Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows

Lameness affects lying behaviour in dairy cattle, increasing total lying time and the number of lying bouts. However, there is limited information about the effect of lameness treatment on dairy cow behaviour. This study investigated the effect of four lameness treatments on lying behaviour (total l...

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Main Authors: Miguel-Pacheco, Giuliana G., Thomas, Heather J., Kaler, Jasmeet, Craigon, Jim, Huxley, Jonathan N.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37802/
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author Miguel-Pacheco, Giuliana G.
Thomas, Heather J.
Kaler, Jasmeet
Craigon, Jim
Huxley, Jonathan N.
author_facet Miguel-Pacheco, Giuliana G.
Thomas, Heather J.
Kaler, Jasmeet
Craigon, Jim
Huxley, Jonathan N.
author_sort Miguel-Pacheco, Giuliana G.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Lameness affects lying behaviour in dairy cattle, increasing total lying time and the number of lying bouts. However, there is limited information about the effect of lameness treatment on dairy cow behaviour. This study investigated the effect of four lameness treatments on lying behaviour (total lying time, number of bouts, average bout duration and laterality of lying) in dairy cows. Forty-four newly lame cows were treated randomly with one of four treatment protocols: trim only, trim + block, trim + NSAID, and trim + block + NSAID. Thirty-four non-lame control cows were matched by parity, days in milk, and farm-pen. Each cow had an accelerometer attached to the hind leg, lying behaviour data was collected over 5 days immediately after treatment and analysed using multilevel regression models. Lame cows in three of the four treatment groups demonstrated no increase in lying time compared to non-lame controls. This finding is contrary to previous work and may reflect the enrolment criteria which favoured the selection of cows with mild disease i.e. before the behavioural impacts of lameness had manifested. Only cows in the treatment group which received a therapeutic trim and a foot block saw higher lying times post treatment. As this effect was not apparent in the group which received a NSAID in addition to a trim and a foot block, we hypothesise that this effect is caused by discomfort associated with the block. Where foot blocks are administered as part of treatment protocols, we propose that NSAIDs should be administered concurrently to alleviate the behavioural changes and likely discomfort associated with this treatment.
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spelling nottingham-378022020-05-04T20:02:22Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37802/ Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows Miguel-Pacheco, Giuliana G. Thomas, Heather J. Kaler, Jasmeet Craigon, Jim Huxley, Jonathan N. Lameness affects lying behaviour in dairy cattle, increasing total lying time and the number of lying bouts. However, there is limited information about the effect of lameness treatment on dairy cow behaviour. This study investigated the effect of four lameness treatments on lying behaviour (total lying time, number of bouts, average bout duration and laterality of lying) in dairy cows. Forty-four newly lame cows were treated randomly with one of four treatment protocols: trim only, trim + block, trim + NSAID, and trim + block + NSAID. Thirty-four non-lame control cows were matched by parity, days in milk, and farm-pen. Each cow had an accelerometer attached to the hind leg, lying behaviour data was collected over 5 days immediately after treatment and analysed using multilevel regression models. Lame cows in three of the four treatment groups demonstrated no increase in lying time compared to non-lame controls. This finding is contrary to previous work and may reflect the enrolment criteria which favoured the selection of cows with mild disease i.e. before the behavioural impacts of lameness had manifested. Only cows in the treatment group which received a therapeutic trim and a foot block saw higher lying times post treatment. As this effect was not apparent in the group which received a NSAID in addition to a trim and a foot block, we hypothesise that this effect is caused by discomfort associated with the block. Where foot blocks are administered as part of treatment protocols, we propose that NSAIDs should be administered concurrently to alleviate the behavioural changes and likely discomfort associated with this treatment. Elsevier 2016-06 Article PeerReviewed Miguel-Pacheco, Giuliana G., Thomas, Heather J., Kaler, Jasmeet, Craigon, Jim and Huxley, Jonathan N. (2016) Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 179 . pp. 11-16. ISSN 0168-1591 Lameness; Claw horn lesions; Lying behaviour; Lameness treatment http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2016.04.001 doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.04.001 doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.04.001
spellingShingle Lameness; Claw horn lesions; Lying behaviour; Lameness treatment
Miguel-Pacheco, Giuliana G.
Thomas, Heather J.
Kaler, Jasmeet
Craigon, Jim
Huxley, Jonathan N.
Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows
title Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows
title_full Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows
title_fullStr Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows
title_full_unstemmed Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows
title_short Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows
title_sort effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows
topic Lameness; Claw horn lesions; Lying behaviour; Lameness treatment
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37802/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37802/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37802/