One of the major challenges in lameness management is prompt detection, especially before visible gait disturbance. This scoping review describes the potential biomarkers for lameness in dairy cows reported in the literature, their relevance in lameness diagnosis, identifying cows at risk of developing claw lesions and monitoring recovery after treatment. Using specific keywords, a comprehensive literature search was performed in three databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect to retrieve relevant articles published between 2010 and 2022. A total of 31 articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria were analysed. The categories of potential markers for lameness reported in the literature included acute phase proteins (APPs), nociceptive neuropeptides, stress hormones, proteomes, inflammatory cytokines and metabolites in serum, urine and milk. Cortisol, APPs (serum amyloid A and haptoglobin) and serum, urinary and milk metabolites were the most studied biomarkers for lameness in dairy cows. While APPs, nociceptive neuropeptides and blood cortisol analyses assisted in elucidating the pain and stress experienced by lame cows during diagnosis and after treatment, evidence-based data are lacking to support their use in identifying susceptible animals. Meanwhile, metabolomic techniques revealed promising results in assessing metabolic alterations occurring before, during and after lameness onset. Several metabolites in serum, urinary and milk were reported that could be used to identify susceptible cows even before the onset of clinical signs. Nevertheless, further research is required employing metabolomic techniques to advance our knowledge of claw horn lesions and the discovery of novel biomarkers for identifying susceptible cows. The applicability of these biomarkers is challenging, particularly in the field, as they often require invasive procedures.

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of shortening the dry period in high-yielding cows of different body condition scores (BCS). We report colostrum and milk quality, some serum metabolites, BCS changes, and some reproductive parameters with measurements being made over the first two months of lactation. Cows were grouped based on the length of the dry period (normal: about 50 d and short: about 28 d) and BCS (moderate: 2.75 to 3.5 and high ≥ 3.5). Short dry period decreased colostrum volume and, in combination with high BCS only, caused a decrease in milk production. Short dry period moderate BCS cows had the highest serum insulin concentration on day 14 after calving and highest glucose concentration on day 28, but neither differed significantly when measured over the whole period. By contrast, short dry period cows had significantly lower concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyrate measured over the whole period. Post-partum loss of BCS was less in short and especially so in the short, moderate BCS group. Following a synchronization protocol at 35 d postpartum. The cows with a short dry period and moderate BCS had lower open days, days to first postpartum estrus and services per conception. It was concluded that short dry periods and moderate BCS had a positive influence on serum metabolites, BCS changes and reproductive parameters.

This article advances historical understandings of health, veterinary medicine and livestock agriculture by examining how, in mid-twentieth-century Britain, the diseases of livestock were made collectively knowable. During this period, the state extended its gaze beyond a few, highly impactful notifiable diseases to a host of other threats to livestock health. The prime mechanism through which this was achieved was the disease survey. Paralleling wider developments in survey practices, it grew from small interwar beginnings into a hugely expensive, wide-ranging state veterinary project that created a new conception of the nation’s livestock as a geographical aggregation of animals in varying states of health. This article traces the disease survey’s entanglements with dairy cows, farming practices, veterinary professional politics and government agendas. It shows that far from a neutral reflection of reality, surveys both represented and perpetuated specific versions of dairy cow health, varieties of farming practice and visions of the veterinary professional role. At first, their findings proved influential, but over time they found it harder to discipline their increasingly complex human, animal and disease subjects, resulting in unconvincing representations of reality that led ultimately to their marginalization.

The research described in this Research Communication addresses the hypothesis that intramammary infections with Streptococcus uberis (S. uberis) are associated with biofilm formation, which limits antibiotic efficacy. This retrospective study investigated biofilm expression and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns of 172 S. uberis infections. Isolates were recovered from milk samples of subclinical, clinical, and intramammary infection cases on 30 commercial dairy herds. We determined the presence and intensity of biofilm expression of S. uberis isolates in vitro in three somatic cell count categories to recognise their AMR patterns. An automated minimum inhibitory concentration system with a commercially available panel of 23 antimicrobial agents evaluated AMR, while biofilm determination was conducted using a microplate method. The study established that all the S. uberis isolates assessed expressed biofilm with the following varying degrees of intensities: 30 (17.8%) strong, 59 (34.9%) medium and 80 (47.3%) weak biofilms. The newly registered UBAC mastitis vaccine containing biofilm adhesion components may, therefore, be a viable option for proactive mastitis management under field conditions. No differences were identified between biofilm intensity and the three somatic cell count groups. Most S. uberis isolates indicated a high-level sensitivity to the antimicrobial agents tested. Resistances were present in 8.7, 8.1 and 7.0% cases to rifampin, minocycline and tetracycline, respectively. Multidrug resistance was observed in 6.4%, emphasising AMR to antibiotics used in human medicine only. The low overall resistance suggests that farmers adhere to the prudent use of antimicrobials in the dairy industry.

The traditional concerns about farm animal welfare have centred around the impact of intensive environments and management practices on the animal. This emphasis on the physical environment is changing, however, with greater consideration being given to animal factors and in particular to the selective breeding of farm animals. In this paper we use examples from our own research on dairy cattle and sheep breeding that have made positive and practical contributions towards reducing welfare problems by creating more balanced breeding programmes. In both examples, inclusion of health and fitness traits into breeding indexes can be shown to be more profitable than selecting on production traits alone. In addition, we propose that in principle animal breeding combined with economics research can make a more general contribution towards resolving animal welfare issues, by providing a framework for the quantitative evaluation of the costs and benefits of an animal production system. The advantage of the approaches currently used in multi-trait selection is that they transform all traits (production-based or welfare-based) to a common currency allowing direct comparisons of costs and benefits. Currently the weights applied to traits reflect their economic value to the producer. This approach is likely to underestimate non-economic welfare aspects such as the pain or discomfort associated with lameness, and new approaches are needed to more fully account for these non-economic welfare costs. We therefore propose that consideration is given to the use of approaches such as contingent valuation, which has been widely used in economics to derive values for non-economic activities. The question of who would pay for the addition of these welfare costs to a breeding index remains open, but it would seem most reasonable to treat these as a public good and pay for them as such through appropriate mechanisms.

Animal-related parameters best fulfil the requirements of a valid welfare assessment, but often they are less feasible than other parameters. Therefore, this paper examines whether animal-based parameters are connected with each other and with environmental factors in order to find out if some can be discarded without loss of information.

Eighty Austrian dairy herds (21-55 Simmental cows) housed in loose-housing cubicles were visited. Housing, management and the human-animal relationship were assessed. Animal-based parameters such as lameness, skin lesions and social behaviour were recorded. For the statistical analysis, Spearman correlation coefficients and regression trees with additional cross-validations for the assessment of the predictive performance of models were calculated.

The animal-based parameters could be explained by environmental variables only around 2/3 (goodness of fit). The calculated regression trees explained 62% of the percentage of lame animals, 58% of leg injuries on the carpal joints and 69% of the agonistic interactions. Leg injuries on the tarsal joints could be explained to quite a high degree (77%). Cross-validated regression trees, however, which are more significant for prediction on farms in excess of this study, accounted for 31% of the total variance of lameness, 44% of the leg injuries on the tarsal joints, 33% on the carpal joints and 25% of the agonistic interactions.

Only a few correlations between animal-related parameters were found: lameness was correlated with leg injuries on the tarsal joints and on the carpal joints. Leg injuries were correlated with each other.

Due to the lack of interrelations between animal-related parameters and the moderate prediction by environmental factors, we do not suggest replacing the investigated animal-related parameters for on-farm welfare assessment in dairy cattle.

There is a need to assess the welfare of dairy cows that live outdoors under cold and wet conditions. This study combined a number of techniques to measure stress and make an assessment of welfare in this situation. Two groups of ten non-pregnant, non-lactating Holstein Friesian cows were exposed to a week of wind and rain (WR) or housed indoors (I) with pre- and post-treatment weeks indoors in a cross-over design. Wind and rain consisted of continual air movement (7.1 kph) using fans, water sprinkling for 15 min (3.0 mm) per hour, a mean temperature of 3.4°C and wind chill of –0.3°C. Internal body temperature was recorded every ten min and behaviour for 16 h per day. Blood, faeces and infrared temperatures were sampled at 0800h each morning during treatment weeks, and three times per week during pre- and post-treatment weeks. All cows were challenged with 2 ml Leptoshield Vaccine (CSL Animal Health, Australia) subcutaneously after 3 days of cold exposure to test immune responses. During WR, cows spent a greater proportion of time standing and less time lying down and eating than during I. Infrared temperatures were lower during WR than I in both dorsal and orbital (eye) regions. There was a distinct diurnal pattern of internal body temperature which had a greater amplitude during WR than I resulting from both a lower minimum and a higher maximum. The time of the minimum was 40 min later for WR than I. The overall mean body temperature was 0.07°C higher in WR than I. There were greater increases in plasma and faecal cortisol during WR than I, respectively. Total T4 was higher during WR than I. Non-esterified fatty acid concentration was higher in the week following WR than I. Total white blood cell numbers were lower during WR than I. No treatment differences were found for creatine kinase or for tumour necrosis factor, heat shock protein 90, interleukin 6 or interferon gamma expression in response to vaccination. In conclusion, this study applied a suite of stress measures to dairy cows exposed to extreme cold and wet conditions. Together, these measures indicated activation of the stress axis, physiological and behavioural adaptations to cold and a reduction in welfare. A number of these measures could be used to assess welfare under cold conditions on farms.

There is a trend toward increasing intensification in dairy farming in the United Kingdom. In particular, there is concern over systems in which cows are housed throughout the year, as the behavioural restriction implicit in these systems is associated with poor welfare in other species. The aim of this on-going project is to determine how this affects the behaviour and welfare of dairy cattle. A range of behavioural, physical and health measures are being used to assess cow welfare on about 40 commercial British dairy farms. Initially, five farm types were identified from analysis of returns from a farmer questionnaire. Milk production level and housing type were the principal factors explaining variation in farm type. The sample groups are: high-, mid- and low-production cubicle-housing units, mid-production straw-court units, and cubicle-housing high-production zero-grazing units. Observations will take place over three winter housing periods (2000/01 to 2002/03), with recording on each unit taking five days. Our main hypothesis is that the behavioural and physical responses of ‘at-risk’ younger cows provide a sensitive indication of farm-level ‘stress’. Cows are marked according to age, and the feed-face videotaped continuously to record feeding time and social interactions. Temporal organisation of behaviour will be analysed using fractal mathematics and qualitative assessment approaches used in a human interaction test. Cow cleanliness, condition score, response to a novel object and the incidences of lameness and leg injury are recorded, and building quality is assessed. Ultimately, multivariate methods will be used to test our underlying hypothesis and to assess effects of housing and production type on behaviour and welfare. This analysis may identify key objective measures of welfare for use in farm assurance schemes.

The Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocols are increasingly used for assessing welfare of farm animals. These protocols are time consuming (about one day per farm) and, therefore, costly. Our aim was to assess the scope for reduction of on-farm assessment time of the WQ protocol for dairy cattle. Seven trained observers quantified animal-based indicators of the WQ protocol in 181 loose-housed and 13 tied Dutch dairy herds (herd size from 10 to 211 cows). Four assessment methods were used: avoidance distance at the feeding rack (ADF, 44 min); qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA, 25 min); behavioural observations (BO, 150 min); and clinical observations (CO, 132 min). To simulate reduction of on-farm assessment time, a set of WQ indicators belonging to one assessment method was omitted from the protocol. Observed values of omitted indicators were replaced by predictions based on WQ indicators of the remaining three assessment methods, resources checklist, and interview, thus mimicking the performance of the full WQ protocol. Agreement between predicted and observed values of WQ indicators, however, was low for ADF, moderate for QBA, slight to moderate for BO, and poor to moderate for CO. It was concluded that replacing animal-based WQ indicators by predictions based on remaining WQ indicators shows little scope for reduction of on-farm assessment time of the Welfare Quality® protocol for dairy cattle. Other ways to reduce on-farm assessment time of the WQ protocol for dairy cattle, such as the use of additional data or automated monitoring systems, should be investigated.

Lameness is one of the most serious health and welfare problems faced by dairy cattle. The aim of this study was to assess how aware Czech farm managers were of this problem. The project was carried out on 14 Czech dairy farms. The proportion of lame cows observed (ie prevalence of moderate and severe lameness) on a farm varied between 9 and 64% while the farm managers’ estimation ranged between 0 and 20%, showing that lameness prevalence was under-perceived by the Czech farm managers. There were no correlations between the farm managers’ estimations and the observed total or severe lameness on each farm. Also, the observed prevalence of lameness did not differ between farms with managers who considered lameness to be a major problem in their herds and managers who did not, although their estimations did differ. The large variation in observed lameness prevalence between farms indicates that there is a large potential for reduction, which must start with increasing the farm managers’ awareness of dairy cow lameness.

Positive stockperson attitudes to his or her animals is associated with a positive behavioural response in the animals and in other indicators assumed to reflect a high level of welfare as well as increased productivity, eg in milk yield. Conversely, negative attitudes have been found to have the opposite effect. However, so far, no attempt has been made to link the attitudes of stockpersons to outcomes of comprehensive protocols assessing animal welfare at farm level. In the study reported here, attitudes of Danish dairy farmers are compared with the on-farm welfare of dairy cows as assessed by the Welfare Quality ® (WQ) protocol. In 35 dairy herds the welfare was assessed, and the farmers filled in a self-report questionnaire on their attitudes to dairy cows and how they should be handled. The farmers on the farms with the lowest total welfare score could, according to the self-report questionnaire, be characterised as those with a negative attitude to the handling of cows (eg less strongly disliked to kick a cow or use a stick, when necessary). As expected, farmer behavioural attitudes regarding different situations correlated: for example, farmers who liked more to work with and have positive interactions with the cows also agreed more on patient handling and the importance of regular positive contact. Furthermore, farms where farmers gave cows a positive characteristic were found to score highly on the WQ principle ‘Appropriate behaviour’.

Increasing lameness problems associated with intensified dairy cattle production has lead to the development of several techniques to automatically detect these problems. Comparisons of these new measuring techniques of cow locomotion with the conventional subjective observer scoring are scarce. In order to better understand human observers’ gait scoring, cows walking on a pressure-sensitive mat were evaluated for kinematic gait variables and a visual assessment of gait was also made via video recording. Forty of these videos were used for subjective gait scoring on a 3-point scale, and the observers were also asked to report any observed abnormalities (lameness indicators) that had influenced their scoring. Relationships between reported lameness indicators and subjective gait scores, between subjective gait scores and measured kinematic variables of cow locomotion and between reported lameness indicators and measured kinematic variables of cow locomotion were investigated. In general, observers based their gait score on reported indicators such as ‘tenderness’, ‘arched back’, ‘irregular gait’ and ‘increased abduction’. All of these four reported lameness indicators were correlated with measured kinematic ‘variables of asymmetry’, ‘stance time’ or both, suggesting that human observers are capable of detecting changes within these lameness indicators as measured by the pressure-sensitive mat. ‘Increased abduction’ appeared harder to detect and was reported more frequently by observers already experienced with gait scoring. Also, the measured kinematic variables of ‘stance time’ and ‘measures of asymmetry between left and right limbs’ as measured by the pressure-sensitive mat, show potential in predicting the gait score given. These reported lameness indicators and measured kinematic variables —mutually correlated and both related to the gait scores — were considered promising for subjective gait scoring in general.

Animal welfare enhancement requires that problems are reliably identified and ranked in order to prioritise corrective actions. Welfare problems vary with the conditions in which animals are maintained. The objectives were to highlight major welfare problems for dairy cows on farms in France, and find out how farm characteristics (housing and milking systems, breed) could impact specific welfare aspects on these farms. We conducted a cross-sectional survey on 131 French dairy farms. We used the Welfare Quality® protocol, which addresses all aspects of welfare, and yields scores for principles and criteria that represent how well farms meet welfare requirements (from 0 for a very adverse situation to 100 for an excellent one). We used descriptive statistics to highlight low welfare scores, and variance analyses to compare farms. Most farms were found ‘Acceptable’ according to the Welfare Quality® classification. Principles scores for Health, Feeding and Behaviour ranged from 33 to 39. The median score for eight of the welfare criteria was below 50 (‘Pain’, ‘Integument alterations’, ‘Diseases’, ‘Comfort around resting’, ‘Social behaviours’, ‘Human-animal relationship’, ‘Positive emotional state’, ‘Hunger’), while the median score was above 50 for the four other criteria (‘Thirst’, ‘Lameness’, ‘Expression of other behaviours’, ‘Ease of movement’). The scores varied widely between farms, within and between systems. Farms with cubicles obtained lower scores for ‘Comfort around resting’, ‘Injuries’; farms with Holstein cows obtained lower scores for ‘Hunger’; farms using an automatic milking system obtained lower scores for ‘Expression of other behaviours’ and ‘Diseases’ in Holstein herds. This survey yields information on bottlenecks in dairy cow welfare with all dimensions of welfare considered together. The results can be used by stakeholders to prioritise corrective actions in welfare plans, focusing either on the whole population of farms or on farms with characteristics that are at high risk for specific welfare problems.

Involuntary culling (IC) is where a cow is disposed of due to injury, poor health or infertility. The main reasons for IC are infertility, mastitis and lameness. These reasons have differing age profiles in when they affect cows, cost variable amounts to treat and have an effect on the value of the cow at market. They also reduce cow welfare in different ways. These factors influence the economically optimum cow replacement decision, which must balance the risks of future loss from the current cow against its future prospects and the net costs of a replacement. So the farmer's economic decision as to when to cull a cow may not occur at the same time as when the cow could, and sometimes should, be culled to maximise her welfare. To explore this dilemma, we developed a Dynamic Programme (DP) model to assess the optimum replacement policies for each of 180 possible cow states (12 parities and 15 milk-yield levels) under a simplified set of alternative husbandry systems and remedial practices. The DP was used to explore the relationships between financial outcomes, investment in improving welfare, lifespan and IC in dairy systems. There is a trade-off between dairy cattle lifespan and risk of suffering over which farmers have some control by the replacement and investment decisions they make. Our results show that improving cow welfare by reducing mastitis, lameness or infertility over the long term increases the mean longevity of the herd and also reduces the potential of long-term suffering resulting from chronic conditions. Additionally, it has the effect of increasing replacement opportunities and the annuities for each cow (£ per cow per year) mainly by increasing milk yield and reducing costly on-farm culls, creating a win-win situation for both farmer and cow.

Maintaining and promoting animal health and welfare are important but challenging goals in livestock farming. Animal health and welfare planning aims to contribute to improvements in the herd through interventions in a structured way. This review provides an overview of current scientific approaches to and improvements achieved by health and welfare planning in dairy herds regarding the health and welfare state of the cows, economic effects, and non-monetary benefits to farmers. Implementation of changes in management and housing is based on an assessment of the health and welfare state and relies on the participation of all involved persons. Farm-specific measures of management and housing, high levels of compliance with those measures, continuous review, and prompt adaptation are decisive. Improvements in health and welfare following the use of planning have been shown by several on-farm studies, especially in the context of mastitis and lameness. Studies on health and welfare planning that consider a more comprehensive view of welfare are scarce and the limited evidence available indicates that improvements may be less likely to be achieved. Apart from health and welfare benefits for the animals, economic and non-monetary benefits for the farmers are equally important. Costs of diseases and impaired health are available, while costs and benefits of interventions have been estimated with regard to mastitis and lameness only. Non-monetary factors (eg job satisfaction) have been reported as motivating factors for farmers but have attracted little scientific interest. Further research should focus on welfare aspects that go beyond the most important production diseases and the economic and non-monetary benefits of improving health and welfare in dairy cattle.

This study sought to investigate whether animal health and welfare state and changes were associated with technical efficiency in a sample of 34 Austrian dairy farms. Health and welfare were assessed twice using the Welfare Quality® (WQ) assessment protocol for dairy cattle. Following a baseline welfare assessment, farm-specific health and welfare planning was conducted on the farms. This included the identification, selection and implementation of measures in housing and management that aimed at improving health and welfare states. One year after implementation, farms were reassessed to evaluate changes in health and welfare states and consequences for farms’ technical efficiency were analysed using the Malmquist index. Our results indicated that farms with a higher health state (WQ principle score ‘Good health’) achieved higher technical efficiencies. However, we could not show that changes in the welfare state within a one-year period affected technical efficiency: across all farms, technical efficiency remained stable and Malmquist indices (indicating efficiency and technological change) could not be explained by the different welfare scores. Nevertheless, our study showed data envelopment analysis to be a valuable method for analysing the relationship between animal welfare and farm success and our results indicate substantial potential synergies between these two aspects.

Despite increased concerns about dairy cattle welfare, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding their welfare and the attitudes of farmers and veterinarians in the Western Balkan region. This is the first on-farm study to address dairy cattle welfare and the attitudes of farmers and veterinarians towards animal welfare in Kosovo. Thirty tie-stall dairy farms across seven Kosovo regions were assessed twice with an interval of 10 to 12 months. During the first visit, the Welfare Quality® assessment protocol was applied, whilst the second visit focused on clinical animal-based indicators and interviews with the farmers regarding intervention thresholds for a number of welfare indicators. Additionally, such thresholds were obtained from 15 veterinarians via an online questionnaire. The main areas of concern that were highlighted relate to comfort around resting (soiling of animals, restriction of lying down movements) and injuries, including lameness. Farmers and veterinarians agreed on the intervention thresholds for the majority of the indicators (eg animals with dirty udders, animals with lesions/swellings) but differences were found for important health and welfare issues (eg farmers suggesting a higher threshold for lameness compared to veterinarians). Compared to the on-farm prevalences, both farmers and veterinarians suggested lower intervention levels for welfare issues indicating an awareness of problems. In conclusion, investments into close co-operation between farmers, veterinarians and other advisors regarding awareness-building and inducing changes in daily management routines are considered necessary to improve dairy cow welfare.

Compost bedded pack barns (compost) as a new free walk housing system favorably influence udder health due to improved animal welfare and lying comfort. On the other hand, unfavorable effects on udder health are possible, due to the open bedded pack and the associated larger bacterial content in moisture. For in-depth farming system comparisons, the present study aimed to evaluate the specific cell fractions and mastitis pathogens in milk from cows kept in compost and in conventional cubical barns (cubicle). For milk sample collection we used a repeated measurement data structure of 2,198 udder quarters from 537 Holstein cows kept in six herds (3 in compost and 3 in cubicle). Differential cell counting was conducted including lymphocytes, macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). Specific mastitis pathogens comprised major and minor pathogens. Mixed models were applied to infer environmental and cow associated effects on cell fractions and on prevalences for pathogen infections, with specific focus on system × lactation stage, system × milk yield and system × somatic cell count effects. The interaction between system and lactation stage showed significant differences (P < 0.01) between the systems. A significantly smaller number of bacteriologically positive quarters and lower prevalences for minor pathogens were detected in compost compared to cubicle. Least squares means for pathogen prevalences indicated a quite constant proportion of bacteriologically negative udder quarters across milk yield levels in compost, but a slight increase with increasing milk yield in cubicle. Cell fraction responses in both systems differed in relation to the overall bacteriological infection status and farming system particularities. In conclusion, different cell fractions and specific mastitis pathogens should be considered as an indicator for udder health in different production systems, taking into account cow associated factors (lactation stage, milk yield).

Supplementing palmitic acid (C16 : 0) in combination with modifying the dietary n-6:n-3 fatty acid (FA) ratio may benefit energy metabolism and milk responses of dairy cows. Twelve Holstein cows (70 (sd 11) days in milk) were used in a replicated 4 × 4 Latin square and allocated to four low-fibre diets (18·5 % forage neutral-detergent fibre) supplemented with no FA (CON), or 2·4 % C16 : 0-enriched supplement (PAL), 2·4 % mixture (2:1) of C16 : 0 and n-6 FA (PW6), and mixture (2:1) of C16 : 0 and n-3 FA (PW3). The dietary ratio of n-6:n-3 was increased with PW6 (10:1) and decreased with PW3 (2·8:1), whereas PAL alone made no change in the ratio (about 7:1). Compared with CON, all FA-supplemented treatments increased milk yield. However, feed and energy intakes were higher in PAL than PW3 or PW6, resulting in greater feed efficiency for PW3 and PW6 than PAL. Dietary FA supplements decreased milk protein concentration but tended to increase protein yield. Compared with CON and FA mixtures, PAL increased milk fat content and tended to increase milk SFA and atherosclerotic index. The concentration of milk n-3 FA was similar between CON and PW3. Feeding PAL increased milk energy output and decreased energy partitioning towards body reserves (−4·2 %), while this measure was positive for other treatments. Blood TAG and NEFA concentrations, but not β-hydroxybutyrate, were increased by FA-supplemented treatments. Feeding C16 : 0 combined with either n-6 or n-3 FA enhanced feed efficiency, alleviated the negative impacts on body energy reserves, but lowering the dietary n-6:n-3 ratio improved the FA profile of milk.

In this Research Communication we address the hypotheses that reduced contact with humans during the first week of life would impair the relationship of dairy calves reared in dam-calf-contact systems to humans in comparison with artificially reared animals, but that this difference would vanish over time. Artificially reared calves (Artificial) that had been separated from their mother within 12 h after birth were bottle-fed with colostrum for 5 d and thereafter sucked milk from an automatic milk feeder. Animals reared with dam-calf contact (Dam-contact) were kept in the calving pen with their dam for 5 d, and then had permanent access to the cow barn and thus to their dam. Calves were weaned at an age of 12 weeks and kept in young stock groups mixed of both treatments until integration into the cow herd. We tested the animals’ relationship with humans by assessing the animals' responses towards an unfamiliar person in an avoidance distance (AD) test in the home environment at 4 weeks of age, at 15 months and at 33 months. In calves, we additionally measured AD in a novel arena after a stationary person test. Artificial animals had lower AD, i.e. showed lower level of fear, than Dam-contact calves. However, the AD in Dam-contact calves decreased with increasing number of days they experienced assistance for suckling. Further, there was no significant difference in later ages. In conclusion, gentle human contact in combination with feeding during the first 5 d of life improved calves' relationship to humans leading to differences between the two treatments as well as within the Dam-contact calves. Potential effects under different conditions regarding quantity and quality of human-animal interactions need further research.