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EURCAW Ruminants & Equines has published its response to a question received in relation to space allowance for dairy cows. This service, referred to as Questions to EURCAW (Q2E) is open to Competent Authorities and government policy workers of EU Member States.

This review presents the current knowledge on the concept of environmental enrichment and its different types. The general needs of animals and the current situation of European farming systems are summarized, and a procedure for designing and verifying the efficiency of new enrichments is presented.

In natural habitats, animals receive many stimuli that vary in place and time. In such habitats, they can express a wide range of behaviours that define the species’ “behavioural repertoire”. Farming or captive environments are designed to meet their basic biological needs (e.g. for rest, feeding), but are far less complex than natural habitats. Animals thus may not be able to express some of the behaviours from their repertoire and as a consequence experience boredom. The concept of environmental enrichment refers to a wide range of modifications to the environment of captive or farmed animals that offer adequate stimulation and facilitate the expression of highly motivated behaviour, thereby promoting positive emotions and improving animal welfare. Environmental enrichment can be divided into five (non-exclusive) categories: relational, feeding, occupational, physical and sensory enrichments. A good knowledge of the behaviour and the biology of the species is essential for the design of relevant enrichments. The benefits and drawbacks of enrichments need to be assessed in both short and long term by studying the use of enrichments in terms of occupancy value, the preference and motivation of animals to use them and the impact on welfare. To support positive animal welfare, high quality enrichment that engages animals over a long period of time should be seriously considered.

Male calves of specialised dairy breeds are often considered as a by-product of low economic value. At present, they are either sent to veal farms-often requiring long transportation especially if the country of origin has no established veal sector-, sent to beef production units-with the problem of a low productive performance-, slaughtered at an early age, or euthanized on the farm. The mortality of male dairy calves is higher than that of female ones and that of beef calves. Biological factors can explain only part of the overmortality of male calves. Management factors are assumed to play a determining role, with less care provided to male than to female dairy calves due to their low economic value.

Dans les conditions naturelles, les jeunes ruminants développent un lien privilégié avec leur mère dans les heures qui suivent la naissance, lien qui perdure bien au-delà de l’allaitement. Or, sur les 5,5 millions de jeunes ruminants (veaux, chevreaux et agneaux) qui naissent chaque année en France dans des élevages laitiers, la grande majorité sont séparés de leur mère à la naissance et allaités « artificiellement » au seau. La séparation mère-jeune précoce interpelle les citoyens et certains éleveurs quant au respect du bien-être de l’animal. L’allaitement artificiel des femelles de renouvellement jusqu’au sevrage permet d’assurer, à un coût maitrisé, un développement mammaire optimal et un bon potentiel laitier. Cependant, l’allaitement par les mères ou par des nourrices se développe, principalement en élevage bovin. Ce type d’allaitement entraine généralement des quantités de lait commercialisables moindres, mais la croissance, la santé et le bien-être des veaux sont améliorés. Des questions se posent aussi sur le devenir des jeunes, mâles pour l’essentiel, non conservés pour le renouvellement du troupeau. Ceux-ci quittent généralement l’élevage quelques semaines après la naissance pour être engraissés dans des ateliers spécialisés, voire exportés. Là aussi, afin de répondre aux nouvelles attentes des consommateurs et pallier le faible intérêt économique de ces débouchés, éleveurs et filières recherchent des solutions alternatives telles que l’engraissement à la ferme, de nouveaux modes d’élevage ou de nouveaux débouchés. Ces pratiques alternatives – allaitement naturel ou engraissement sur place des jeunes mâles – pourraient se développer grâce à une identification de leurs produits (lait, viande) et au consentement du consommateur à les payer plus cher que des produits standards.

Séance : Bien-être animal; International audience; Animal behaviour is very sensitive to any external disturbance or change in the animal internal state. We sought to predict and classify a wide range of health, stress and physiological states from daily activity of dairy cow. We had six datasets (total, 122,000 cows*days). The caretakers noted the condition of the cows: illness, oestrus, calving, disturbances (handling, mixing. Cows were equipped with sensors to estimate the duration of activities - eating, resting, in the alleys - from which the activity level was calculated. We modelled the rhythm of activity by the Fourier transform (Harmonics 0 and 1). If the difference between the models obtained during 2 series of 24 h is higher than a certain threshold, there is a strong chance that a particular event has occurred: illness, stress, heat, farrowing. The change takes place before the caretakers spot the event. Next, we applied random forest to attributes describing the 24 h activity series (minimum, maximum, average, autocorrelations...). We correctly classify 99% of the control series (= very rare false positive) and in an episode surrounding a disease or a reproductive event, the probability of correctly classifying at least one series varies from 94 to 100%. Machine learning applied to time series seems therefore a very powerful tool to analyse the behaviour of animals and diagnose its internal state.; Le comportement d’un individu est très sensible à toute perturbation extérieure ou modification de l’état interne. Nous avons cherché à prédire et à classer un large éventail d'états de santé, de stress et d'états physiologiques à partir de l'activité quotidienne de vaches laitières. Nous disposions de six jeux de données (au total 122 000 vaches*jours). Les soigneurs notaient l'état des vaches : maladie, oestrus, vêlage, perturbations (manipulations, mélange). Les vaches étaient équipées de capteurs permettant d’estimer la durée des activités - manger, se reposer, dans les couloirs – à partir desquelles était calculé le niveau d’activité. Nous avons modélisé le rythme d’activité par des transformées de Fourier (Harmoniques 0 et 1). Si l’écart entre les modèles obtenus au cours de 2 séries de 24 h est supérieur à un certain seuil, il y a de fortes chances qu’un événement particulier soit survenu : maladie, stress, chaleurs, mise-bas. Le changement s’opère avant que les soigneurs repèrent l’évènement. Ensuite, nous avons appliqué le random forest à des attributs décrivant les séries d’activité de 24 h (minimum, maximum, moyenne, autocorrélations…). Nous classons correctement 99% des séries témoins (= quasiment pas de fausse alertes) et dans un épisode qui entoure une maladie ou un événement reproductif, la probabilité de classer correctement au moins une série varie de 94 à 100%. L'apprentissage automatique appliqué à des séries temporelles semble donc un outil très puissant pour analyser le comportement des animaux et diagnostiquer son état interne.

Allowing suckling the dam is considered to improve the welfare of calves but separation from the dam at weaning can be highly stressful. We questioned if dairy calves reared with their dam experience more or less stress before and after weaning than calves artificially reared. Cortisol concentration in hair is assumed to reflect stress accumulated over days, weeks or even months. We compared hair cortisol in calves reared or not with their dam. Three groups of 9 calves were used at the INRAE Herbipôle experimental farm: ‘Control’ calves separated from dams immediately after birth and fed with an automatic milk feeder until weaning at 11 weeks of age, ‘Dam’ calves suckled by their dam between morning and evening milking until 11 weeks of age, ‘Mixed’ calves suckled by their dam for 4 weeks then reared as Control calves. Hair samples were taken from each calf's shoulder before weaning (calf age, 60.3 ± 4.3 days) and 30 days after weaning. The hair was washed and dried before cortisol extraction and determination using Salimetrics ELISA kit at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Hair cortisol concentration was lower in Dam calves than in other calves both before weaning (19.9 pg/mg for Dam calves vs. 26.9 pg/mg; P = 0.02) and after weaning (11.2 pg/mg for Dam calves vs. 15.5 pg/mg; P = 0.08). Before weaning, the Dam calves grazed during the day whereas other calves remained in indoor pens. Cortisol increases with activity and should thus be higher in Dam calves if they were as stressed as the other calves. This reinforces the conclusion that calves with their dam are less stress than calves without their dam. During the week following weaning, Dam calves mooed more than other calves, suggesting intense stress, which did not reduce the difference in hair cortisol with other calves. Despite stress at weaning, rearing dairy calves with their dam seems thus to result in less stress than rearing them without the dam.

This chapter presents common aspects applying in all EU Member States and in the UK (since Directive 2010/63/EU was transposed into British law before Brexit), and gives the specifications that apply in each research institute of the SmartCow project., Chapter of the Living Handbook Methods in cattle physiology and behaviour – Recommendations from the SmartCow consortium

Animal welfare is a value of the European Union (EU) enshrined in Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) [1]: "In formulating and implementing the Union's agriculture, fisheries, transport, internal market, research and technological development and space policies, the Union and the Member States shall, since animals are sentient beings, pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals, while respecting the legislative or administrative provisions and customs of the Member States relating in particular to religious rites, cultural traditions and regional heritage." In order to eliminate disparities between laws and regulations of the Member States regarding the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, the EU passed the Directive 86/609/EEC in 1986. This directive aimed at ensuring that animals used for experimental or other scientific purposes are adequately cared for and no unnecessary pain or suffering is inflicted to them. These rules were refined with the adoption of Directive 2010/63/EU [2] in 2010. Directive 2010/63/EU harmonises animal research legislation across EU Member States and ensures high standards of animal welfare in scientific research. Directive 2010/63/EU was transposed into national law in each Member State by 2013 or 2014. Member States, which enacted more rigorous measures to protect experimental animals prior to the introduction of Directive 2010/63/EU, can maintain them as long as they do not hinder EU-wide scientific cooperation and trade. So national legislations to protect animals used for experimental or scientific purposes include EU standards as defined in Directive 2010/63/EU and possibly additional national standards. This chapter presents common aspects applying in all EU Member States and in the UK (since Directive 2010/63/EU was transposed into British law before Brexit), and gives the specifications that apply in each research institute of the SmartCow project. Methods in cattle physiology and behaviour research – Recommendations from the SmartCow consortium 10.5680/ info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Feed intake is important to consider when studying welfare, productivity and efficiency in ruminants, particularly cattle. Over the last decade, several methods for automatic intake recording have been developed. These methods have been described in the chapter on feed and water intake of the present book of methods. Automatic feed bins do not only record feed intake, but also feeding behaviour. The duration of feed bin visits estimated by the Insentec Roughage Intake Control system (Hokofarm, Marknesse, The Netherlands) is highly correlated with that measured by direct observations and with chewing time at the feed bin, recorded by noseband pressure sensors. During a feed bin visit, the animal spends time eating, but may also stand without eating. Therefore, visit duration does not necessarily correspond to eating duration. To estimate eating duration from automatic feed bins which record intake, it is necessary to check that eating duration and feed bin visit duration are linked. We applied the checklist to validate sensor output for the recording of cattle behaviour presented in the present book of method on data from different types of automatic feed bins used to estimate eating time. From this work we specified the procedure of validation of such measurements., Chapter of the Living Handbook Methods in cattle physiology and behaviour – Recommendations from the SmartCow consortium

The Open Science movement aims at ensuring accessibility, reproducibility, and transparency of research. The adoption of Open Science practices in animal science, however, is still at an early stage. To move ahead as a field, we here provide seven practical steps to embrace Open Science in animal science. We hope that this paper contributes to the shift in research practices of animal scientists towards open, reproducible, and transparent science, enabling the field to gain additional public trust and deal with future challenges to guarantee reliable research. Although the paper targets primarily animal science researchers, the steps discussed here are also applicable to other research domains.

Under natural conditions, young ruminants develop a special bond with their dam within few hours after birth. This bond lasts beyond nursing. In France, out of the 5.5 million young dairy ruminants (calves, goat kids and lambs) born each year, the majority are separated from their mothers at birth and “artificially” fed, i.e. they receive milk or milk replacer from buckets. The early separation between the young and its dam questions citizens and some farmers regarding animal welfare. The artificial feeding of replacement females until weaning is a cost-effective practice to ensure an optimal mammary development and a good milk potential. However, suckling by the dams or other nursing females is developing, mainly in cattle dairy farms. Suckling generally results in lower quantities of saleable milk, but growth, health and welfare of calves are improved. The future of the young (mainly males) not kept for herd renewal is also questioning. Young male ruminants usually leave the farm after a few days to be fattened in specialized units in France or exported. Again, in order to meet consumer expectations and to compensate for the low economic interest of these animals, farmers and the sector are looking for alternative solutions such as on-farm fattening, new rearing methods or new markets. These alternative practices – suckling or on-farm fattening of young males – could develop thanks to the identification of their products (milk, meat) and to the consumer's willingness to pay more for them than for the standard products., Dans les conditions naturelles, les jeunes ruminants développent un lien privilégié avec leur mère dans les heures qui suivent la naissance, lien qui perdure bien au-delà de l’allaitement. Or, sur les 5,5 millions de jeunes ruminants (veaux, chevreaux et agneaux) qui naissent chaque année en France dans des élevages laitiers, la grande majorité sont séparés de leur mère à la naissance et allaités « artificiellement » au seau. La séparation mère-jeune précoce interpelle les citoyens et certains éleveurs quant au respect du bien-être de l’animal. L’allaitement artificiel des femelles de renouvellement jusqu’au sevrage permet d’assurer, à un coût maitrisé, un développement mammaire optimal et un bon potentiel laitier. Cependant, l’allaitement par les mères ou par des nourrices se développe, principalement en élevage bovin. Ce type d’allaitement entraine généralement des quantités de lait commercialisables moindres, mais la croissance, la santé et le bien-être des veaux sont améliorés. Des questions se posent aussi sur le devenir des jeunes, mâles pour l’essentiel, non conservés pour le renouvellement du troupeau. Ceux-ci quittent généralement l’élevage quelques semaines après la naissance pour être engraissés dans des ateliers spécialisés, voire exportés. Là aussi, afin de répondre aux nouvelles attentes des consommateurs et pallier le faible intérêt économique de ces débouchés, éleveurs et filières recherchent des solutions alternatives telles que l’engraissement à la ferme, de nouveaux modes d’élevage ou de nouveaux débouchés. Ces pratiques alternatives – allaitement naturel ou engraissement sur place des jeunes mâles – pourraient se développer grâce à une identification de leurs produits (lait, viande) et au consentement du consommateur à les payer plus cher que des produits standards.

Le pâturage des vaches laitières est considéré comme vertueux pour l’environnement et le bien-être des animaux. Néanmoins, le bien-être des vaches n’y est pas toujours optimal, il est donc nécessaire de pouvoir l’évaluer. Or il n’existe pas de protocole validé et adapté à cette évaluation. L’objectif de cette étude était de valider des potentielles mesures de bien- être au pâturage. Six mesures ont été étudiées : quatre à l’échelle individuelle (comportements agonistiques, affiliatifs et délogements des mouches observés en continu 5 min/vache et la distance d’évitement d’un humain au pâturage) et deux à l’échelle du troupeau (attente à l’abreuvoir et réactivité à la manipulation lors du déplacement pour la traite). La reproductibilité inter- et intra-observateurs a été évaluée via l’observation, à deux reprises, de photos et de vidéos, par 5 observateurs entrainés. Les mesures ont ensuite été appliquées à un troupeau de 144 vaches laitières au pâturage (48 vaches pour les mesures individuelles) et répétées à deux jours d’écart et, lors de 7 visites (toutes les 5 semaines), pour tester la répétabilité à court terme et au cours de la saison, respectivement. Les coefficients de corrélation intra-classe (CIC) ou de Kappa (K) ont été calculés pour tester la cohérence entre observateurs ou répétitions. La reproductibilité inter- et intra-observateurs était majoritairement bonne à très bonne (CIC > 0,75 ; K> 0,6). La répétabilité des 4 mesures individuelles était faible à moyenne à court terme et au cours de la saison (CIC< 0,5 ; K< 0,2). Toutes les mesures sont validées en termes de reproductibilité inter- et intra-observateurs. La faible répétabilité des comportements au niveau individuel pose la question de la variation quotidienne de ces comportements probablement du fait de la variabilité de l’environnement. En conclusion, un point unique d’évaluation dans la saison ne suffit pas. Il conviendra donc de déterminer dans quelles conditions les observations doivent être conduites afin de rendre compte de la situation à l’échelle de la saison de pâturage.

Calves in most European dairy farms are separated from their dams either immediately or within a few hours after birth, prompting mounting society concern on animal welfare grounds. The aim of this study was to identify ways to maintain cow–calf contacts that balance the benefits for calf growth and health against the negative impacts on saleable milk and stress at weaning. We tested reuniting cows and calves for 20 min before ( Before group) or 2.5 h after ( After group) morning milking (Trial 1) or for a 9 h period between the morning and evening milkings (Dam group, Trial 2). In both trials, each treatment was applied on a group of 14 dam–calf pairs (7 Holstein [ Ho ] and 7 Montbéliarde [ Mo ]). Control -calves were separated from their dam at birth and artificially suckled with tank milk provided daily at 13% (Trial 1) and 14% (Trial 2) of their body weight. All calves were weaned from the age of 12 weeks at a weight of at least 100 kg. In Trial 1, the After group was prematurely stopped when the calves were 8 weeks of age as calf growth became limited (318 g/d) due to low milk intakes (3 kg/d). Milk yield at the parlour was 29% lower in After-cows compared to Controls (first 8 weeks of lactation). During the first 16 weeks of lactation, milk yield at the parlour was 45% lower in Before-cows and 31% lower in Dam-cows compared to Controlcows. Milk protein content was 2.1 g/kg higher in Before-cows and 1.3 g/kg higher in Dam-cows while milk fat content was 3.2 g/kg higher in Before-cows but 5.2 g/kg lower in Dam-cows compared to Control-cows. There were no significant differences in milk SCC and in frequency of cow and calf health events between suckling and control groups. Compared to Control-calves, calf growth until weaning was higher in the suckling calves in Trial 1 (+171 g/d in Before-calves) and similar in Trial 2 (+7 g/d in Dam-calves). At weaning, Before- and Dam-calves started to vocalize earlier and continued to vocalize longer than controls. In conclusion, the best compromise between cow milk yield and calf growth is a long period of cow–calf contact (9 h) between the morning and evening milkings. Still abrupt weaning nevertheless stresses both cows and calves.

International audience; We collected data on the behaviour of dairy cows in barns, clinical signs of diseases as well as events that may stress or agitate the cows. A Real-Time Locating System gives the position of individual cows every second. The position of the cow is determined by triangulation based on radio waves emitted by a tag fixed on each cow neck collar and captured by antennas in the barn. The cow's activity is inferred from its position: 'eating' if the cow is positioned at the feeding table, 'resting' if the cow is in a resting area (typically cubicles), else 'in alleys'. We aggregated this information to get the time spent in each activity per hour. We also calculated the activity level of the cow for each hour of the day by attributing a weight to the time spent in each activity. For each cow and day, we collected information on health events or other events that may affect behaviour. There were 11 types of events. Six events were linked to health: lameness; mastitis; LPS (i.e. administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the mammary gland, an experimental treatment to induce udder inflammation); subacute ruminal acidosis; other diseases (such as colic, diarrhoea, ketosis, milk fever or other infectious diseases); and accidents (such as retained placenta or vaginal laceration). Two events were linked to reproduction: oestrus and calving. Three events were stress events: animal mixing, disturbance (i.e. mild intervention on animals such as late feeding, alarm test) and marginal management changes (ration changes, fill bed). In addition, a Boolean sums up whether this hour was considered as normal or not. Data contain four datasets. It consists of univariate time series. Each time series corresponds to the hourly activity level of a cow. Datasets 1 and 2 are from the INRAE Herbipôle experimental farm and include data from experiments; datasets 3 and 4 are from commercial farms. They contain data on respectively 28, 28, 30 and 300 cows monitored for 6 months, 2 months, 40 days and one year. The data can be used to study the links between health, reproduction events and stress on the one hand and cow behaviour on the other hand. More specifically, it can be used to build and test tools for an earlier detection of health and disturbances, with a view to inform caretakers so that corrective actions can be rapidly put in place.

International audience