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Associations between cow-level parameters and heart rate variability as a marker of the physiological stress response in dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2022

Andrea Frei ,
Neil P. Evans ,
George King ,
Conor G. McAloon  and
Lorenzo Viora
Andrea Frei
Affiliation:
Scottish Centre for Production Animal Health and Food Safety, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Bearsden Road, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
Neil P. Evans
Affiliation:
Institute for Biodiversity Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
George King
Affiliation:
Scottish Centre for Production Animal Health and Food Safety, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Bearsden Road, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
Conor G. McAloon
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, D04 W6F6, Ireland
Lorenzo Viora*
Affiliation:
Scottish Centre for Production Animal Health and Food Safety, School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Bearsden Road, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Lorenzo Viora, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

To maintain and enhance cow productivity and welfare, it is important that we can accurately assess and understand how cows respond to the physiological demands of gestation and lactation. Several methods have been developed for assessing the physiological responses to stressors and for detecting distress in cattle. Heart rate (HR) variability (HRV) is a non-invasive measure of autonomic nervous system activity and consequently a component of the physiological response to stress. In cattle, HRV has been successfully used to measure autonomic responses to a variety of health conditions and management procedures. The objectives of this study were to determine whether, among commercial Holstein Friesian cows and across farms, relationships exist between cow-level factors, HR and HRV. HRV parameters were compared with production records for 170 randomly selected, Holstein-Friesian-cows on 3 commercial dairy farms. Production data included parity, days in milk (DIM), milk yield, somatic cell count (SCC), % butterfat and protein, body condition score (BCS) and genetic indices. Fixed-effect, multivariable linear regression models were constructed to examine the association between cow-level variables and HRV parameters. Statistically significant relationships were found between HR and farm, temperature and BCS, and between HRV parameters and farm, rectal temperature, BCS, DIM, and percentage butterfat. Given the significant association between farms and several of the indices measured, it is recommended that care must be taken in the interpretation of HRV studies that are conducted on animals from a single farm. The current study indicated that within clinically normal dairy cattle HRV differed with the percentage of butterfat and BCS. Based on the relationships reported previously between HRV and stress in dairy cattle these results suggest that stress may be increased early in lactation, in cows with BCS <2.75 that are producing a high percentage of butterfat milk. Future work could focus on the physiological mechanisms through which these factors and their interactions alter HRV and how such physiological stress may be managed within a commercial farm setting.

Keywords

Cow-level factorsheart rate variability
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 89 , Issue 3 , August 2022 , pp. 265 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hannah Dairy Research Foundation

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Footnotes

*

Current address: Lois Bates Acheson Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University, Corvallis, USA.

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