Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows

Crump, Andrew ORCID: 0000-0003-4485-5740, Jenkins, Kirsty, Bethell, Emily J., Ferris, Conrad P. and Arnott, Gareth (2022) Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. ISSN 1088-8705

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Abstract

Pasture access can benefit dairy cows’ behavior, health, and welfare, but herds are increasingly housed indoors full-time. Recent infrared thermal-imaging (thermography) studies suggest that higher eye temperatures may be a physiological indicator of chronic stress. We, therefore, hypothesized that, compared to cows with pasture access, cows housed indoors full-time would have higher eye temperatures. In a two-phase crossover experiment, 29 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows experienced 18 days of overnight pasture access and 18 days of full-time indoor housing. We measured each animal’s eye temperature 16 times (eight/phase). During Phase One, cows with pasture access had higher eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time (contrary to our hypothesis). However, during Phase Two, cows with pasture access had lower eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time. It is, therefore, unclear whether eye temperature reflected disparities in dairy cow welfare between different housing treatments.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/haaw20
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Authors
Divisions:	CPNSS
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology
Date Deposited:	05 Aug 2022 15:09
Last Modified:	18 Apr 2024 01:39
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/115913

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