The Effect of Selecting for “Robustness” on Temperament in Dairy Cows

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The Effect of Selecting for “Robustness” on Temperament in Dairy Cows The Effect of Selecting for “Robustness” on Temperament in Dairy Cows Jennifer M Gibbons A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2009 To my mother and father for their love and support i Declaration I declare that I have composed this thesis, and that the work described is my own. All assistance received is acknowledged. The work has been submitted for no other qualification. Jenny Gibbons July 2009 ii Acknowledgements There are many people I would like to thank for a huge variety of reasons. First, I wish to thank Dr. Marie Haskell and Professor Alistair Lawrence for inspiring and encouraging me to pursue a PhD. I would especially like to thank Professor Geoff Simm for his words of wisdom that guided me in my decision to embark on this PhD. My supervisors Dr. Marie Haskell and Professor Alistair Lawrence have been great mentors for my PhD and without their common-sense, knowledge, patience and perceptiveness I would never have finished. I thank them for believing in me and having confidence in me when I doubted myself, for teaching me how to write academic papers and for bringing out the good ideas in me. This thesis would not have been possible without the expert guidance of my principal supervisor, Dr. Marie Haskell. Not only was she readily available for me but her patience and invaluable comments of the many drafts of papers is greatly appreciated. The expert advice, guidance and support from my pastoral supervisor, Dr. John Deag is greatly appreciated. I thank Mr. Ian Nevison for his statistical advice and teaching me a thing or two about statistics. I would like to acknowledge and thank the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, National Milk Records, Cattle Information Services, Genus, Cogent, Holstein UK, BOCM Pauls, Dartington Cattle Breeding Trust and RSPCA through the LINK Sustainable Livestock Production Programme as well as the Scottish Government for funding and support throughout this project. I would like to thank the Humane Society of United States and University of Edinburgh Sir James Rennie Bequest for their financial contributions that enabled me to present my PhD work at conferences. Many thanks to my colleagues at Crichton Royal Farm; Dr. Dave Roberts, Mr. Hugh McClymont, Baggy, Dinger, John D, Paul, Gerry and all the rest of the farm staff for their enthusiasm and support despite the fact they thought I was “crazy”. Much gratitude to my colleague Dr. Eileen Wall for her help and guidance in finding farms iii and cows to participate in the study. I would like to thank all the farmers who so willingly allowed me access to their farms to collect the data for this thesis. I wish to express my warm and sincere thanks to my fellow “cow girls”, Ramona Donald, Ruth Turl and Lynsey Maggs for their hard work and dedication. I will always have fond memories of the many times we were lost on dark country roads, stuck in traffic jams and snow blizzards, the near loss of frost bitten fingers and toes (!), the many cups of tea that warmed us up, the up and downs and last but not least the many laughs and giggles we shared together. My PhD would not have been the same without the social and academic challenges and diversions provided by all my colleagues. I am particularly thankful to my friends and colleagues Ramona Donald, Sarah Ison, Ruth Turl, Sheena Robson, Emma Baxter, Fritha Langford, Fiona Lang, Kirstin MvIlvaney, Lesley Smith, Marianne Farish, Jo Donbavand, Kenny Rutherford and Carol-Anne Duthie. We not only worked, relaxed, and travelled well together, but some of them were even willing to read some portions of this thesis and thus provided some very useful input. Much respect to my officemates and hopefully still friends, Lorna Sherwood, Matthew Bell and Lesley Deans for putting up with me over the past five years. My sincere gratitude goes to my parents and my siblings, Paula, Elaine and Liam for their love, support, and patience during this journey. iv Publications Gibbons, J . Lawrence, A.B and Haskell, M.J. 2009. Responsiveness of Dairy cows to human approach and novel objects. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 116, 163- 173. Gibbons, J . Lawrence, A.B and Haskell, M.J. 2009. Consistency of aggressive feeding behaviour in dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 121, 1-7. Gibbons, J . Lawrence, A.B and Haskell, M.J. 2009. Measuring Sociability in Dairy Cattle. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Submitted. Conference proceedings Gibbons, J ., Lawrence, A.B. and Haskell, M.J. 2006. Behavioural responses of dairy cows to novel situations. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, York, Abstract No 81. Gibbons, J ., Lawrence, A.B and Haskell, M.J. 2007. Methods for assessing sociability of dairy cows. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, Southport, Abstract No. 38. Gibbons, J ., Lawrence, A.B and Haskell, M.J. 2008. Consistency of aggressive feeding behaviour in dairy cows: effect of feedface length, stage of lactation and dominance rank. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, Scarborough, Abstract No. 153. Gibbons, J., Donald, R.D, Turl, R.M, Maggs, L.A, Wall, E., Lawrence, A.B and Haskell, M.J. 2008. The effect of selective breeding on aggression during feeding in dairy cows. 42 nd International Congress of ISAE, Dublin, Ireland. Gibbons, J ., Lawrence, A.B., Haskell, M.J. 2009. Investigating the behavioural consequences of selective breeding for robustness in dairy cows. UFAW International Symposium. Darwinian Selection, Selective Breeding and the Welfare of Animals, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. v Abstract Increased rates of involuntary culling as a consequence of poorer health and fertility had led to the conclusion that dairy cows appear to be less “robust” or adaptable than in the past. A way to address these concerns in breeding programs could be to select for health and welfare by including appropriate traits in a broader breeding index. However, it is important to consider any consequences that such breeding goals may have on dairy cow temperament and welfare. There were two phases to this study. The main objective of phase I was to develop tests for measuring responsiveness to humans and novelty, aggression at the feedface and sociability in dairy cows for use on commercial farms. To allow these tests to be used on commercial farm, they must be short in duration, non-invasive and not disruptive to the daily farming routine, while at the same time allowing comparisons between an individual cow’s responses in a number of similar situations. Results from this study suggested that a standardised human approach test and a stationary visual object are reliable tests for measuring responsiveness of dairy cows to changes in their environment. Measuring behaviour at the feedface proved to be an effective measure of between cow aggression. Inter-animal distance, position in relation to the herd, behavioural synchrony and presence at the feedface proved accurate measures of sociability. The remaining part of the study (Phase II) focussed on assessing how the implantation of a breeding index can affect the temperament of dairy cows on commercial farms. The tests developed were then recorded on 402 first lactation Holstein-Friesian dairy cows selected from sires that scored high (HI) and low (LO) for robustness (health, fertility and longevity traits) to produce two treatment groups on 33 commercial farms. For the purpose of this thesis, only the results from the assessment of aggressiveness are presented. Continuous focal sampling was used to record aggressive behaviour during feeding of the HI and LO cows within the herd. Cows from the HI group were involved in more aggressive interactions, initiated more aggression and received more aggression than cows from the LO group. There was a strong influence of management factors influencing aggression such as the quality of stockmanship, feedface design and nutrition. vi In conclusion, daughters from sires scoring high for robustness may be expressing a greater ability to maintain position at the feedface during an aggressive interaction. This highlights the importance of assessing the correlated effects of selective breeding, in this case for robustness, on behavioural traits. vii Table of Contents DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................... III PUBLICATIONS ............................................................................................................................. V CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS ....................................................................................................... V ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... VIII LIST OF TABLE .......................................................................................................................... XIV LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... XVII GENERAL INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 18 1.1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................
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