12 L/d of milk and weaned at 13 weeks). Weaning occurred gradually over 9 days. Calves were observed for 2 days at each of six ages (3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 weeks) and their average daily duration of running at each age was calculated. At 3 weeks, the 6L-early weaned calves ran less than calves receiving 12 L/d of milk (P < 0.01), but by 5 weeks there were no differences among treatments (P = 0.52). All treatments showed a drop in running at weaning but the decrease was more pronounced in the early weaned calves (both Ps < 0.001) than in the later-weaned calves (P = 0.06). At 3 weeks (before weaning) and at 7 and 13 weeks (immediately after weaning), there were positive correlations between digestible energy intake and duration of running (r = 0.48, 0.56, and 0.29, respectively, all Ps < 0.05). Overall, our results show that running by calves is reduced by a low milk allowance and by weaning off milk, and they suggest that play behaviour may be a useful measure of how the welfare of calves is affected by feeding practices. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.