Location: Livestock Behavior Research
2023 Annual Report
Objectives
The long-term objective is tightly focused on optimizing animal welfare and productivity under modern farming conditions. The approach is to 1) focus on animal behavior and the cumulative effects of internal biological changes, 2) assess where challenges may exist, 3) develop alternative management strategies, and 4) determine how changes in behavior relate to physiology and productivity. We will focus on the following objectives:
Objective 1: To develop objective measures (physiology, behavior, production) of animal welfare and determine the impact of various production, housing, and environmental conditions; and develop management practices and methods to minimize any deleterious effect on welfare.
1.A. Clarify utility of hair and salivary cortisol as a measure of stress-load and determine its relationship to health and behavior in dairy calves.
1.B. Determine relationships between stress-load and feeding behavior in precision livestock farming.
1.C. Determining the thermal preferences of boars and growing-finishing pigs.
1.D. Evaluating the impact of in utero heat stress on maternal to fetal cortisol transfer.
1.E. To determine if feeding resistant starch to sows prior to farrowing and through lactation affects parturition duration and piglet welfare.
Objective 2: To optimize animal husbandry through the development of best practices to improve animal welfare and productivity.
2.A. Colostrum management practice and early-life morbidity and mortality demographic differences between purebred dairy and dairy-beef crossbred calves.
2.B. Improving Holstein dairy calf post-weaning growth performance and stress resilience through the provision of supplemental L-glutamine in milk replacer.
2.C. Improving environmental enrichment for pigs: learning, age specificity and worth.
2.D. Determine the impact of photoperiod on development of diurnal rhythmicity and welfare in pigs.
2.E. Improving piglet survivability and sow welfare through microenvironment management using precision technology.
2.F. To determine if a nesting environment can be simulated in a farrowing stall to increase sow and piglet welfare.
2.G. Cecal microbiota transplantation to reduce aggression in laying hens.
2.H. Determine if thermal perches reduce cold stress in caged laying hens.
2.I. Dietary synbiotic supplements to increase skeletal health and prevent lameness in broilers.
Approach
Our approach is novel and challenging, but our long-term strategy is to systematically address our goals of developing tools that can objectively assess animal welfare while concurrently developing welfare friendly production practices. The long-term objective is tightly focused on contemporary issues and thus is designed to optimize animal welfare and productivity under modern farming conditions. The approach is to 1) focus on animal behavior and the cumulative effects of internal biological changes, 2) assess where challenges may exist, 3) develop alternative management strategies, and 4) determine how changes in behavior relate to physiology and productivity.
Progress Report
Sub-objective 1.A. Clarify utility of hair and salivary cortisol as a measure of stress load and determine its relationship to health and behavior in dairy calves. All data collection from Sub-objective hypothesis 1.A.1. has been completed. Additionally, data collection from Sub-objective hypothesis 1.A.2. has been completed 12 months ahead of schedule. All laboratory work for this sub-objective has been completed and data are currently being analyzed.
Sub-objective 1.C. Determining the thermal preferences of boars and growing-finishing pigs. All data collection for Sub-objective hypothesis 1.C.1. has been completed, the data have been analyzed, and a manuscript was prepared and accepted for publication in a peer reviewed journal. It was determined that overall, boars preferred a temperature range of 24.10 to 26.90 °C and that breed (Duroc, Landrace, Yorkshire) had no impact on the thermal preferences of boars. In addition, data collection for Sub-objective hypothesis 1.C.2. was completed 12 months ahead of schedule and data are currently being analyzed.
Sub-objective 1.D. Evaluating the impact of in utero heat stress on maternal to fetal cortisol transfer. All data collection has been completed. Laboratory samples are currently being analyzed and animal observational data have been entered and are being analyzed.
Sub-objective 2.A. Colostrum management practice and early-life morbidity and mortality demographic differences between purebred dairy and dairy-beef crossbred calves. All data collection has been completed and data are currently being analyzed.
Sub-objective 2.C. A pilot study was carried out to determine best enrichment objects for full study. Replicate 1 of full study was carried out in March 2023. Replicate 2 will be completed by September 2023. Data have not been fully collected and analysis has not yet begun.
Sub-objective 2.F. To determine if a nesting environment can be simulated in a farrowing stall to increase sow and piglet welfare. All data have been collected and analyzed. A manuscript was written and has been submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. For this sub-objective, it was determined that providing sows with mock nesting materials prior to farrowing alleviated physiological and behavioral signs of sow stress around the time of birth, as demonstrated by decreased stress hormones and decreased frustration behaviors. Additionally, adding a simulated nest to the farrowing crate improved piglets’ growth up to day 7 of age, improved piglet immune response, and improved the ability of piglets to maintain their body temperature. This Sub-objective was completed 24 months ahead of schedule.
Sub-objective 2.G. Cecal microbiota transplantation to reduce aggression in laying hens. A study was carried out to examine the effects of cecal microbiota transplantation on injurious behaviors in laying hens. The chicks received cecal contents from the gentle donors that exhibited less aggressive behaviors and less feather pecking when compared to the chicks that received cecal contents from the aggressive donors. It is likely that the transferred beneficial bacteria colonized and released bioactive factors in the recipients’ intestinal tract, consequently, regulating the brain function via the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Data were collected and analyzed, and three peer-reviewed manuscripts were published in the journal of Poultry Science and the Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology. The milestone for this rating period has been completed.
Sub-objective 2.H. Determine if thermal perches reduce cold stress in caged laying hens. A study was carried out testing if warmed perches reduce cold stress in laying hens. Birds were allowed free access to warmed perches (treated group) and cold perches (control group) under cold ambient conditions. The tested birds roosted on the perches more often than control birds. Some data have been collected and analyzed and one peer-reviewed manuscript was published in the Journal of Poultry Science. The milestone for this rating period has been completed.
Accomplishments
1. Development and public distribution of a smartphone application (HotHog) designed to assist producers with environmental management of pigs. Climate change has increased the frequency and severity of global heat stress events, which threatens the profitability and sustainability of pig production both in the U.S. and globally. Pigs are particularly sensitive to the negative effects of heat stress with deleterious impacts on health, productivity, and welfare reported. Pig producers use several commercially available cooling technologies to mitigate heat stress but need to know when to deploy them. To address this concern, ARS researchers at West Lafayette, Indiana, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Illinois and Purdue University developed a decision support tool to predict thermal comfort and stress in pigs that was integrated within a smartphone app called HotHog. HotHog can identify temperatures that modern pigs find to be cool, comfortable, warm, mild heat stress, moderate heat stress, and severe heat stress. The app is freely available to the public for iOS and Android through either the Apple App Store or Google Play. HotHog will allow swine producers to more effectively manage their herds to improve pig comfort and reduce the negative effects of heat stress on pig health, productivity, and welfare.
2. Identified a nutritional supplement (L-glutamine) to improve dairy calf health, productivity, and welfare and reduce reliance on antibiotics. Intestinal disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal female dairy calves with a majority of calf deaths occurring as a result of diarrhea or other digestive problems. Dairy producers often must treat calves with antibiotics due to disease onset in order to improve health, growth performance, and welfare. Increased use of antibiotics may contribute to antibiotic resistance, which threatens both livestock and human health. ARS researchers in West Lafayette, Indiana, in collaboration with researchers from Purdue University, evaluated the effectiveness of L-glutamine on improving dairy calf intestinal health and physiological stress response. Results indicated that L-glutamine was effective in improving intestinal health, physiological stress, and immune function. Thus, supplementation of dairy calves with L-glutamine may reduce intestinal disease in neonatal dairy calves and decrease antibiotic use in livestock production, which may reduce antibiotic resistance in the environment.
3. Reduced injurious behavior in laying hens through cecal microbiota transplantation. Severe feather pecking and cannibalism occur in all current housing environments and lead to approximately 25% mortality in commercial laying hens. This causes vast economic losses (>$15 million annually). Beak trimming is a common practice in the poultry egg industry that prevents these injurious behaviors. However, beak trimming is a painful procedure for hens. ARS researchers at West Lafayette, Indiana, in collaboration with researchers from Purdue University, investigated whether transplanting cecal bacteria from genetically selected less aggressive donor hens to normal recipients would reduce injurious behavior in the recipient hens. It was determined that the cecal microbiota transplantation was effective in reducing injurious behaviors and improved intestinal health, immunity, and physiological stress. The current results are expected to provide a scientific basis for developing next-generation probiotics and/or neurochemicals that interact with the Gut-Brain Axis to alter hen behavior and reduce injurious feather pecking.
4. Improved sow welfare with novel nutritional environmental enrichment. Aggression can occur when sows are mixed in groups resulting in fighting, injuries and possible pregnancy losses. This increases veterinary costs to treat injured sows and reduces sow productivity. Nutritional supplements used as environmental enrichment may decrease sow aggression in group housing within US production systems, as demonstrated in other countries. ARS researchers in West Lafayette, Indiana, evaluated whether a sow block enrichment device, made primarily of beet pulp and molasses, would impact post-mixing behavior and welfare in group housed pregnant sows. Provision of the sow blocks improved sow welfare by reducing aggressive behavior, and physiological and behavioral indicators of stress, and improved sow cleanliness. As the U.S. swine industry moves towards group housing of sows, management tools to decrease post-mixing aggression (i.e., environmental enrichment) will positively impact sow welfare and alleviate producer concerns about reduced productivity and financial loss.
Review Publications
Barabas, A.J., Soini, H.A., Novotny, M.V., Lucas, J.R., Erasmus, M.A., Cheng, H., Palme, R., Gaskill, B.N. 2023. Assessing the effect of compounds from plantar foot sweat, nesting material, and urine on social behavior in male mice, Mus musculus. PLOS ONE. 17(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276844.
Fu, Y., Hu, J., Erasmus, M.A., Zhang, H., Johnson, T.A., Cheng, H. 2023. Cecal microbiota transplantation: Unique influence of cecal microbiota from divergently selected inbred donor lines on cecal microbial profile, serotonergic activity, and aggressive behavior of recipient chickens. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology. 14(1)Article 66. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-023-00866-9.
Johnson, J.S., Wen, H., Freitas, P.F., Maskal, J.M., Hartman, S.O., Byrd, M.K., Graham, J.R., Ceja, G., Tiezzi, F., Maltecca, C., Huang, Y., Dedecker, A., Schinckel, A.P., Brito, L.F. 2023. Evaluating phenotypes associated with heat tolerance and identifying moderate and severe heat stress thresholds in lactating sows housed in mechanically or naturally ventilated barns during the summer under commercial. Journal of Animal Science. 101. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skad129.
McConn, B., Schinckel, A.P., Robbins, L., Gaskill, B.N., Green-Miller, A.R., Lay, D.C., Johnson, J.S. 2022. A behavior and physiology-based decision support tool to predict thermal comfort and stress in non-pregnant, mid-gestation, and late-gestation sows. Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology. 13. Article 135. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-022-00789-x.
Sinclair, M., Lee, N.Y., Hötzel, M.J., de Luna, M.C., Sharma, A., Idris, M., Islam, M.A., Iyasere, O.S., Navarro, G., Ahmed, A., Curry, M., Burns, G.L., Marchant, J.N. 2022. Consumer attitudes towards egg production systems and hen welfare across the world. Frontiers in Animal Science. 3. Article 995430. https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2022.995430.
Chou, J., Marchant, J.N., Nalon, E., Huynh, H., van de Weerd, H.A., Boyle, L.A., Ison, S.H. 2022. Investigating risk factors for behind piglet facial and sow teat lesions through a literature review and a survey on teeth reduction. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 9. Article 909401. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.909401.
Raber, V.L., Pritchett, R.K., Robbins, L.A., Stewart, K.R., Gaskill, B.N., Green-Miller, A.R., Johnson, J.S. 2023. Evaluating the temperature preferences of sexually mature Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire boars. Translational Animal Science. 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txad060.
Ceja, G., Boerman, J.P., Neves, R.C., Jorgensen, M.W., Johnson, J.S. 2023. L-glutamine supplementation reduces gastrointestinal permeability and biomarkers of physiological stress in preweaning Holstein heifer calves. Journal of Dairy Science. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2023-23334.
Sinclair, M., Hotzel, M.J., Lee, N., De Luna, M.C., Sharma, A., Idris, M., Islam, M.A., Iyasere, O., Navarro, G., Ahmed, A., Burns, G.L., Curry, M., Marchant, J.N. 2023. Animal welfare at slaughter: perceptions and knowledge across cultures. Frontiers in Animal Science. 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fanim.2023.1141789.
