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Can a prosperous environment improve the welfare of calves?
Date: 2025-11-25Read: 0
Weaning is a critical and stressful stage in the beef cattle production system, especially for calves who interrupt milk in the yard. They face challenges from multiple stressors such as separation from their mother, changes in nutritional sources, establishment of new social groups, and a completely new physical environment. Environmental abundance is defined as the strategy of improving the behavioral expression of biological functions and the ability to cope with challenges in captive animal environments through modifications. Numerous studies have confirmed the benefits of social or physical enrichment (such as providing brushes, ropes, etc.) in dairy calves, such as reducing abnormal behavior and improving social skills. However, there is a significant lack of research on weaned calves in group environments and those who are weaned at an older age. Therefore, the research presented in this article aims to systematically explore whether providing ample environment for calves during weaning in the enclosure can alleviate their stress and have a positive impact on their behavior, physiological indicators, etc.
Materials and Methods
This study selected 48 mixed male and female Angus calves approximately 7 months old, and evenly divided them into 8 groups based on gender, paternal lineage, weight, and other indicators, with 6 calves in each group. Among them, 4 groups are Fengrong groups, and three types of Fengrong objects are installed in their enclosures: a fixed brush, a hanging hemp rope, and a blue and red alternating ball (as shown in Figure 1); The other four groups are the control group and no enrichment items are provided. The experiment was conducted in a enclosure that meets animal welfare standards and is equipped with a video surveillance system to record natural behavior. During the experiment, due to unexpected adverse weather conditions, the original enclosure was muddy and all the calves were reorganized on the 10th day. All the calves in the Fengrong group were merged into a new area, and the control group was the same. This divided the experiment into two stages. Researchers systematically collected and analyzed multiple data points, including physiological indicators such as body weight, fecal cortisol metabolites, and core body temperature; Record behaviors such as standing, lying down, walking, combing with each other, self combing, drinking water, etc. in the column; Attention bias test (briefly presenting a dog as a threatening stimulus in the testing field, observing the calf's vigilance, eating, movement, and other reactions to evaluate anxiety) and new object recognition test (first familiarizing the calf with two identical objects, then replacing one of them with a new object, exploring preference evaluation memory and cognition through it).
Using NordasBehavior Observation Record Analysis System (The Observer XT)Organize the behavioral data (detailed content can be found in Table 2 of the original text). On all test days, behaviors related to objects (such as staring or sniffing objects, as well as interactions with the head or other parts) were measured. During the testing process, each object is defined as novel or familiar based on its position when the calf SC enters the field.
result
The results of this study showed that environmental richness did not significantly affect the physiological indicators of calves, but greatly altered their behavioral patterns, responses in anxiety tests, and cognitive exploration tendencies.
Column behavior
There is a significant interaction between treatment methods and duration, and it was observed that calves treated with ample volume exhibited more mutual grooming behavior over time (Table 1; Figure 2A). Fengrong tends to increase water intake and engage in "other" grooming behaviors (such as grooming on fenced facilities), which also increase over time (Table 1; Figure 2B).
In any treatment group, as the number of days increases, the fighting behavior decreases. Other social interactions, self sorting, and eating also increased over time, but the results of the Fengrong treatment were not significant. Regardless of the treatment group, the calves showed an increase in lying time and a decrease in exercise after the second day (Figure 2C; Table 1).
Attention bias test
Fengrong has no effect on the latency period of losing alertness; However, bulls have a longer incubation period than cows (Figure 3A). The animals tested first have a longer latency period to become non alert compared to the animals tested last.
Compared with the control group of calves, the feeding likelihood of calves in the Fengrong group was lower, the incubation period of bulls was shorter than that of cows, and animals that received testing later had a shorter feeding incubation period than those that received testing earlier (Figure 3B). Mobile latency is often influenced by processing methods, but not by gender or test sequence (Figure 3C).
There were no differences between the calves treated with Fengrong and the control group calves in terms of the time of staring at threatening objects (i.e. dogs and dogs), backward ears, asymmetry, and the number of animals wagging their tails (Table 2). However, animals that received Fengrong treatment spent more time maintaining vigilance, keeping their ears forward, exploring the field, and walking, and also stayed longer near the dog gate and at the far end of the field. On the contrary, the control group calves ate hay for a longer period of time, and the feeding time was also affected by the testing sequence, with later test calves having a longer feeding time. However, the interaction between processing methods and testing sequence is not significant. The asymmetry of bull ears lasted for a short period of time, but gender had no effect on any other measurement behavior (Table 2).
New object recognition test
In the familiarization stage, the processing affected the time spent exploring (sniffing+interacting) objects. The calves in the Fengrong group had less exploration time (Figure 4A), but did not affect the time spent observing objects (Figure 4B).
During the testing phase, compared with the control group, the calves receiving the Fengrong treatment had less interaction with objects (Figure 4C, D), but the treatment method did not affect the calves' fixation time on objects. Regardless of whether they accept treatment or not, calves tend to stare at and interact with new objects more frequently than familiar ones. On the second day and subsequent tests, the interaction between the calf and the object was more frequent than on the first day (Figure 4C, D), and the number of days also affected the observation time of the object. Compared to heifers, bulls observe and interact with objects more frequently, and as the test sequence increases, the animals' exploratory behavior towards objects also increases, but the number of observations of objects does not increase. The processing method has no significant impact, and the impact of testing date or testing order on recognition rate is not significant (Figure 4E) (recognition rate reflects the ratio of time spent exploring new objects to time spent exploring familiar objects). However, gender had a significant impact, with bulls having a higher recognition rate than cows, especially in subsequent tests (Figure 4F).
Overall, providing environmental enrichment measures during weaning in the enclosure changed the behavior of calves, whether in new object recognition tests or attention bias tests. Compared with the control group of calves, the environmental enrichment measures also increased drinking water and mutual grooming behavior in the animal pens. In the future, further research is needed to evaluate the emotional state of these animals, and it is still uncertain whether the results obtained can indicate whether the welfare of calves provided with enrichment measures has been improved or damaged.
References
Dickson, Emily J., et al. “Environmental enrichment during yard weaning alters the performance of calves in an attention bias and a novel object recognition test.” Frontiers in Animal Science 5 (2024): 1364259.
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