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Dominance hierarchies are known for mitigating conflicts and guiding priority of access to limited resources in gregarious animals. The dominance hierarchy of dairy cows is typically investigated using agonistic interactions, often monitored at the feed bunk right after fresh feed delivery when competition is high, resulting in frequent interactions. Yet, the outcome of agonistic interactions during times of high competition may be more influenced by cows' high valuation of fresh feed than their intrinsic attributes, such that the dominance hierarchy constructed using agonistic interactions under high versus low competition times might differ. We tested how the structure of the dominance hierarchy changes in relation to different levels of competition in a dynamic group of 48 lactating dairy cows over 10 mo, with 6 cows exchanged every 16 d, for a total of 159 cows. Using a validated algorithm, we continuously detected the actor and reactor of replacement behaviors in 30 feed bins as cows competed for feed. We also calculated the percentage of occupied feed bins to characterize competition at the moment of each replacement. These data were combined to create hierarchies using Elo ratings, separately for 25 occupancy levels ranging from 13% to 100%. For each 1% rise in feeder occupancy, hierarchy steepness fell by 2.41 × 10 -3 ± 9.71 × 10 -5 (SE), and the percentage of dyads where both cows replaced each other rose by 0.13% ± 0.01%. At the highest feeder occupancy level in comparison to the lowest one, we observed 7.57% more dyads in which the dominant individual (those that won more interactions at the lowest feeder occupancy) started to lose proportionally more. The magnitude of decrease in the winning rate of the dominant individual in those dyads also got amplified by 1.06 × 10 -3 % ± 1.37 × 10 -4 % (SE) for each 1% increase in feeder occupancy. These findings illustrate how inferred hierarchies vary with competition, with high competition flattening the hierarchy due to increased success of subordinate animals. We suggest that during heightened competition, increased valuation of resources can affect competitive success more than the individual's intrinsic dominance attributes. We recommend against calculating dominance hierarchies based on agonistic interactions during periods of high competition alone, and more generally urge researchers to differentiate agonistic interactions based on context when constructing dominance hierarchies., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Dairy farms have become more reliant on technology. The overall aim of this study was to better understand how dairy farmers view technology and its effects on animal care, including their views on the prospect of integrating gene-editing technology in the future. Virtual-semistructured interviews were conducted with dairy farmers (n = 11) from British Columbia and Alberta. To facilitate discussion, the participants were asked to develop and discuss a timeline describing when and why various technologies were adopted on their farm. Although farmers defined technology broadly and affecting multiple aspects of farm management, this paper focuses on their views regarding how technology can affect animal care. Following thematic analysis of the data, the following 3 themes emerged: (1) the changing role of the farmer (including intergenerational considerations and learning new technology), (2) the effect of technology on the cow and her relationship with the farmer and, (3) technology as the future of the farm. The discussions also highlight the concerns that some farmers have regarding challenges associated with reduced human-animal interactions and effective use of the large amounts of data that are collected through technology. We also specifically asked the participants their views about gene editing as a potential future technology. Most of the participants did not specifically address their views on gene editing, but they spoke about the effect on genetic technologies more generally, often making references to genomic testing. However, some questioned how this technology may affect farmers more generally and spoke about how it could affect human-animal relationships. These results illustrate differences among farmers in the way they view technology and how this can affect the dairy cattle they care for., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Dairy cattle are often restrained for veterinary procedures, but restraint can cause fear responses that can make the procedure challenging for both the animal and the human handler. Positive reinforcement training (PRT) is used in other species to reduce fear responses and there is now evidence that this can also facilitate handling in cattle. The objectives of this study were to test the effect of PRT on anticipatory and play behavior in dairy heifers. We predicted that heifers trained with PRT would show more anticipatory and play behaviors than control heifers in the period before gaining access to a chute. We used 20 heifers (5 ± 0.6 mo old) that had been habituated to the chute area and had previous experience with handling. Heifers were randomly assigned to 2 treatments: control (n = 10) and PRT (n = 10). Positive reinforcement training heifers were subjected to a training protocol that included standard farm handling techniques, as well as target training with food reinforcement. Control heifers were moved to the chute using standard farm handling techniques only. As predicted, PRT heifers performed more behavioral transitions (7.6 ± 0.77 vs. 4.4 ± 0.57 transitions for control heifers; F 1,9 = 21.99, P < 0.01), and specifically performed more locomotory play such as jumping (2.1 ± 0.30 vs. 0.4 ± 0.19 jumps; F 1,9 = 57.18, P < 0.01) and running (2.0 ± 0.40 s vs. 0.5 ± 0.16 s; F 1,9 = 20.73, P < 0.01). These results indicate that PRT results in heifers having a more positive emotional state in anticipation of handling, and support the use of training to improve the welfare of dairy cattle., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Dairy cattle typically live in groups, but individuals within these groups vary in their social behavior. An improved understanding of factors affecting the expression of social behavior may help refine management practices on farms to better accommodate the needs of all individuals within the herd. In this paper, we review (1) some examples of how social behavior is expressed in cattle, (2) commonly assessed personality traits in this species (i.e., sociability and fearfulness) as well as coping style, and (3) how these can affect the expression of social behavior of dairy cattle and in turn their welfare. We also identify understudied social behaviors that personality might influence (social learning, social stress, and social buffering of negative emotions), and that could inform how to improve the welfare of intensively housed dairy cattle., (© 2023, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Studies have found evidence of pain in the hours following hot-iron disbudding, but little is known about longer-lasting pain following this procedure. Work on humans and rats has shown that lasting pain can have negative effects on the formation and recall of memories. The objective of this study was to assess whether lasting pain following disbudding affects learning and memory in calves. A modified hole-board apparatus was used to assess how quickly calves were able to learn the locations of 4 bottles containing milk dispersed among 11 locations with empty bottles. At 14 d of age and after 6 d of training on this task, calves (n = 30) were randomly assigned to 3 treatments: disbudding with analgesic on the day of the procedure, disbudding with analgesic throughout the study, and sham disbudding. All calves were sedated, given a lidocaine cornual local block and a single injection of an nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Starting on the day after their disbudding treatment, calves were tested daily using the modified hole-board apparatus. After 12 d of testing, the locations of the 4 milk-containing bottles were switched, and calves then relearned the locations of the rewarded bottles over the next 6 daily test sessions. We found general working memory (i.e., short-term memory) and reference memory (i.e., long-term memory) increased over the 12 d of testing, declined when locations were switched on d 13, and then again increased over the final 6 d of testing. We did not find an effect of treatment on any measure, perhaps because there was no lasting pain or because effects were too minor to detect using this test of spatial memory., (© 2023, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Lameness assessments are rarely conducted routinely on dairy farms and when completed typically underestimate lameness prevalence, hampering early diagnosis and treatment. A well-known feature of many perceptual tasks is that relative assessments are more accurate than absolute assessments, suggesting that creating methods that allow for the relative scoring of which cow is more lame will allow for reliable lameness assessments. Here we developed and tested a remote comparative lameness assessment method: we recruited nonexperienced crowd workers via an online platform and asked them to watch 2 videos side-by-side, each showing a cow walking, and to identify which cow was more lame and by how much (on a scale of -3 to 3). We created 11 tasks, each with 10 video pairs for comparison, and recruited 50 workers per task. All tasks were also completed by 5 experienced cattle lameness assessors. We evaluated data filtering and clustering methods based on worker responses and determined the agreement among workers, among experienced assessors, and between these groups. A moderate to high interobserver reliability was observed (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.46 to 0.77) for crowd workers and agreement was high among the experienced assessors (ICC = 0.87). Average crowd-worker responses showed excellent agreement with the average of experienced assessor responses (ICC = 0.89 to 0.91), regardless of data processing method. To investigate if we could use fewer workers per task while still retaining high agreement with experienced assessors, we randomly subsampled 2 to 43 (1 less than the minimum number of workers retained per task after data cleaning) workers from each task. The agreement with experienced assessors increased substantially as we increased the number of workers from 2 to 10, but little increase was observed after 10 or more workers were used (ICC > 0.80). The proposed method provides a fast and cost-effective way to assess lameness in commercial herds. In addition, this method allows for large-scale data collection useful for training computer vision algorithms that could be used to automate lameness assessments on farm., (© 2023, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Cattle are gregarious animals able to form social relationships. Dominance is one of the most widely studied social behaviors of dairy cattle, especially cows confined indoors. However, much of the past dairy cattle research has used an unstandardized approach, differing in definitions and conceptual understanding of dominance, as well as their methods of data collection and dominance calculation. The first of the 3 aims of this review is to evaluate how dominance relates to the social behavior of housed dairy cows. Cows engage in agonistic interactions to establish and reinforce dominance relationships. An individual's dominance is influenced by intrinsic characteristics, such as personality, and extrinsic factors, including group composition. When competing for resources, agonistic interactions can also be influenced by individual motivational differences, such as hunger, which may diminish the role of dominance in regulating competition. Our second aim is to critically review methods used to assess dominance in cows. This includes discussions on the effect of time and location of data collection on measured values as well as the viability and limitations of some dominance calculation methods. We propose that different methodologies lend themselves to different types of research questions. For example, the use of data stream-based methods that consider the sequence of interactions are useful for estimating how dominance fluctuates with changing conditions and can be used in a dynamically changing group. In contrast, matrix-based methods that aggregate social interactions may be best for identifying the social position of individuals and understanding how social characteristics influence the attributes of a stable hierarchy. Our third aim is to discuss the future of dominance research. We use a flowchart to illustrate guidelines for a more standardized approach to measuring dominance in cattle. We also identify areas in need of further conceptual clarification, suggest practical applications of dominance when managing dairy cattle, and discuss some limitations of dominance research., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of intake-based weaning methods and forage type on feeding behavior and growth of dairy calves. Holstein dairy calves (n = 108), housed in 12 groups of 9, were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 weaning treatments: milk reduction based on age (wean-by-age), individual dry matter intake (DMI; wean-by-intake), or a combination of individual DMI and age (wean-by-combination). Groups of calves were alternately assigned to 1 of 2 forage treatments: grass hay or a silage-based total mix ration (TMR; n = 6 groups per treatment). Until 30 d of age, all calves were offered 12 L/d of whole milk. Starting on d 31, milk was gradually reduced by 25% of the individual's average milk intake. For wean-by-age calves (n = 31), the milk allowance remained stable until d 62 when milk was again reduced gradually until weaning at d 70. For wean-by-intake calves (n = 35), milk allowance was reduced by a further 25% once calves consumed on average 200, 600, and (finally) 1,150 g of dry matter (DM) per day of calf starter and forage. For wean-by-combination calves (n = 35), milk intake remained stable until calves consumed on average 200 g of DM/d, at which point milk was reduced linearly until weaning at d 70. If calves failed to reach DMI targets by d 62 (n = 10), milk was then reduced gradually until weaning at d 70. Of the 35 wean-by-intake calves, 27 met all 3 DMI targets (successful-intake), and 33 of the 35 calves in the wean-by-combination treatment met the 200 g of DM/d target (successful-combination). Successful-intake and successful-combination calves had greater final body weight (BW) at 12 wk of age than wean-by-age calves (123.7 vs. 122.3 vs. 117.7 ± 3.1 kg, respectively). During weaning, successful-intake calves ate more starter and consumed less milk than successful-combination and wean-by-age calves (starter: 1.19 vs. 0.89 vs. 0.49 ± 0.07 kg of DM/d, respectively; milk: 2.7 vs. 4.2 vs. 5.9 ± 0.17 L/d, respectively). After weaning, successful-combination and successful-intake calves consumed similar amounts of starter; however, wean-by-age calves continued to consume less starter (2.85 vs. 2.78 vs. 2.44 ± 0.10 kg of DM/d, respectively). During weaning, hay and TMR calves ate similar amounts of forage, but hay calves consumed more starter (0.96 vs. 0.75 ± 0.07 kg of DM/d, respectively). After weaning, hay calves continued to consume more starter (2.88 vs. 2.50 ± 0.10 kg of DM/d, respectively), whereas TMR calves consumed more forage (0.33 vs. 0.15 ± 0.02 kg of DM/d, respectively). Hay calves had greater final BW at 84 d compared with TMR calves (124.0 vs. 119.0 ± 1.6 kg, respectively). These results show that the inclusion of a DMI target can improve starter intake and BW for calves that successfully wean, and that forage type can influence the transition onto solid feed. We also found that approximately 10% of calves failed to consume even 200 g of DM/d by 9 wk of age; more research is needed to better understand why some calves struggle to transition onto solid feed., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Lameness assessments are commonly conducted at a single point in time, but such assessments are subject to multiple sources of error. We conducted a longitudinal study, assessing the gait of 282 lactating dairy cows weekly during the first 12 wk of lactation, with the aim of assessing how lameness prevalence changed in relation to case definition and assessment frequency. Gait was scored using a 5-point scale where scores of 1 and 2 were considered sound, 3 was clinically lame, and 4 and 5 were severely lame. We created 5 lameness definitions using increasingly stringent thresholds based upon the number of consecutive events of locomotion score ≥3. In LAME1, a cow was considered lame when locomotion score was ≥3 at any scoring event, in LAME2, LAME3, LAME4, and LAME5, a cow was considered lame when locomotion score was 3 or higher during 2, 3, 4, and 5 consecutive scoring events, respectively. We also assessed the effect of assessment frequency on measures of prevalence and incidence using weekly assessment (ASSM1), 1 assessment every 2 wk (ASSM2), 1 assessment every 3 wk (ASSM3), and 1 assessment every 4 wk (ASSM4). Using LAME1, 69.2% of cows were considered lame at some point during the trial, with an average point prevalence of 31.8% (SD: 2.8) and average incidence rate of 10.9 cases/100 cow weeks (SD: 3.7). Lameness prevalence decreased to 28.0% when using LAME5. Survival analysis was used to assess the effects of parity, using these different case definitions. Parity is a known risk for lameness, such that case definitions and prevalence estimates should be stratified by parity to inform management decisions. Using the LAME3 criterion, primiparous cows had the highest chance of reaching 12 wk without a lameness event, and fourth and higher parities had the lowest. Weighted linear and quadratic kappa values were used to assess agreement between different assessment frequencies and lameness definitions; we found substantial to excellent agreement between ASSM1 and ASSM2 using LAME1, LAME2, and LAME3 definitions. Agreement was fair to substantial between ASSM1 and ASSM3 and low to fair between ASSM1 and ASSM4. Likewise, the agreement between LAME1 and LAME2 was fair in primiparous cows, substantial in second and third parity cows, and poor to fair in fourth and greater parity cows. We conclude that lameness prevalence estimates are dependent upon case definition and that the use of more stringent case definitions results in fewer cows classified as lame. These results suggest that routine locomotion assessments be conducted at least every 2 wk, and that cows should be defined as lame on the basis of 2 consecutive assessments., (© 2022, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Lameness is a common condition in dairy cows. Free-choice access to pasture may benefit lame cows by providing a softer and more comfortable lying and standing surface; however, the effects of this system on lameness have not yet been explored. We evaluated whether a 7-wk period of free-choice pasture access would improve lameness recovery and affect the lying behavior of lame dairy cows. Lactating Holstein cows, all clinically lame upon enrollment and housed inside a freestall barn, were pseudo-randomly allocated to 1 of 2 treatments (balancing for gait score, parity, and previous lameness history): free-choice access to pasture (n = 27; pasture) or indoor housing only (n = 27; indoor). Cows were gait scored weekly by an observer blind to treatment, using a 5-point numerical rating system (NRS 1 = sound, NRS 5 = severely lame), and hoof inspections were performed by professional trimmers at the start and end of the 7-wk period. Lying behavior was assessed using accelerometers. Cows were categorized as either having a sound period (NRS <2 over 2 consecutive weeks) or remaining lame. Cows spent, on average, 14.8 ± 10.0% (mean ± SD) of their total time on pasture, with much of this time spent outside at night. Over the 7-wk period, 42% of cows had at least one sound period (pasture: 55.6%, indoor: 26.9%), but this was more likely for cows with pasture access (odds ratio = 4.1; 95% confidence interval: 1.1-14.6%). Pasture cows also spent more total weeks sound compared with indoor cows (2.0 ± 0.34 vs. 0.81 ± 0.35 wk). Cows with pasture access lay down for less overall time than indoor cows (13.9 ± 0.29 vs. 12.7 ± 0.28 h/d) and spent more time standing on pasture (74%) than when indoors (47%). These results suggest that lame dairy cows will use pasture when provided with free-choice access, primarily at night, and that access to pasture aids in lameness recovery. We encourage future research to investigate longer-term effects on the recovery of hoof lesions and reoccurrence of lameness cases., (© 2022, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Both male and female calves that are not required in the dairy herd sometimes receive inadequate care on dairy farms. Veterinarians work with farmers to improve animal care, and farmers often view veterinarians as trusted advisors; however, little is known about the attitudes of veterinarians on surplus calves. This study investigated the perspectives of Canadian cattle veterinarians on the care and management of surplus calves, as well as how they view their role in improving care. We conducted 10 focus groups with a total of 45 veterinarians from 8 provinces across Canada. Recorded audio files were transcribed, anonymized, and coded using thematic analysis. We found that veterinarians approached surplus calf management issues from a wide lens, with 2 major themes emerging: (1) problematic aspects of surplus calf management, including colostrum management, transportation, and euthanasia, and suggested management and structural solutions, including ways to improve the economic value of these calves, and (2) the veterinarian's role in advising dairy farmers on the care of surplus calves, including on technical issues, and more broadly working with farmers to better address public concerns. We conclude that veterinarians are concerned about the care of surplus calves on dairy farms and believe that they have an important role in developing solutions together with their farmer clientele., (© 2022, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Transition period (±3 wk around calving) diseases are prevalent in dairy systems. In this review we describe the physiological and behavioral changes experienced by cows during the transition period and during the dry period leading up to this. Our narrative review examines risk factors associated with these diseases in zero-grazing and grazing systems. The available research indicates that cows in these 2 systems experience similar incidences of transition diseases, and that low or high BCS and lameness are key manageable risks associated with both systems. Other cow- and herd-level risk factors identified in this review are parity, breed, and seasonal variability in disease incidence. Some risks appear to arise earlier in the dry period, outside what is normally considered the transition period; we recommend that future studies of transition period diseases should consider the entire dry period. We also encourage new work on measuring the effect of intervention strategies during late lactation on transition period diseases., (© 2022, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

The provision of pasture and outdoor access for dairy cattle differs around the globe. For example, in Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia, dairy farms are largely pasture based, whereas dairy farms in the United States and Canada are largely confinement based. There is a high level of public support for pasture and outdoor access for dairy cows, and the available evidence shows that dairy cattle are highly motivated to access pasture, especially at night. The decision as to whether to provide outdoor access is typically made by farmers, but little is known about dairy farmers' perspectives on this topic. We investigated perspectives of Western Canadian dairy farmers on outdoor access, as well as how they believe different stakeholders (i.e., the dairy industry, the dairy cows, and the general public) regard outdoor access for dairy cows. Data were collected via (1) 11 focus group discussions with a total of 50 Western Canadian dairy farmers, and (2) semi-structured individual interviews with an additional 6 dairy farmers of Hutterite colonies. Data were analyzed using template analysis. Although most participants in this study did not provide outdoor access on their farms, or only provided outdoor access to certain cow groups, participants generally mentioned that they enjoyed seeing cows on pasture or outdoors. However, participants shared that the Canadian supply management system (including processors) required a consistent flow of production, which was thought to be easier and more economically realized with indoor housing of lactating cows. Participants believed that pasture or outdoor access for dairy cows was desired by the public. Some participants believed that dairy cows prefer to spend time outside under favorable weather conditions, but others felt that cows preferred to stay indoors in modern, ventilated freestall barns. The results of this study describe the perspectives of dairy farmers regarding the views of dairy industry stakeholders as they relate to outdoor access, helping to inform conversations around the provision of outdoor access for dairy cattle., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Early cow-calf separation followed by individual housing of calves is standard practice on dairy farms. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that as awareness grows the public will oppose these practices, which could compromise the dairy industry's social license. Despite disagreement among different stakeholders over weighting and evaluations of effects of early separation (e.g., distress response, disease risk), recent systematic reviews indicate that there is little scientific evidence supporting this practice. The acceptability of alternative cow-calf management systems is unknown. We used a mixed methods survey with a convenience sample of 307 Canadians plus a representative sample of 1,487 Americans to investigate perceptions of these systems, examining the effects of providing social or foster cow contact following early separation or not separating cow-calf pairs. Attitudes and perceptions of animal welfare were more positive (on a 7-point scale where 1 is most negative, 7 is most positive, and 4 is a neutral midpoint) toward the system where calves were not separated from the cow (mean ± SE; 5.8 ± 0.07; 5.7 ± 0.07), compared with systems in which the calf was separated and individually housed (3.6 ± 0.07; 3.4 ± 0.07), separated and group housed (3.7 ± 0.07; 3.4 ± 0.07), or separated and kept with a foster cow (3.8 ± 0.07; 3.6 ± 0.07). Participants were consistent in their attitudes toward and perceptions of animal welfare within the system, suggesting that participants took a holistic and value-oriented approach to cow-calf management regarding separation. These results, in combination with many participants' concern for the importance of the mother cow-calf relationship and perceptions that severing of this bond was a breach of standard of care, suggest that there may be low acceptance of any cow-calf management system involving early separation as such systems are unlikely to resonate with underlying values., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Adult dairy cattle show a preference for outdoor spaces during summer nights, but little is known about such preferences for dairy calves. Our aim was to determine the preferences of dairy calves for outdoor access during their first 11 wk of age in summer conditions. Calves were paired (n = 10) at 7 d of age and placed in one of 10 pens (7.32 × 2.44 m, deep bedded with bark mulch), each with equally sized outdoor and indoor areas. All feed was provided indoors; calves had ad libitum access to water, hay and concentrate. During the preweaning period, from 5 to 29 d of age, calves were offered 12 L/d of milk divided into 2 feedings. Calves were weaned stepwise, with milk gradually reduced by 1 L/d from d 30 to 35 of age. Calves were fed 6 L/d from 35 to 51 d of age, then milk was again reduced by 1 L/d so that calves were completely weaned by 56 d of age. Calves remained in the trial until, on average (± SD), 72 ± 2 d of age. Pens were continuously video recorded, and behaviors were scored 3 d/wk using 5-min scan samples. Four observers scored whether calves were inside, outside, lying, standing, in the sun or shade (interobserver reliability = 0.97). Sun and shade could not always be detected, so a proportion was calculated as the amount of time in the sun or shade divided by the total time sun or shade was visible. Calves spent approximately one-third of their time outside throughout the experiment, and time spent outside was affected by several factors. Pairs of calves spent less time outside as the amount of rain increased. During the first 6 wk of age, time spent outside increased, but time spent outside decreased between wk 6 and 7, and remained around 200 min/d from wk 7 to 11. Calves with the highest average daily gain and calves that were approximately 50% white appeared to spend more time outdoors. When outside, calves spent similar amounts of time in the sun and shade during the first 8 wk, but after weaning they appeared to spend more time in the shade. When calves were outside they appeared to spend a greater proportion of their time standing than when they were indoors during the first 4 wk. These results indicate that, when given the option in the summer, calves make use of an outdoor space, but this appears to vary with weather, calf age, average daily gain, and coat color., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Calf rearing practices differ among farms, including feeding and weaning methods. These differences may relate to how dairy producers view these practices and evaluate their own success. The aim of this study was to investigate perspectives of dairy producers on calf rearing, focusing on calf weaning and how they characterized weaning success. We interviewed dairy producers from 16 farms in Western Canada in the following provinces: British Columbia (n = 12), Manitoba (n = 2), and Alberta (n = 2). Participants were asked to describe their heifer calf weaning and rearing practices, and what they viewed as successes and challenges in weaning and rearing calves. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and subjected to qualitative analysis from which we identified the following 4 major themes: (1) reliance on calf-based measures (e.g., health, growth, and behavior), (2) management factors and personal experiences (e.g., ease, consistency, and habit), (3) environmental factors (e.g., facilities and equipment), and (4) external support (e.g., advice and educational opportunities). These results provided insight into how dairy producers view calf weaning and rearing, and may help inform the design of future research and knowledge transfer projects aimed at improving management practices on dairy farms., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Cows typically defecate while standing. Freestalls are designed to position standing cows such that their feces fall into the alley. Cows sometimes defecate while lying down, increasing the risk that feces contaminate the stall surface. We conducted 2 studies investigating cow-level and environmental factors associated with defecating while recumbent. In experiment 1, we hypothesized that conditions making it more difficult for cows to stand up (including greater age, high body weight, pregnancy, and lameness) would increase the risk of this behavior. We followed 92 cows for 12 d, scanning stalls 5 times/d using live observation. Almost half (48%) of all cows defecated while recumbent at least once; cows that spent more time lying down and that were earlier in gestation were at highest risk. Weight, parity, age, and lameness were not associated with this behavior. In experiment 2, we tested how overstocking influenced the occurrence of defecating while recumbent. We predicted overstocking would increase the occurrence of this behavior, especially when cows were in stalls at more preferred locations. We recorded stall occupancy, displacement attempts, and defecating while recumbent in 4 groups of 36 cows tested at both 100% and 150% lying stall stocking densities for 2 nights each using a crossover design. Overstocking resulted in higher stall use and more displacements, but less lying and fewer perching events. We did not detect any relationship between use of specific stalls or competition and defecating while recumbent. Most recorded displacements were associated with perching. Increased time perching increased the likelihood of defecating while recumbent, perhaps because perching cows were less dominant or more reluctant to stand up once lying down in the stall. Overstocking did not increase defecating while recumbent, likely because cows spent less time lying down. Together, these results indicate that defecating while recumbent can be common, and points to some of the cow-level factors associated with this behavior., (© 2022, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Many male dairy calves are castrated when reared for beef production, but for dairy breeds the assessment of the longer-lasting pain associated with this procedure has received little scientific attention. In this study we assessed 2 methods: surgical (n = 10 calves) and rubber ring (n = 11). All calves were castrated at 28 d of age using multimodal pain control. During the 8 wk that followed, we recorded wound healing, local inflammation, body weight, milk and calf starter intake, lying time, and wound-directed behavior. Surgical wounds were fully healed on average 4 wk after the procedure, but only 1 calf in the rubber ring treatment fully healed within the 8-wk study. Inflammation was greater after rubber ring castration; skin temperature in the area around the lesion was 1.7 ± 0.35°C (mean ± standard deviation) higher than for the surgical treatment. Compared with surgically castrated calves, those castrated by rubber ring gained less weight over the study period (on average 11.9 ± 5.1 kg less), a difference due in part to lower intake of calf starter (on average 1.8 ± 0.6 kg less). Calves in the rubber ring treatment spent less time lying down (on average 4.2 ± 1.2% fewer scans per day) and licked their lesions more frequently (on average 16.0 ± 3.3 more licks per day). We conclude that the rubber ring calves experienced more pain in the weeks following the procedure and thus recommend that surgical castration be favored for preweaning dairy calves., (© 2021, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Weaned dairy heifers are often housed in environments with few appropriate outlets for grooming or oral manipulation. Our objective was to characterize brush use by naive heifers, including patterns over time. In phase 1, groups of 4 heifers (n = 13 groups, 146.4 ± 9.1 d old, mean ± standard deviation; SD) were introduced to a bedded pack pen with 4 wall-mounted brushes (25.4 × 6.0 cm with 3.8-cm-long bristles). On d 1, 2, and 6 of exposure, continuous video recordings were used to observe 2 focal heifers per group for brush use (oral manipulation, grooming, and the sum of total brush use; all averaged at the group level). Latency to use a brush upon entering the pen was 3.4 ± 4.9 min (mean ± SD; range: 0.1 to 17.8 min among individuals). Heifers used the brushes for oral manipulation (39.7 ± 17.5% of brush use, mean ± SD) and grooming (60.3 ± 17.5%), primarily of their heads (89.9 ± 5.4% of grooming). In phase 2, heifers were moved in pairs (n = 13 pairs/treatment) to freestall pens either with (brush treatment) or without (control) brushes mounted inside the stalls for the first 5 d of phase 2 (d 8-12 of the study); on the last day (d 13 of the study), brushes were provided in both treatments. On d 8 (brush treatment) and 13 (both treatments), one focal heifer/pen was recorded for the same behaviors as in phase 1. Linear mixed models were used to evaluate brush use patterns across days (phase 1: d 1, 2, and 6; phase 2 brush treatment: d 8 vs. 13) and between treatments on d 13. In phase 1, brush use was greatest on d 1 [45.9 min; 95% confidence interval (CI): 33.2-63.3 min, back-transformed from natural-log values], decreased on d 2 (25.0 min, 95% CI: 18.4-34.0 min), but then remained steady until d 6 (21.0 min, 95% CI: 15.4-28.5 min); the initial reduction in total brush use was due to changes in grooming, but oral manipulation remained relatively static. In phase 2, heifers in the brush treatment showed similar usage on d 8 versus d 13 (3.8 vs. 3.7 min, 95% CI: 1.9-6.8 vs. 1.9-6.5 min). Compared with heifers with continuous brush access on d 8-12, those in the control treatment showed more brush use on d 13, both for oral manipulation (6.6 vs. 2.5 min, 95% CI: 3.8-11.1 vs. 1.3-4.5 min) and grooming (3.5 vs. 1.2 min, 95% CI: 1.9-5.7 vs. 0.5-2.3 min). Our study is the first to characterize stationary brush use in weaned dairy heifers. We conclude that, despite lacking previous experience, heifers use brushes for both grooming and oral manipulation., (Copyright © 2021 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Studies performed on individual research farms have reported that dairy cattle developing sole hemorrhages or sole ulcers in peak to mid lactation spent more time standing during the weeks around calving. The aim of this prospective observational longitudinal study was to evaluate whether this relationship is evident in commercial dairy herds. A convenience sample of 8 herds were visited every other week, and animals without previous severe horn lesions and deemed sound at 4 to 8 wk before calving were enrolled. Standing behavior was measured with data loggers attached to a rear leg, and standing time and duration of the longest standing bout were determined for each cow. Standing behavior was summarized into 3 periods: before (d -14 to -2), around (d -1 to 1), and after (d 2 to 14) calving. Average daily standing time and average daily longest standing bout were determined for each cow and period. Average daily standing time was normally distributed, with a mean ± standard deviation of 12.1 ± 1.6, 14.4 ± 2.2, and 13.8 ± 1.7 h/d for the 3 periods, respectively. Average daily longest standing bout was right skewed with a median of 3.6 h/d [interquartile range (IQR): 3.0 to 4.3; range: 1.7 to 12.1], 3.9 h/d (IQR: 3.1 to 4.8; range: 1.3 to 11.5), and 3.7 (IQR: 3.2 to 4.4; range: 1.5 to 11.7) h/d before, around, and after calving, respectively. Hoof trimming was performed 8 to 12 wk postpartum; hoof lesion data were summarized per cow, and the most serious injury of each type of lesion was noted. Sole hemorrhages or sole ulcers were found in 25 of 256 cows. Mixed-effect logistic regression models with herd as random effect were used to analyze the risk of developing sole hemorrhages and sole ulcers, using animals without hoof lesions as reference category. Separate models were fitted for the 2 standing behaviors, and for the periods before, around, and after calving. Change in standing behavior from before to after calving was also analyzed. Body condition score at calving, body condition score loss in early lactation, milk yield, parity, and days in milk at trimming were included as covariates. In this study, no evidence for an association was found between sole hemorrhages and sole ulcers and standing behavior before or around calving. Longer standing time and longer standing bouts after calving were associated with increased odds of developing sole hemorrhages and sole ulcers, as was an increase in standing bout duration from before to after calving. Animals with sole horn or white line lesions had higher unconditional sample odds of becoming lame (odds ratio = 2.5) and severely lame (odds ratio = 11.7) after calving, compared with animals with no registered lesions at trimming. Multiparous animals had higher lameness incidence, both before and after calving. Avoiding practices that exacerbate increases in standing time and standing bout duration in early lactation may reduce the incidence of sole hemorrhages and sole ulcers., (© 2021, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Many dairy cattle worldwide are housed in tiestalls, meaning that they are tethered by the neck to individual stalls. On some farms, tied cattle are permitted seasonal access to pasture, but otherwise their movements are restricted compared with cows housed in freestall barns or other loose housing systems. The aim of this systematic review is to summarize the scientific literature pertaining the welfare of tied dairy cattle through comparison with less-restrictive housing systems. Articles identified by PubMed and Web of Science underwent a 5-phase screening process, resulting in the inclusion of 102 papers. These papers addressed measures of welfare related to affective state, natural behavior, and health (with the lattermost category subdivided into hoof and leg disorders, lameness, mastitis, transition disease, and other diseases or conditions). Health was the most researched topic (discussed in 86% of articles); only 19% and 14% of studies addressed natural behavior and affective state, respectively. Our review highlights different health benefits for tethered and loose cattle. For example, tied cattle experience reduced prevalence of white line disease and digital dermatitis, whereas loose cattle experience fewer leg lesions and injuries. The prevalence of mastitis, transition diseases, and other conditions did not differ consistently across housing types. We found that the expression of certain natural behaviors, particularly those associated with lying down (e.g., time spent kneeling, unfulfilled intentions to lie down), were impaired in tiestalls. Articles addressing affective state found benefits to loose housing, but these studies focused almost exclusively on (1) physiological measurements and (2) cow comfort, a concept that lacks a consistent operational definition across studies. We call for future research into the affective state of tied cattle that extends beyond these explorations and employs more sophisticated methodologies., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Dairy cows are highly motivated to access pasture, especially at night in summer. When pasture is not available, dairy cows show a partial preference for alternative types of outdoor access, spending half the night outside in summer on an outdoor sand or wood chip pack. However, many dairy farms do not provide cows outside access. To better understand reasons why dairy farmers choose to provide or not provide outdoor access, we studied the perspectives of dairy farmers located in the 4 Western Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Data were collected via (1) 11 focus group discussions with a total of 50 Western Canadian dairy farmers, and (2) semi-structured individual interviews with 6 dairy farmers of Hutterite colonies. Transcripts were analyzed using template analysis. Reasons to not provide outdoor access fell into 5 main themes: (1) adverse climate conditions, (2) negative implications of outdoor access for cow welfare including concerns about udder health, (3) concerns regarding decreases in profitability, (4) farm infrastructure not set up for outdoor access, and (5) higher ability to manage animals kept indoors. Reasons to provide outdoor access fell into the 5 main themes: (1) local climate conditions conducive for outdoor access, (2) beneficial effects of outdoor access on cow welfare including lower lameness prevalence, (3) increased profitability due to a premium milk price provided to farmers that allow pasture access to their cows, (4) farm infrastructure that is set up for outdoor access, and (5) easier management of animals outdoors. We conclude that the decision to provide outdoor access depends on how farmers weigh these factors given the constraints on their farm, as well as their personal beliefs and values., (Copyright © 2021 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Students completing advanced degrees in dairy or animal science may go on to have a major impact on the food animal agriculture industries. The aim of this study was to better understand student views of the future of dairying, including changes in practices affecting animal care on farms as well as perceived public perceptions. We conducted 6 focus group sessions with undergraduate students enrolled in the 2019 US Dairy Education and Training Consortium held in Clovis, New Mexico, and used explorative key word analysis of written notes and thematic analysis of the semi-structured discussions. Some "must-haves" of future animal care on dairy farms included increased use of technology, group housing of calves, and adequate facilities, including enrichment. Students also discussed their views of public expectations regarding animal care on dairy farms, and measures that they felt must be put into place to address these expectations in the coming years. Although the influence of the public was highlighted by the students, they were not always certain what specific values the public holds and doubted the feasibility and practicality of some expectations, such as providing pasture access or keeping the calf and cow together. They further demonstrated uncertainty about how best to align the directions of the industry with public expectations. Although they felt that public education could be used to demonstrate the legitimacy of dairy practices, they also believed that the industry should strive to find compromises and work toward meeting public expectations. Deciding what animal welfare considerations (e.g., naturalness, affective states, or animal health) were most relevant was a challenge for the students, perhaps reflecting diverging messages received during their own education., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Cattle are subjected to routine procedures that require restraint and close contact to humans, which are both potentially aversive to the animal. Positive reinforcement training techniques may affect how animals perceive and respond to these procedures. The objectives of the current study were to describe a positive reinforcement regimen used to train cattle to stand still for a sham injection, and to assess the effects of this training on the responses to an actual injection. Eight "agency" heifers were trained, over an average of 85 ± 4.6 sessions, with positive reinforcement (i.e., animals received a grain reinforcer for desired behaviors) to enter a headlock, and they were habituated with counterconditioning and desensitization to a sham injection (i.e., animals were gradually exposed to the sensation of the sham injection, paired with access to grain). The headlock remained open at all times to allow heifers to leave. Eight "habituation" heifers were exposed to the treatment area and headlock for an equal number of sessions and duration as agency heifers, and 7 "naïve" heifers were provided no exposure to the treatment area. Once agency heifers tolerated the sham injection, all animals received a 1-mL subcutaneous injection of 0.9% NaCl while in the head lock (habituation and naïve heifers were locked in but agency heifers were free to withdraw). Immediate responses to the injection, starting with tenting of the skin, were video recorded and summarized as a reactivity score, which included the number of steps, head tosses, and backing-up movements; we also recorded the latency to approach the treatment area and headlock for 3 d after the injection. Of the agency heifers, 5 remained standing for the actual injection, whereas 3 heifers moved out of the headlock for a brief period (1, 3, and 5 s, respectively). Habituation heifers had a higher reactivity score [17.5 (10.5-28); median (IQR)] than agency [6 (2-13.5)] and naïve heifers [6 (5-7)]. Averaged over the 3 d after injection, agency heifers showed lower latencies to come to the treatment area [8.7 (7.2-24.2) s] than did habituation [50.5 (28-60) s] and naïve [53.7 (18-60) s] heifers. Agency heifers voluntarily entered the headlock within 1.3 (1-1.5) s but, with one exception, none of the other heifers did so within the allowed 15 s. These results indicate that dairy heifers can be trained with positive reinforcement and counterconditioning to voluntarily accept a painful procedure, and that training can reduce avoidance behaviors during and after the procedure., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Conventional locomotion scoring is a subjective, absolute, and discrete assessment of locomotion. Here we assess pairwise comparison scoring to improve upon the limited intra- and interobserver consistency typical of conventional locomotion scoring. Five observers performed conventional 4-level locomotion scoring using 50 video recordings of dairy cattle, and also assessed 90 pairs of videos (composed from the same 50 recordings) using relative pairwise scoring. Intra- and interobserver consistency of pairwise scores [intraobserver: percentage agreement (PA) = 82%, κ = 0.63; interobserver: PA = 79%, κ = 0.57] were greater than of 4-level absolute scores (intraobserver: PA = 72%, κw = 0.74; interobserver: PA = 56%, κw = 0.59). Pairwise scores were scaled with an optimization method to obtain the position of the 50 recordings on a continuous locomotion scale. These continuous locomotion scores (CLS) were compared with the conventional mean absolute visual locomotion scores (VLS). Correlation between CLS and VLS was strong (τ = 0.69), and consistency between binarized CLS and binarized VLS was high (PA = 84%, κ = 0.66 for threshold VLS ≥1). Just noticeable difference (JND) for locomotion scoring was 0.3 on a 4-level scale ranging from 0 to 3. Pairwise scoring and scaling had the scoring consistency of binary absolute scoring with finer continuous granularity than 4-level absolute scoring. The pairwise scoring method, and associated scaling, offer a more consistent and informative alternative to conventional absolute multilevel locomotion scoring., (Copyright © 2021 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study evaluated feed intake, milk yield, and subclinical ketosis in dairy cows in early lactation fed 2 different diets postpartum. Cows are typically offered a high-energy ration immediately after calving. We compared a conventional high-energy total mixed ration (TMR) with a transition ration that contained chopped straw. We predicted that adding chopped straw would increase dry matter intake, milk production, and indicators of energy metabolism during the first 3 wk of lactation compared to cows fed a conventional high-energy TMR. We also predicted that carryover effects would be likely for at least 2 wk after treatment ended. A total of 68 mixed-age Holstein cows were enrolled in the study 3 wk before their expected calving. All cows were managed on a single high-forage diet during the dry period. At calving, cows were allocated to 1 of the 2 diets: half to the conventional high-energy TMR (CTMR; n = 34; net energy for lactation = 1.61 Mcal/kg; neutral detergent fiber = 31.7%), and the other half to a high-forage TMR containing chopped wheat straw, equivalent to 4.27% dry matter (STMR; n = 34; net energy for lactation = 1.59 Mcal/kg; neutral detergent fiber = 33.7%) for 3 wk after calving. Cows on STMR were then shifted to CTMR for the next 2 wk to study short-term residual effects on the performance of cows. Treatments were balanced for parity, body condition score, and body weight. Feed intake was measured daily from 2 wk before to 5 wk after calving using automatic feed bins. Blood was sampled twice weekly from 2 wk before to 5 wk after calving, and β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose were measured in serum samples. Subclinical ketosis was identified using a threshold of β-hydroxybutyrate ≥1.0 mmol/L in wk 1 after calving and ≥1.2 mmol/L in wk 2 to 5 after calving. Cows were milked twice daily, and weekly samples (composite samples of morning and afternoon milkings) were analyzed to determine total solids, fat, protein, lactose, and somatic cell count. Data were analyzed in 2 separate periods: the treatment phase (wk +1, +2, and +3) and the post-treatment phase (wk +4 and +5). The addition of straw to the TMR negatively affected the dry matter intake of STMR cows during wk 2 and 3 of lactation. Daily milk yield during the first 5 wk of lactation was lower in STMR cows than in CTMR cows. Concentrations of β-hydroxybutyrate were higher in CTMR cows than in STMR cows during wk 1, but this effect was reversed during wk 2 and 3 of lactation. By 21 d in milk, STMR cows had a greater risk of developing subclinical ketosis than CTMR cows. Adding chopped wheat straw to the TMR during the first 21 d after calving lowered dry matter intake and provided no metabolic or production benefits to lactating dairy cattle., (Copyright © 2021 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The primary aim of this prospective experimental study was to evaluate how the social environment after calving influenced standing behavior in primiparous cows. At calving, primiparous cows were mixed with familiar peers in a low-stocked pen (≤33% stocking density; n = 22) or mixed with unknown older cows at 100% stocking density (n = 20). All study cows were mixed with older cows 3 wk after calving. Time spent standing and perching (standing with only the front feet in the stall) were measured d 1 to 3 after calving using 5-min scan sampling. To evaluate if the low-stocked treatment constituted a low-stress social environment, agonistic interactions at the feed barrier were measured for 90 min following feed delivery for a subsample of cows in both treatments (12 cows/treatment). The daily behavioral time budget, including the 90 min following milking, was examined for this subset of cows. A secondary aim was to assess if the social environment after calving was related to the risk of developing claw horn lesions later in lactation. Sole and white line lesions were recorded at wk 6 and 12 after calving, and cows were categorized as either having or not having at least 1 hemorrhage of severity ≥3 (scale 1 to 5) for each lesion type and assessment. Prolonged standing after regrouping was not observed, and we found no differences in standing time and time spent perching between treatments. Agonistic behaviors directed toward the focal cows occurred less frequently in the low-stocked pen compared with the control. The number and severity of sole and white line lesions increased after calving. At wk 6 postpartum there was a numeric (but not statistically significant) difference between treatments in the proportion of primiparous cows that had white line hemorrhages of severity score ≥3 (low-stress social environment: 20% vs. control: 50%). In conclusion, under the conditions of this study the social environment did not influence standing behavior, but did affect agonistic interactions and may have influenced the risk of claw horn lesions in the weeks following calving. Further studies should evaluate the relationship between the social environment and claw health., (Copyright © 2021 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Dairy farms are increasing in size and moving from family to external labor. As such, dairy farmers now have the responsibilities of a human resource manager in addition to caring for their animals. The objective of this paper was to review literature in 5 areas of human resource management of a dairy farm: (1) professional accreditation and professional development, (2) extension activities, (3) the role of the advisor, (4) standard operating procedures, and (5) employee training. Although there has been an increase in research in this area in recent years, this review identified numerous areas for future research, including the relationships between farmers and their advisors and employees, and the role of standard operating procedures on dairy farms. In addition, we suggest that future studies could benefit from increased use of participatory research methods., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Standard operating procedures (SOP) are increasingly required on farms participating in animal welfare assurance programs, such as the Dairy Farmers of Canada's proAction initiative and the National Dairy FARM Program in the United States. However, little is known about the use of SOP on farms and who is involved in their development. Literature from other industries shows the importance of including advisors when developing SOP. Despite veterinarians being viewed by many farmers as trusted sources of information, little is known about their involvement in SOP development. The aim of this study was to better understand: (1) what advice from researchers and veterinarians is considered when developing an SOP and (2) what factors affect advice adherence. Participants in this study were farmers (n = 9) from 6 dairy farms in the Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada and their herd veterinarians (n = 5). Structured and semi-structured interviews and participant observation were undertaken from April to December 2018, and the resulting data were analyzed using thematic analysis. In relation to the first aim, we identified 3 main themes: (1) the purpose of the SOP, (2) developing an SOP, and (3) accountability and tracking of procedures. For the second aim, 5 themes emerged: (1) feasibility of the advice, (2) resources required, (3) priority of the advice, (4) other actors involved, and (5) the importance of data. Collectively, these findings suggest that a farm-specific SOP that actively tracks procedures is most beneficial, and that advice adherence is context dependent., (© 2020, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Cauterization by hot iron and application of caustic paste are 2 common methods of disbudding calves. In this study, we compared the affective experience of these 2 procedures on young dairy calves using conditioned place aversion. Male dairy calves (n = 14; 7 ± 2 d old) were disbudded by both thermal and chemical methods (1 horn bud at a time, 48 h apart). Calves received treatments in pens made visually distinct with either red squares or blue triangles on the walls. Calves were restricted to these treatment pens for 6 h following disbudding. For all treatments, calves received a sedative (xylazine, 0.2 mg/kg), local anesthetic (lidocaine, 5 mL), and analgesic (meloxicam, 0.5 mg/kg). Calves were then tested for conditioned place aversion at 48, 72, and 96 h after their last treatment. During tests, calves were placed in a neutral pen connected to both treatment pens where they had previously been disbudded. Time spent in each treatment pen was recorded until calves chose to lie down for 1 min (latency to lie down: 31.0 ± 8.6 min). During the first test (48 h after last disbudding), calves spent more time in the pen associated with hot-iron disbudding compared with what would be expected by chance (intercept: 73.5%, 95% CI: 56.5, 90.5) and fewer calves lay down in the caustic paste pen than in the hot-iron pen (3 vs. 10 lying events). No evidence of preference for the hot-iron pen was found in the following test sessions (72 and 96 h since last disbudding). These results suggest that calves initially remember caustic paste disbudding as a more negative experience than hot-iron disbudding, even with the use of sedation, local anesthesia, and analgesia., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Similar to the situation in many countries, the dairy industry in Canada is challenged by the need to adapt to changing societal demands. An industry-led initiative (Dairy Farmers of Canada's proAction Initative, known as proAction) was developed to respond to this challenge, providing mandatory national standards for on-farm practices. Farmers are more likely to follow such standards if they are aligned with their values and beliefs. The aim of this study was to better understand farmers' perspectives on the future of the Canadian dairy industry, with a focus on the role of mandatory policies such as those related to proAction. Seven focus groups were conducted, with discussions based on the principles of appreciative inquiry. Participants were each asked to write down key words that represent the "must-haves" on dairy farms in 20 yr from now. Although participants were encouraged to focus on aspects directly related to animal care, all answers were accepted. Key words were then used to facilitate a discussion and elicit ideas on how to achieve these must-haves. Particular focus was on the direction that participants believed policy should take to meet these goals. Explorative qualitative analysis was used for the written key words, and transcripts of the audio-recorded focus group discussions were analyzed using thematic analysis. Examples of farm-specific considerations that were raised as future must-haves of animal care on dairy farms included cow comfort, employee management, responsible health management, and use of advanced thechnologies. Participants agreed that objectives can only be achieved through collaboration among farmers and between farmers and researchers, and they regarded citizen education as a promising approach to align differing expectations of the public and farmers. Citizen trust in the dairy industry was considered a must-have, and participants believed that one of the benefits of mandatory policies for animal care is their potential to increase trust. These results may help guide the development of new animal care policies and increase understanding of the perceived legitimacy of new policies by dairy farmers., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Lameness is a major welfare problem in the dairy industry. Environmental factors, such as flooring surface, as well as cow-level factors, such as udder fill, can influence gait. The aim of the current study was to test whether motivation to walk affects gait attributes and whether this effect differs between lame and sound cows. We trained cows to walk down an alley for a food reward and assessed walking speed, stride length, head bob, and back arch of cows previously identified as either lame (n = 7) or sound (n = 10). Cows were assessed when they walked toward a food reward and toward no reward. Cows walked faster and had longer stride length and less variation in head bob when approaching the reward; these effects were similar in both sound and lame cows. We concluded that motivation to walk affects several gait attributes of dairy cows., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Dairy cows are often diagnosed with fever without showing clinical symptoms of disease. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in feeding, social, and lying behaviors of cows with fever but without clinical disease, as compared with healthy cows. After parturition, dairy cows of mixed parities were housed in a dynamic group of 20. In the freestall pen, cows had access to 12 electronic feed bins, 2 electronic water bins, and 24 lying stalls. Feeding and social behaviors were recorded using the electronic feed bins, and lying behaviors were measured using electronic data loggers attached to the cow. Rectal body temperature was assessed on a daily basis, and fever defined as a body temperature >39.5°C. All cows were examined for metritis every third day after calving, and all other diseases (e.g., mastitis, ketosis) were diagnosed as per farm protocol. Cows with multiple days of fever (n = 8) and cows with 1 d of fever (n = 18) that were not diagnosed with a clinical disease were compared with a matched sample of healthy cows (i.e., cows that were not clinically ill and never had a fever recorded) of the same parity (categorized as primiparous vs. multiparous). Feeding, social, and lying behaviors were compared for the first 2 d of fever in cows with multiple days of fever, and the day of fever in cows with 1 d of fever. Cows of both fever groups spent less time feeding compared with controls (135 vs. 181 ± 7.6 min/d for multiple fever days, and 158 vs. 185 ± 9.7 min/d for 1 d of fever). Cows with 1 d of fever ate at a faster rate (109 vs. 91 ± 5 g/min) and had a lower number of replacements at the feed bunk (actor replacements: 9.7 vs. 14.6 ± 1.7 no./d; reactor replacements: 11.1 vs. 15.9 ± 1.6 no./d) compared with healthy controls. Overall, cows with fever showed behavioral changes such as decreased feeding time that are consistent with sickness responses described in other species., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Heat-stressed dairy cows on pasture will compete for resources that aid cooling, but it is not known how heat stress affects the competition for water by indoor-housed cows. The aim of this observational study was to evaluate how heat stress affects the behavior of indoor-housed cows at the drinker at both group and cow levels. For 3 wk after calving, cows were housed in a dynamic group of 20 animals in a pen with 12 electronic feed bins, 2 electronic water bins, and 24 freestalls. A total of 69 lactating Holstein dairy cows were enrolled over the 59-d study. The electronic water bins recorded time spent at the drinker, frequency of visits, water intake, and competitive events for 24 h/d. Competitive events were quantified using the number of replacements (recorded when there was a ≤29-s interval between 2 cows sequentially visiting the same drinker). The number of replacements a cow was involved in was used to determine her level of competitive success at the drinker (low, medium, high). The temperature-humidity index (THI) was recorded by the local weather station, and moving averages for daily maximum THI over a 3-d period were calculated. For the analysis of time spent at the drinker, frequency of visits, and water intake, the measures from all cows were averaged to create 1 observation per day, and the number of replacements at the drinker was summed. A linear regression was performed to determine the relationship between THI and group-level drinking behavior. At the cow level, a repeated measures mixed model, with fixed effects of level of competitive success, milk yield, and 3-d maximum THI and a first-order autoregressive covariance structure, was used to determine how increasing THI affects the drinking behavior of individual cows based on their level of competitive success. Feed intake was included as a fixed effect in the water intake model. We found that, with increasing THI, cows drank more water, spent more time at the drinker, made more visits to the drinker, and engaged in more competitive events at the drinker. In exploratory analysis, we found that cows with low competitive success at the drinker shifted their drinking behavior to avoid the drinker at the hottest and most competitive time of day. These results indicate that behavior can be used to indicate when cows feel hot. These measures may be of practical value in deciding when to provide cooling, especially for farms where attendance at the drinker can be monitored electronically., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Providing dairy cows access to pasture is desirable, given their strong motivation for pasture access, but this practice is hindered by several practical constraints, including lack of available pasture. An alternative to pasture is an outdoor area that is bedded with a soft material such as sand or wood chips that requires less space than pasture, given the absence of soil or grass that can otherwise be damaged by cow traffic. However, little is known about space requirements for alternative outdoor areas. This study investigated how space allowance affected cow preference to be outdoors as well as cow behavior on an outdoor pack. A total of 3 groups of 24 pregnant, lactating, healthy Holstein cows were used. Each group was given 3 d for social dynamics to stabilize; during this time cows were kept indoors in a freestall pen. A habituation phase of 5 d followed, where animals were given free access to the outdoor pack with a space allowance of 16 m 2 /cow. Cows were moved outside (if not already outdoors) at set times each day during the habituation phase (i.e., 5 times during the first 2 d and 2 times during the last 3 d). Cows were then given free access to the outdoor pack, but space allowance was changed every day. A total of 13 different space allowances were randomly applied, without replacement, ranging from 4 to 16 m 2 /cow in 1-m 2 increments. Using continuous video recordings, the location of the cows (i.e., in the freestall barn or on the outdoor pack) as well as displacements from a lying position on the outdoor pack were scored. Standing and lying behaviors were automatically measured using HOBO data loggers (Onset, Cape Cod, MA). Over the 24-h period, cows spent more time outside with increasing space allowance, but this result was driven almost entirely by the increased time spent outdoors during the nighttime hours. During the night, space allowance did not influence the number of displacements from lying on the outdoor pack or the proportion of time on the outdoor pack that cows spent lying down. Our results indicate that cows use an outdoor bedded pack mostly at night and that the time spent outside at night increases with increasing space allowance. Providing an outdoor bedded pack should be considered when designing dairy cattle housing systems., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Many dairy cows become ill in the weeks after calving, a period when cows also experience numerous environmental and physiological changes. Most research on this transition period has focused on biological factors including nutrition, immunology, and physiology, but little work has examined sociological factors affecting how farmers care for their cows. The aim of the current study was to describe barriers preventing the adoption of more successful management practices. We used individual and group interviews, paired with photo elicitation, to understand the perspectives of farmers (n = 11) and veterinarians (n = 8) living and working in the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada. Participants viewed transition period management as difficult. The lack of a single definition of the transition period emerged as one barrier to improvement; providing a clear and consistent definition for the transition period may be an important first step to improved practices on dairy farms. Participants also identified other barriers hindering improvement, including variation in both farmer attitude toward transition cow management and veterinarian involvement, stocking density of cows, and nutrition management. Barriers to improved practices varied by farm, suggesting that a tailored approach is required to make meaningful change., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this longitudinal study, we tested the hypothesis that cows that are lame around dry-off are at increased risk of transition diseases (TD), including metritis, subclinical ketosis (SCK), retained fetal membranes, hypocalcemia, or displaced abomasum. We also hypothesized that the relationship between lameness and TD would be mediated through reduced feeding time. We enrolled 461 cows at 9 wk before their expected calving date on 6 commercial freestall farms in the lower Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Cows were gait-scored weekly using a scale of 1 to 5. Lameness status was classified based on consecutive gait scores as lame (2 consecutive gait scores = 3 or 1 score ≥4) or sound (2 consecutive gait scores ≤2). Lameness status was summarized as (1) lameness at dry-off (sound or lame); (2) lameness group (always sound = sound on all visits, chronically lame = lame on all visits, and other = changed from sound to lame or vice versa); and (3) proportion of weeks lame during the dry period. Body condition scores were recorded at dry-off and at calving and collectively used to calculate change in body condition for each cow. A subsample of cows (n = 159) was evaluated for feeding time once a week during the dry period. All cows were evaluated for SCK (positive = β-hydroxybutyrate ≥1.2 mmol/L) and metritis (positive = foul smell, red/brown watery vaginal discharge) every 3 to 4 d between d 3 and 17 after calving. We retrieved data on treatment of retained fetal membranes, hypocalcemia, and displaced abomasum during the first 17 d after calving, cow parity, and milk production in the previous lactation from farm records. We created a binary variable, TD (any of SCK, metritis, retained fetal membranes, hypocalcemia, or displaced abomasum), to differentiate between healthy cows and cows that developed TD. Lameness at dry-off was associated with the occurrence of metritis and TD, but not with SCK. Cows that were chronically lame and cows that had an increased proportion of weeks lame during the dry period had higher occurrence of metritis and TD. Lameness was also associated with reduced feeding time, which in turn was associated with increased likelihood of SCK and TD, but not with metritis. Lameness was not associated with change in body condition; however, cows that lost body condition score during the dry period had increased odds of developing SCK, metritis, and TD. Change in body condition was highly associated with body condition score at dry-off. These results suggest that association between lameness and TD is partially mediated through reduced feeding time., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Little is known about the combination of factors that motivate changes in calf management on dairy farms. Providing information to farmers may help promote change, but it is unclear how this approach affects and is affected by the farmer's relationship with the advisors such as the herd veterinarian. The goal of this study was to understand how benchmarking measures related to calf immune development and growth affected farmer and veterinarian cooperation and influenced the farmer's view of the veterinarian as an advisor for calf management. Veterinarians provided their clients (n = 18 dairy farms in the lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia) with 2 benchmark reports providing information on transfer of passive immunity and calf growth. Farmers were interviewed before and after receiving these reports to understand how they perceived their veterinarian as a calf advisor. Qualitative analysis identified 2 major themes indicating that benchmarking (1) improved farmer perception of their veterinarian's capacities to advise on calves and (2) strengthened the social influence of the veterinarian. We conclude that benchmarking can help promote stronger relationships between farmers and veterinarians., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hyperketonemia and metritis are common in the weeks after calving. This study tested if feeding and agonistic behaviors before calving were associated with the development of hyperketonemia (HYK) and metritis after calving. Holstein cows on 5 commercial farms were monitored for HYK (as identified using a cow-side β-hydroxybutyrate test) and metritis (using visual and olfactory assessment of vaginal discharge); both tests were conducted twice a week for 2 wk. Based on this assessment, we selected a balanced sample of cows that remained healthy (no signs of illness; n = 20), cows diagnosed with either HYK (n = 20) or metritis (n = 20), and cows with both HYK and metritis (n = 20). Video recordings from the 8 wk before calving (scored every 2 wk for 90 min immediately after fresh feed delivery) were used to evaluate feeding behavior and competition at the feed bunk. Feeding behavior before calving was associated with postpartum diagnosis of HYK and metritis. Specifically, cows that spent less time eating had higher odds of HYK and metritis. Odds of remaining healthy (compared with becoming sick with at least 1 condition) increased by 1.3 times for every additional 15 min spent eating. Additionally, cows that were involved in fewer agonistic interactions prepartum were more likely to be diagnosed with both conditions during the postpartum period. Odds of remaining healthy (compared with becoming sick with at least one condition) increased by 1.9 times for every 6 additional interactions. We conclude that prepartum feeding and agonistic behaviors can be used to identify animals at risk of HYK and metritis postpartum., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The reliability of locomotion scoring is often low, making it unclear how a single gait score should be interpreted. In addition, differences in assessment frequency between longitudinal studies makes it hard to compare results. Our aims were to evaluate how lameness definition and assessment frequency affect measures of lameness incidence. Six dairy farms in British Columbia, Canada, were enrolled, and 262 cows that were sound at dry-off had their locomotion score (LS) assessed weekly from dry-off to calving, using a 1 to 5 scale. Cows were categorized as remaining sound or becoming lame using 3 different case definitions (LAME1: ≥LS3 at least once; LAME2: ≥2 consecutive scores of LS3, or ≥LS4 at least once; and LAME3: ≥3 consecutive scores of LS3, or ≥LS4 at least once). We analyzed the correspondence between the 3 definitions with percent agreement and weighted κ (linear and quadratic weighting). Comparing LAME1 to LAME3 resulted in lower percent agreement (53%) and κ values (linear κ w = 0.50; quadratic κ w = 0.64) than comparing LAME2 and LAME3 (85%; linear κ w = 0.83; quadratic κ w = 0.89), indicating that cows scored LS3 twice were likely to be scored LS3 a third time. We also compared the 3 case definitions against trim records from trimmings occurring 90 d or less before calving (n = 117), and used logistic regression models to determine sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value. Using the LAME1 criterion resulted in high sensitivity (horn lesions = 0.90; infectious lesions = 0.92) and low specificity (horn = 0.21; infectious = 0.24). We observed higher specificity for LAME2 (horn = 0.62; infectious = 0.66) and LAME3 (horn = 0.71; infectious = 0.77), but LAME2 had higher sensitivity than LAME3 (horn = 0.89 vs. 0.64; infectious = 0.69 vs. 0.64). When evaluating the effects of assessment frequency, we obtained 3 data sets by keeping every, every other, and every third locomotion assessment, and using LAME2 as a case definition. More cows were categorized as lame when assessment frequency increased. Of the cows that were classified as lame when assessed weekly, 72% of the mildly lame, and 33% of the severely lame were classified as sound when assessed every third week. Our results suggest that a single LS3 score should not be used as a criterion for lameness in longitudinal studies. To correctly identify new cases of lameness, dairy cows should be assessed at least every 2 wk., (Copyright © 2020 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Lameness has been extensively studied in lactating cows, whereas few studies have reported on lameness during the dry period. We conducted a prospective longitudinal study to describe the epidemiology of lameness during the dry period and to identify risk factors associated with onset, cure, and chronic cases of lameness. A total of 455 cows from 6 freestall commercial dairy farms were enrolled at 9 wk before calving and gait scored weekly until calving using a 5-point scale. A subset of cows was also followed fortnightly after calving to measure the association between lameness during the dry period and lameness during early lactation. Body condition score (BCS) was assessed in a 5-point scale using increments of 0.5. Hoof-trimming records, parity, and previous lactation milk production were retrieved from farm's database. Cows were considered sound when 2 consecutive scores were ≤2 and lame when 2 consecutive scores = 3, or any assessment with score >3; when in a sequence of scores only one score = 3 (or ≤2), the cow was considered sound (or alternatively lame). Following this lameness definition, we derived weekly lameness status for each cow and calculated the number of new cases of lameness, the number of cure cases and the number of chronic cases. The incidence rate of lameness cases during the dry period was 8.2 lameness cases/100 cow per wk, whereas cure rate was 7.1 cure cases/100 cow per wk; at the end of the dry period 50% of cows had developed lameness and 36% were cured. Multilevel logistic regression models using farm as random effect were fitted to assess (1) the association between being lame in wk 2 or 8 postcalving with being lame in the last week precalving, (2) risk factors for lameness onset, (3) risk factors for lameness cure, and (4) risk factors for chronic lameness. Cows that were lame in the week immediately before calving were more likely to be lame in wk 2 and 8 after calving. We found that the interaction between parity and hoof-trimming before dry-off was associated with lameness onset; primiparous cows that were trimmed before dry-off had lower odds of developing lameness, whereas the opposite was found for multiparous cows. The same interaction was also associated with the odds of chronic lameness. Cows that were diagnosed with noninfectious hoof lesions compared with cows that were not diagnosed with hoof lesions before dry-off, and cows that had BCS <3 compared with cows with BCS 3.0 to 3.5 at dry-off had higher odds of chronic lameness. Conversely, primiparous cows and cows with BCS 3.0 to 3.5 had higher odds of curing lameness during the dry period. Our results suggest that the dry period may be a period of high risk for lameness development and that hoof-trimming before dry-off may not be effective for all cows., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Little is known about factors affecting individual variability in weaning age, feeding behavior, and growth of dairy calves. The objectives of this study were to (1) describe early-life individual characteristics of dairy calves and how these relate to weaning age, feeding behavior, and performance during the first 15 wk of age, and (2) to identify which of these individual characteristics predict weaning age of calves automatically weaned based on solid feed intake. Early-life characteristics of calves (n = 43) included scores for vitality at birth, drinking ability, learning ability to use the automated milk feeder in a group pen from d 1 of age, and personality traits assessed using exposure to a novel environment, a human, and an object at d 21 of age. Calves received 12 L/d of milk until d 30 when milk was reduced by 25% relative to the individual's previous 3-d intake average. Calves were weaned based on intake of solid feed (milk reduced by 25% at each of 2 intermediate solid feed intake targets, 225 and 675 g/d), and were weaned when they consumed 1,300 g/d of solid feed, resulting in variable weaning ages. A principal component analysis identified 5 factors that we labeled as low vitality, fearful, strong drinker, slow learner, and exploratory-active. Calves that were slow learners weaned at a later age, whereas fearful calves weaned earlier. No other early-life individual characteristics were associated with weaning age. Other characteristics (low vitality, strong drinkers, and exploratory-active) were associated with some measures of feeding behavior, feed intake, and growth, especially during the preweaning period. Measures of early solid feed intake (age to start eating and total preweaning intake) were best able to predict weaning age of calves. Individual early-life characteristics and measures of early solid feed intake can identify calves likely to do well or struggle during weaning., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Affective states, which refer to feelings or emotions, are a key component of animal welfare, but these are also difficult to assess. Drawing upon a body of theoretical and applied work, we critically review the scientific literature on the assessment of affective states in animals, drawing examples where possible from research on dairy cattle, and highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of scientific methods used to assess affective states in animals. We adopt the "valence/arousal" framework, describing affect as a 2-dimensional space (with valence referring to whether an experience is positive or negative, and arousal referring to the intensity of the experience). We conclude that spontaneous physiological and behavioral responses typically reflect arousal, whereas learned responses can be valuable when investigating valence. We also conclude that the assessment of affective states can be furthered using mood assessments and that the use of drug treatments with known emotional effects in humans can be helpful in the assessment of specific affective states in animals., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Accurate assessments of social behavior and dominance relationships in cattle can be time consuming. We investigated whether replacements at the feed bunk and water trough-one type of agonistic interaction-can be used to automatically assess dominance relationships. Our study set out to (1) validate a replacement detection algorithm using combined data from electronic feed and water bins, and (2) investigate the applicability of this algorithm to identify individual dominance scores and group-level social hierarchy in freestall-housed dairy cows. We used 4 groups of lactating cows kept in different group sizes (11 to 20 cows) located at 2 research facilities. In both facilities, feed and water were provided via automated feeding systems. A trained observer recorded all agonistic interactions in the pen over multiple days using video. Data from the electronic feed and water bins for the same days were analyzed using an algorithm to detect replacements (i.e., visits where a receiver cow was competitively replaced by an actor cow). Most agonistic interactions at the feed bunk were replacements. These replacements were associated with a brief interval between the time the receiver cow left the bin and the actor cow took her place; the optimal threshold to detect these replacements varied from 22 to 27 s between groups, independent of stocking density. The recall and precision of an algorithm based upon this threshold was high (on average >0.8), comparable to that of trained human observers. We improved data preparation by controlling for detection errors and included filtering to reduce false positives. This resulted in a >20% decrease in false positives and an increase in precision of 0.043. The dominance hierarchy based upon algorithm-detected replacements was similar to that based upon total agonistic interactions observed in the pen; the Spearman rank correlation coefficient between these hierarchies varied among the groups from 0.81 to 0.96. We conclude that data from electronic feed and water bins can accurately estimate agonistic behavior and dominance relationships among dairy cows., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Our objective was to evaluate how sampling strategies (i.e., how many cows to sample and which animals to include) used in 4 dairy cattle welfare assessment programs affect the classification of dairy farms relative to thresholds of acceptability for animal-based measures. We predicted that classification performance would improve when more cows were sampled and when selecting from all lactating cows versus when some pens were excluded. On 38 freestall farms, we assessed all 12,375 cows for lameness, injuries on the tarsal (hock) and carpal joints, and body condition score and calculated the farm-level prevalence for each measure. Based on approaches used in the industry, we evaluated 6 sampling strategies generated using formulas with precision (d) of 15, 10, or 5% applied to either a single high-producing pen or all lactating cows; an additional sample was included with d = 10% applied to the entire herd, selecting lactating cows in proportion to their representation in the herd. For each sampling strategy, cow records were selected randomly (in 10,000 replicates) to calculate prevalence. The strategy of assessing all cows in the high-producing pen was also compared. Farms were classified as meeting (below) or failing to meet (above) thresholds of ≤15% moderate lameness; ≤20% moderate carpal or hock injuries; <10, <5, and ≤1% severe lameness; or injuries on the carpus or hock; and <5, <3, <1, or 0% thin cows. For each measure and threshold, we calculated pooled percent agreement, kappa, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value for each sampling strategy using true prevalence as the gold standard for herd classification. Across measures and thresholds, classification performance increased with the number of cows sampled [i.e., when narrower precision values (d = 5 vs. 10 vs. 15%) were used in the sample size calculation]. Because narrower precision values can dramatically increase sample size, assessment programs may need to consider both feasibility and the degree of misclassification they will accept. Applying the formula directly to lactating cows performed better than applying it to the entire herd and then selecting lactating cows in proportion to their representation in the herd. Farm classifications were similar whether cows in the hospital pen were included or excluded from the sample. Selecting all cows from the high-producing pen resulted in classifications similar to when including all lactating cows, suggesting that assessing cows from the high-producing pen may serve as an acceptable proxy for all lactating cows on the farm., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Concern from the public is growing regarding early cow-calf separation, yet proponents of this practice maintain that artificial rearing is critical for cow and calf health. Early separation is assumed to reduce the risk of transfer of pathogens from dam to neonatal calf, but a wide range of health benefits associated with extended cow-calf contact has also been documented. The aim of this systematic review was to report and synthesize conclusions from the literature on dairy cow and calf health in conventional rearing versus cow-calf contact systems. Peer-reviewed, published manuscripts, written in English, directly comparing dairy cow or calf health in artificial versus suckling systems, were eligible for inclusion. We conducted 7 targeted searches using Web of Science to identify key literature on important health conditions. The resulting manuscripts underwent a 4-step appraisal process, and further manuscripts were sourced from reference lists. This process resulted in a final sample of 70 articles that addressed cow and calf health. Sufficient literature was available to assess mastitis in cows, and scours, cryptosporidiosis, Johne's disease, pneumonia, immunity, and mortality in calves. The results for cryptosporidiosis, pneumonia, immunity, and mortality were mixed, with some differences between studies likely attributable to flawed comparisons between cohorts. Overall, the articles addressing calf scours and mastitis pointed to beneficial or no effects of suckling. The studies addressing Johne's disease did not find cow-calf contact to be a significant risk factor. In conclusion, the scientific peer-reviewed literature on cow and calf health provides no consistent evidence in support of early separation., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)

Lameness is a serious welfare issue for dairy cows. To date, the majority of studies have focused on its effect on health and behavior at the herd level. The objectives of this study were to identify (1) between-cow and (2) within-cow changes in lying behavior associated with consistent and changing lameness status in grazing dairy cows. Previous studies of lying behavior in grazing dairy cows have not considered the effect of precipitation, so a third aim was to determine the effect of precipitation on lying behavior. A total of 252 dairy cows from 6 pasture-based farms in southern Brazil were gait scored weekly to assess lameness using a 5-point scale [1-5, numerical rating score (NRS)] for 4 consecutive weeks. Cows were considered to have consistent lameness if they were scored as lame (NRS ≥3) on each of the 4 visits and considered to have a changing lameness status if scored as being nonlame (NRS <3) on at least 1 of the 4 visits. Cows classified as having a changing lameness status were further classified as developed, recovered, or inconsistent. Lying behavior (daily lying time, mean lying bout duration, and daily number of lying bouts) was recorded continuously for 3 wk using leg-mounted accelerometers. Cow-level variables included parity, days in milk, and body condition score. Regional precipitation and temperature were recorded hourly. Because only 1 primiparous cow was identified as lame at each of the 4 visits, the between-cow analysis of lameness was run on multiparous cows only. The overall prevalence of clinical lameness on the first visit was 39%, with development and recovery rates of 16 and 10% over the 4 visits, respectively. The between-cow effect of consistent lameness status on daily lying time and number of lying bouts was dependent on precipitation; consistently lame cows had reduced lying time and lying bouts on days with rain compared with days without rain. There was no within-cow effect of changing lameness status on any of the lying behaviors. Precipitation was associated with decreased daily lying time, increased mean lying bout duration, and decreased daily number of lying bouts. The results of this research provide the first evidence that the effect of consistent lameness status on lying behavior is associated with rainfall in grazing dairy cows. Future work measuring lying behavior of grazing dairy cows should include precipitation as a covariate., (Copyright © 2019 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study tested whether separating regrouping from the time of fresh feed delivery mitigated the effects of regrouping on cow behavior and milk production. Cows (n = 26) were individually introduced into a stable group of 11 animals/pen fed twice daily. Animals were randomly assigned to early regrouping (at 0300 h, approximately 10.5 h after fresh feed delivery and 3.5 h before the next fresh feed delivery) and late regrouping (between 0630 and 0730 h, coinciding with access to fresh feed). For 3 d, starting immediately after regrouping, video recordings continuously monitored feeding and perching (i.e., standing with the 2 front feet in the lying stall) behavior and displacements at the feed bunk. Data loggers were used to quantify lying time and the number of standing bouts; milk production was automatically recorded at each milking. Daily feeding and lying times and the number of standing bouts per day did not differ between treatments or experimental days. Daily perching time and the number of displacements at the feed bunk did not differ between treatments but decreased with experimental day. Average milk production on d 2 and 3 after regrouping (30.6 ± 1.5 kg/d) was lower than during the 3 d before regrouping (32.3 ± 1.5 kg/d), but we observed no effect of treatment on this decline. We conclude that regrouping at a time not associated with fresh feed delivery does not mitigate the negative effects of regrouping., (Copyright © 2019 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Separation of calves from cows within hours or days of birth is common on dairy farms. Stakeholders have conflicting perspectives on whether this practice is harmful or beneficial for the animals' welfare and production. Our objective was to critically evaluate the scientific evidence for both acute and long-term effects of early separation versus an extended period of cow-calf contact. The outcomes investigated were the behavior, welfare (excluding physical health), and performance (milk yield and growth, respectively) of dairy cows and calves. Primary research papers were found through targeted Web of Science searches, the reference lists of recent reviews for each topic, and the reference lists of papers identified from these sources. Studies were included if they were published in English, the full text was accessible, and they compared treatments with and without contact between dairy cows and calves for a specified period. Early separation (within 24 h postpartum) was found to reduce acute distress responses of cows and calves. However, longer cow-calf contact typically had positive longer-term effects on calves, promoting more normal social behavior, reducing abnormal behavior, and sometimes reducing responses to stressors. In terms of productivity, allowing cows to nurse calves generally decreased the volume of milk available for sale during the nursing period, but we found no consistent evidence of reduced milk production over a longer period. Allowing a prolonged period of nursing increased calf weight gains during the milk-feeding period. In summary, extended cow-calf contact aggravates the acute distress responses and reduces the amount of saleable milk while the calves are suckling, but it can have positive effects on behaviors relevant to welfare in the longer term and benefit calf growth. The strength of these conclusions is limited, however, given that relatively few studies address most of these effects and that experimental design including timing of contact and observations are often inconsistent across studies. Few studies presented indicators of long-term welfare effects other than abnormal and social behavior of the calves., (The Authors. Published by FASS Inc. and Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)