Importing beef cattle from France into Italy is a time of intensive stress for the animals, followed by a gradual adaptation to the facilities and management of the new herd. The first few days, characterized by the arrival at the facility, prove to be very stressful as the animals are subjected to a rapid change in their social conditions, and housing and feeding systems, which can negatively affect the animal's welfare status and performance. This study aimed at studying the drinking behavior and the individual water intake as possible indicators of the animal welfare of beef cattle in order to produce useful information for improving the health and welfare of cattle during the adaptation period. The experimental trial was carried out between May 2021 and December 2022 at a commercial beef farm in the province of Padua, considering a total of 93 Limousine beef cattle belonging to 6 different batches of animals. After their arrival from France, the animals were housed in a receiving pen for about 40 days, within which a prototype of an individual drinking station was installed. This allowed to register automatically a number of parameters such as: individual water intake, drinking time and number of daily visits at the drinker. In addition, the health status of the animals was monitored daily by the farmer, who recorded all medical treatments throughout the adaptation period. The data analysis was oriented toward testing whether a drop in the individual water intake or the presence of specific changes in drinking behavior may be early indicators of poor animal welfare and health status of the beef cattle. The analysis reveals a significant disparity in daily water intake throughout the entire experimental period among animals subject to two or more treatments versus those treated once or not at all. Additionally, animals with repeated treatments consume less water than those without over the 15-week observation period, as evidenced by the consistent reduction in the total time spent drinking. When taking into account the distance from treatment, the quantity of daily visits to the drinking trough varies notably on the day prior to treatment. Simultaneously, the total water consumption gradually decreases in the four days prior to treatment, with the day before displaying the lowest consumption when compared to the days when the animals were in good health. It has been determined that this drinking behaviour detection system in beef cattle have the capability to detect respiratory illnesses early, which could potentially improve production performance and anticipate the onset of clinical symptoms.
L’importazione di bovini da carne in Italia, provenienti dalla Francia, rappresenta per gli animali un momento di stress intenso al quale segue un graduale adattamento alle strutture e alla gestione del nuovo allevamento. I primi giorni, caratterizzati dall’arrivo in struttura, si rivelano infatti stressanti per gli animali poiché sottoposti ad un rapido cambiamento delle condizioni sociali, della stabulazione e dell’alimentazione, che potrebbe influire negativamente sul loro stato di benessere e sulle loro prestazioni. Questo studio ha avuto l’obbiettivo di studiare il comportamento di abbeverata e il consumo individuale di acqua come possibili indicatori del livello di benessere di bovini da carne, al fine di produrre informazioni utili per migliorare la salute e il benessere dei bovini durante il periodo di adattamento. La prova sperimentale è stata condotta tra Maggio 2021 e Dicembre 2022 presso un’azienda commerciale di bovini da carne della provincia di Padova prendendo in considerazione 93 bovini da carne di razza Limousine appartenenti a 6 diverse partite di animali. Dopo l’arrivo dalla Francia, i bovini sono stati stabulati in un box di adattamento sito all’esterno dell’unità di finissaggio per circa 40 giorni, all’interno del quale è stato installato un prototipo di stazione di abbeveraggio individuale. Questo ha permesso di registrare in modo automatizzato una serie di parametri quali: il consumo di acqua individuale, il tempo di abbeverata e il numero di visite giornaliere. Lo stato di salute degli animali è stato monitorato giornalmente dall’allevatore, il quale registrava quotidianamente i trattamenti medici effettuati durante l’intero periodo di adattamento. L'analisi dei dati è stata orientata a verificare se un calo nell'assunzione di acqua individuale o la registrazione di cambiamenti specifici nei comportamenti di abbeverata potessero essere indicatori precoci di uno scarso benessere e stato di salute degli animali. Dalla seguente analisi abbiamo potuto constatare che, in relazione alla frequenza dei trattamenti, c'è una differenza significativa nel consumo giornaliero di acqua durante l'intero periodo di prova tra gli animali sottoposti a due o più trattamenti rispetto a quelli non trattati o trattati una sola volta. Anche il tempo complessivo che gli animali dedicano ad abbeverarsi è costantemente inferiore per quelli trattati più volte rispetto agli altri durante tutte le 15 settimane di osservazione. Considerando, invece, la distanza dal trattamento, il numero giornaliero di visite all’abbeveratoio varia significativamente il giorno che precede il trattamento. Contestualmente, si registra una graduale diminuzione nel consumo totale di acqua nei quattro giorni antecedenti il trattamento, in particolare il giorno prima, che rappresenta il momento di minimo consumo rispetto ai giorni in cui gli animali erano sani. Si è concluso che questi sistemi di rilevazione del comportamento di abbeverata dei bovini da carne sembrano in grado di individuare precocemente le malattie respiratorie, anticipando la manifestazione dei sintomi clinici e migliorandone, potenzialmente, le performance produttive.
Consumo d'acqua individuale e comportamento di abbeverata come possibili indicatori di benessere di bovini da carne durante la fase di adattamento dopo l'arrivo dalla Francia
MARCON, CATERINA
2022/2023
Abstract
Importing beef cattle from France into Italy is a time of intensive stress for the animals, followed by a gradual adaptation to the facilities and management of the new herd. The first few days, characterized by the arrival at the facility, prove to be very stressful as the animals are subjected to a rapid change in their social conditions, and housing and feeding systems, which can negatively affect the animal's welfare status and performance. This study aimed at studying the drinking behavior and the individual water intake as possible indicators of the animal welfare of beef cattle in order to produce useful information for improving the health and welfare of cattle during the adaptation period. The experimental trial was carried out between May 2021 and December 2022 at a commercial beef farm in the province of Padua, considering a total of 93 Limousine beef cattle belonging to 6 different batches of animals. After their arrival from France, the animals were housed in a receiving pen for about 40 days, within which a prototype of an individual drinking station was installed. This allowed to register automatically a number of parameters such as: individual water intake, drinking time and number of daily visits at the drinker. In addition, the health status of the animals was monitored daily by the farmer, who recorded all medical treatments throughout the adaptation period. The data analysis was oriented toward testing whether a drop in the individual water intake or the presence of specific changes in drinking behavior may be early indicators of poor animal welfare and health status of the beef cattle. The analysis reveals a significant disparity in daily water intake throughout the entire experimental period among animals subject to two or more treatments versus those treated once or not at all. Additionally, animals with repeated treatments consume less water than those without over the 15-week observation period, as evidenced by the consistent reduction in the total time spent drinking. When taking into account the distance from treatment, the quantity of daily visits to the drinking trough varies notably on the day prior to treatment. Simultaneously, the total water consumption gradually decreases in the four days prior to treatment, with the day before displaying the lowest consumption when compared to the days when the animals were in good health. It has been determined that this drinking behaviour detection system in beef cattle have the capability to detect respiratory illnesses early, which could potentially improve production performance and anticipate the onset of clinical symptoms.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/59106