Dataset Information

The Influence of Different Types of Outdoor Access on Dairy Cattle Behavior.

ABSTRACT: Pasture access for dairy cows is highly valued both by cows and the public at large. When pasture access is not feasible, farmers can provide cows with alternative forms of outdoor access, such as an outdoor bedded pack, that may be easier to implement on some farms. We reviewed the literature on how lying, standing, walking, feeding, social, and estrus behaviors are influenced by pasture and other types of outdoor areas. Pasture allows the expression of grazing and can facilitate the expression of lying, standing, walking, and estrus behaviors. In addition, pasture can decrease the number of negative social interactions between cows, likely because more space per cow is provided than what is normally available indoors. The provision of soft flooring and an open space in outdoor bedded packs appears to provide some benefits for lying, standing, and walking behavior and may also have positive effects on social behavior, especially with larger space allowances. The effects of an outdoor bedded pack on estrus behavior are less well-documented, but the provision of a standing surface that provides better footing than typically available indoors may promote estrus behavior. Alternative outdoor areas assessed to date appear to be less attractive for cows than pasture, perhaps because these areas do not provide the opportunity to graze. We encourage future research to investigate the importance of grazing for dairy cows. The motivation of dairy cows to access alternative outdoor areas should also be investigated. As cow preference for the outdoors depends on many factors, providing cows a choice may be of particular importance.

SUBMITTER: Smid AC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7238891 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Influence of Different Types of Outdoor Access on Dairy Cattle Behavior.

Smid Anne-Marieke C AC Weary Daniel M DM von Keyserlingk Marina A G MAG

Frontiers in veterinary science 20200513

Pasture access for dairy cows is highly valued both by cows and the public at large. When pasture access is not feasible, farmers can provide cows with alternative forms of outdoor access, such as an outdoor bedded pack, that may be easier to implement on some farms. We reviewed the literature on how lying, standing, walking, feeding, social, and estrus behaviors are influenced by pasture and other types of outdoor areas. Pasture allows the expression of grazing and can facilitate the expression ...[more]

PMID: 32478110

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Project description:Background The search for quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting traits of interest in mammals is frequently limited to autosomes, with the X chromosome excluded because of its hemizygosity in males. This study aimed to assess the importance of the X chromosome in the genetic determinism of 11 complex traits related to milk production, milk composition, mastitis resistance, fertility, and stature in 236,496 cows from three major French dairy breeds (Holstein, Montbéliarde, and Normande) and three breeds of regional importance (Abondance, Tarentaise, and Vosgienne). Results Estimates of the proportions of heritability due to autosomes and X chromosome (h²X) were consistent among breeds. On average over the 11 traits, h²X=0.008 and the X chromosome explained ~ 3.5% of total genetic variance. GWAS was performed within-breed at the sequence level (~ 200,000 genetic variants) and then combined in a meta-analysis. QTL were identified for most breeds and traits analyzed, with the exception of Tarentaise and Vosgienne and two fertility traits. Overall, 3, 74, 59, and 71 QTL were identified in Abondance, Montbéliarde, Normande, and Holstein, respectively, and most were associated with the most-heritable traits (milk traits and stature). The meta-analyses, which assessed a total of 157 QTL for the different traits, highlighted new QTL and refined the positions of some QTL found in the within-breed analyses. Altogether, our analyses identified a number of functional candidate genes, with the most notable being GPC3, MBNL3, HS6ST2, and DMD for dairy traits; TMEM164, ACSL4, ENOX2, HTR2C, AMOT, and IRAK1 for udder health; MAMLD1 and COL4A6 for fertility; and NRK, ESX1, GPR50, GPC3, and GPC4 for stature. Conclusions This study demonstrates the importance of the X chromosome in the genetic determinism of complex traits in dairy cattle and highlights new functional candidate genes and variants for these traits. These results could potentially be extended to other species as many X-linked genes are shared among mammals. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12864-023-09438-7.

Project description:Our aim was to simultaneously investigate the gut bacteria typical characteristic and conduct rumen metabolites profiling of high production dairy cows when compared to low-production dairy cows. The bacterial differences in rumen fluid and feces were identified by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. The metabolite differences were identified by metabolomics profiling with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The results indicated that the high-production dairy cows presented a lower rumen bacterial richness and species evenness when compared to low-production dairy cows. At the phylum level, the high-production cows increased the abundance of Proteobacteria and decreased the abundance of Bacteroidetes, SR1, Verrucomicrobia, Euryarchaeota, Planctomycetes, Synergistetes, and Chloroflexi significantly (p < 0.05). At the genus level, the rumen fluid of the high-production group was significantly enriched for Butyrivibrio, Lachnospira, and Dialister (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, rumen fluid of high-production group was depleted for Prevotella, Succiniclasticum, Ruminococcu, Coprococcus,YRC22, CF231, 02d06, Anaeroplasma, Selenomonas, and Ruminobacter significantly (p < 0.05). A total of 92 discriminant metabolites were identified between high-production cows and low-production cows. Compared to rumen fluid of low-production dairy cows, 10 differential metabolites were found up-regulated in rumen fluid of high-production dairy cows, including 6alpha-Fluoropregn-4-ene-3,20-dione, 3-Octaprenyl-4-hydroxybenzoate, disopyramide, compound III(S), 1,2-Dimyristyl-sn-glycerol, 7,10,13,16-Docosatetraenoic acid, ferrous lactate, 6-Deoxyerythronolide B, vitamin D2, L-Olivosyl-oleandolide. The remaining differential metabolites were found down-regulated obviously in high-production cows. Metabolic pathway analyses indicated that most increased abundances of rumen fluid metabolites of high-yield cows were related to metabolic pathways involving biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, steroid biosynthesis, ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosynthesis. Most down-regulated metabolic pathways were relevant to nucleotide metabolism, energy metabolism, lipid metabolism and biosynthesis of some antibiotics.

Dataset Information

The Influence of Different Types of Outdoor Access on Dairy Cattle Behavior.

Publications

The Influence of Different Types of Outdoor Access on Dairy Cattle Behavior.

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