Indoor Housing Systems Research Articles

The behaviour of housed dairy cattle with and without pasture access: A review

With more dairy cows being housed indoors, for at least part of the year, it is important to understand how housing impacts on ‘normal behaviour’ and the implications for cow welfare. For cows on pasture, nutritional requirements and climatic conditions are the major concerns, whilst indoor housing systems can restrict natural behaviours and reduce health as incidences of lameness and mastitis increase. When given a choice to be at pasture or in cubicle housing, studies have shown that time of day, season, and where feed is provided can influence preference. Previous experience also had a big effect on pasture preference: the longer calves/heifers/cows were reared without experience of pasture the stronger their preference for housing. The ontogeny of grazing also requires pasture experience i.e. the instinctive foraging behaviour of calves is to suckle and they have to learn through experience how to graze. These results raise the question: if cattle are to be housed for part of the year, would it be better to house them continuously? Other results would suggest not, as there are clear production, health and welfare benefits to pasture access. Cows at pasture had lower levels of lameness and mastitis, and cows with free access to pasture and indoor housing also produced more milk than those continuously housed. Approximately half of this extra milk was attributed to grass intake, and increased lying, improved comfort and/or lower stress probably accounted for the rest. Although incorporating free access between housing and pasture is difficult on many farms, it is postulated that developments in precision livestock farming offer the potential to provide a technological solution to this problem. These research findings could be used as the basis to design novel, adaptive housing that responds to cow behaviour. The aim would be to incorporate the best aspects of pasture with the best aspects of housing to provide an environment that meets the needs of the cows all year around.

Dairy cows value access to pasture as highly as fresh feed

Many dairy cows in the developed world are now housed exclusively indoors with fewer than 5% of the 10 million lactating cows in the United States having access to pasture during the grazing season. Indoor housing systems are designed to meet biological needs for food, water, hygiene, and shelter, but surveys of public and farmer opinion suggest that people think that pasture access is also important for the well-being of dairy cows. To determine if pasture access is important to the cows themselves, we investigated to what extent cows will work to access pasture (by pushing on a weighted gate), and compared it to the motivation to access fresh feed. Cows worked at least as hard to access pasture as they did to access the fresh feed and worked hardest for outdoor access in the evening hours. Echoing public views on what allows for a good life for cattle, these results show that cows are highly motivated for outdoor access.

The Effects of Components of Grazing System on Welfare of Fattening Pigs.

The objective of this study was to clarify the most effective component of grazing for improving welfare of fattening pigs. This study compared welfare indicators of 20 fattening pigs aged 100 to 124 days (the prior period) and 138 to 164 days (the latter period) in an indoor housing system (IS), an outdoor pasturing system (OP), a concrete floor paddock system (CF), a concrete floor paddock system with fresh grass (FG), or a soil floor paddock system (SF). The last three treatments include important components of a grazing system: extra space, grass feed, and soil floor. Behavior, wounds on the body, and performances, measured as average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion ratio, were observed. CF pigs behaved similarly to IS pigs. FG pigs showed higher levels of foraging, chewing and activity. SF pigs engaged in higher levels of foraging, exploring, activity, and rooting, and showed a similar amount of playing behavior as OP pigs. ADG was the same in all treatments at the prior period, and increased in the order FG, IS, CF, SF, and OP at the latter. The behaviors and performance of SF pigs resembled those of OP which seemed to indicate a consistently higher standard of welfare than the other treatments. In conclusion, the existence of a soil floor is the most important component of a pasture for improving the welfare of pigs.

Fattening performance and carcass characteristics of Akkaraman lambs in different housing systems

This study was carried out to determine the fattening performance, body measurements, and slaughter and carcass characteristics of Akkaraman lambs fattened under indoor and outdoor housing systems. Fourteen Akkaraman lambs were used for the current study. Lambs were less than 3 months of age having about 20 kg live weight, and fed concentrated feed ad libitum together with 150 g of dehydrated alfalfa per day for 8 weeks. The daily live weight gain of Akkaraman sheep in the indoor housing system was 313 g while this value was 277 g a day in the outdoor housing system (P0.05), respectively. The differences between the housing systems in terms of total chest depth increase, chest depth and total body length increase were statistically significant (Pics were statistically significant. Also, the pH, hardness and color values as L*, a*, b*, H* and C* at 24 h after slaughter were determined.

Biochemical characterization of meat of Calabrese × Large White pig reared in outdoor or indoor housing system: preliminary results

This work reports some results concerning protein and lipid profiles of pork from 12 subjects of Calabrese Ancient Local Genetic Type (ALGT) × Large White (LW) crosses reared in outdoor or indoor housing system. Aim of this paper is to examine the effect of two housing systems on protein and lipid profiles. Analysis of the proteome of the water soluble fraction (sarcoplasmic) was carried out on meat samples obtained from muscle Caput Longum Tricipitis Brachii (CloTB). The analysis covered a total of 12 samples and 24 two-dimensional gel electrophoresis maps (2 for each sample), which were digitized for subsequent image analysis and used for spot identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The comparison of 24 two-dimensional maps was performed by Image Master 2D-Platinum software in order to establish the relative intensity, expressed as vol%, of each spot for each gel. Image analysis produced 12 common spots in all maps analyzed. The housing system did not influence the relative abundance (vol%) of 12 spots detected. These proteins, identified by peptide mass fingerprint, are grouped according to their biological function as metabolic, cellular defense and transport protein. Inter and intra-muscular fatty acid profiles of CloTB was determined by gaschromatography. No significant differences for the fatty acids content were observed between the two housing systems suggesting that intrinsic factors, such as the genetic asset, may be more important than extrinsic factors.

Inter-observer reliability of Qualitative Behavioural Assessments of sheep

Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) is whole-animal methodology that assesses the expressive qualities of animal demeanour using descriptors such as ‘relaxed’, ‘anxious’ or ‘content’. This study aimed to examine the inter-observer reliability of 12 fixed-list QBA descriptors for sheep that had been generated in a previous Free-Choice Profiling study by experienced animal welfare inspectors, based on the same video footage used in the current study. The 12 QBA terms were scored by two different assessor groups consisting of two veterinary science students and four veterinary surgeons (Group 1), and seven farm assurance inspectors (Group 2). The two assessor groups met and received training on different dates, and viewed the same 12 video clips of sheep showing a wide range of behavioural expressions in varying indoor and outdoor situations and housing systems. For each clip assessors scored the sheep expressions on each of the 12 QBA terms using a Visual Analogue Scale. Principal Component Analysis (covariance matrix, no rotation) was used to analyse assessor scores, both for Groups 1 and 2 separately, and together in one all-assessor group. All three analyses identified that over 70% of variance in sheep expression was described by two main components. For the all-assessor analysis the first Principal Component (PC1, 49% of variation) ranged from ‘content/relaxed/bright’ to ‘distressed/dejected/tense’, while PC2 (31%) ranged from ‘agitated/responsive/anxious’ to ‘dull/dejected/relaxed’. The 2 Principal Components identified by Groups 1 and 2 when analysed separately, were highly similar. The level of agreement between assessors in each group was evaluated using Kendall's coefficient of concordance (W). This produced W values of 0.83 (PC 1) and 0.84 (PC 2) for the all-assessor group, values of 0.90 (PC 1) and 0.86 (PC 2) for Group 1, and of 0.78 (PC 1) and 0.91 (PC 2) for Group 2. All values were significant at P<0.001. These results indicate that two trained assessor groups achieved high levels of inter-observer agreement using a list of 12 pre-fixed QBA terms developed for sheep. This study is the first to investigate QBA as a tool for assessing sheep behavioural expression, and its results support further exploration of the feasibility and validity of applying this method to the assessment of sheep welfare.

The influence of feed and herd on fatty acid composition in 3 dairy breeds (Danish Holstein, Danish Jersey, and Swedish Red)

The composition of milk fat from dairy cows is related to both genetic and environmental factors. Here, the effect of feed and herd was examined in 3 Scandinavian breeds, namely Danish Holstein-Friesian (DH), Danish Jersey (DJ), and Swedish Red (SR). In total, milk samples from 1,298 cows kept in indoor housing systems were collected from 61 conventional dairy herds in Denmark and Sweden. The fatty acid (FA) composition of milk was determined by gas chromatography and the content of α-tocopherol by HPLC. Based on the 17 individual FA determined, distinct FA profiles were observed for all breeds using univariate and multivariate statistics. The DJ cows were characterized by higher levels of saturated short-chain FA; in contrast, DH cows had higher content of unsaturated C18 FA, whereas higher levels of primarily C14:0, C14:1, C18:1 cis-9, and C18:3n-3 were evident in SR cows. This variation in milk fat composition across breeds was further reflected in different desaturase indices, which were generally higher in SR cows. In addition, α-tocopherol differed significantly among breeds, with DJ cows having the highest content. Herd-specific feeding plans were collected, and different feed items were separated into 4 broad feed categories, including grass products, maize silage, grain, and concentrate. The pronounced differences in overall feed composition among breeds were, to a large extent, due to regional differences between countries, with SR receiving higher levels of grain and grass silage compared with the Danish breeds. Within breeds, differences in feeding regimens among herds were furthermore higher in SR. Significant correlations between feed category and individual FA were observed in all breeds. Furthermore, variance components were estimated and used to determine the proportion of phenotypic variation that could be explained by herd. The herd effect for individual FA was generally lower for DH compared with the 2 other breeds. In addition, very low herd effects were shown for C14:1 and C16:1 in all breeds, suggesting that the content of these FA is mainly genetically regulated.

The impact of various parameters on the carbon footprint of milk production in New Zealand and Sweden

The carbon footprint (CF) of milk production was analysed at the farm gate for two contrasting production systems; an outdoor pasture grazing system in New Zealand (NZ) and a mainly indoor housing system with pronounced use of concentrate feed in Sweden (SE). The method used is based on the conceptual framework of lifecycle assessment (LCA), but only for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. National average data were used to model the dairy system in each country. Collection of inventory data and calculations of emissions were harmonised to the greatest extent possible for the two systems. The calculated CF for 1 kg of energy corrected milk (ECM), including related by-products (surplus calves and culled cows), was 1.00 kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO 2e) for NZ and 1.16 kg CO 2e for SE. Methane from enteric fermentation and nitrous oxide emissions from application of nitrogen (as fertiliser and as excreta dropped directly on the field) were the main contributors to the CF in both countries. The most important parameters to consider when calculating the GHG emissions were dry matter intake (DMI), emission factor (EF) for methane from enteric fermentation, amount of nitrogen applied and EF for direct nitrous oxide emissions from soils. By changing one parameter at a time within ‘reasonable’ limits (i.e. no extreme values assumed), the impact on the total CF was assessed and showed changes of up to 15%. In addition, the uncertainty in CF estimates due to uncertainty in EF for methane from enteric fermentation and nitrous oxide emissions (from soil and due to ammonia volatilisation) were analysed through Monte Carlo simulation. This resulted in an uncertainty distribution corresponding to 0.60–1.52 kg CO 2e kg −1 ECM for NZ and 0.83–1.56 kg CO 2e kg −1 ECM for SE (in the prediction interval 2.5–97.5%). Hence, the variation within the systems based on the main EF is relatively large compared with the difference in CF between the countries.

Behavioral indexes of piglet welfare: Comparison of indoor and outdoor housing systems

The purpose of this experiment was to establish behavioral indexes of piglet welfare. Forty-eight piglets were allocated to either four indoor pens or four outdoor pens (six piglets per pen). The indoor system was a commercial pen that consisted of a concrete floor and a slat floor. The outdoor system had a dirt paddock with a wooden hutch. Growth performance, salivary cortisol levels, skin lesions and behaviors of the piglets were monitored for 4 weeks. Sixteen types of behaviors were recorded by using 2-min instantaneous scan sampling for 8 h/day. Growth performance and salivary cortisol levels did not significantly differ between the two housing systems. On the other hand, skin lesions and behaviors were significantly affected by the housing system. The number of skin lesions was higher in the indoor system. In addition, piglets in the outdoor system showed more investigative and social-play behaviors than those in the indoor system. Piglets in the indoor system showed more resting, drinking, moving, fighting, and conflict behaviors than those in the outdoor system. We conclude that investigative, social-play and conflict behaviors may be effective indexes of the welfare level of piglets, especially investigative and conflict behaviors.

Effect of non-protected sunflower oil supplementation on milk fatty acid profile and oxidative status in Simmental cows

Abstract. Milk production, milk composition, milk fatty acid profiles, and antioxidant status of Simmental cows supplemented with non-protected sunflower oil were studied. Ten Simmental cows in mid-lactation were appointed for change over feeding trial with one of the diet applied: the control (WSO) diet consisted of 26 % corn silage, 33 % perennial ryegrass haylage, and 41 % concentrate in dry matter (DM), and the experimental diet (SO) consisted of control diet supplemented with 2 % of unrefined sunflower oil per cow and day. The cows were kept in indoor housing system with feeding and milking system two times daily and ad libitum water supply. The milk production and standard milk components remained unchanged during the study. The partial modification of fatty acid composition was remarked with the significantly higher linoleic and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) (cis-9, trans-11 C 18:2) concentration and significantly lower palmitic acid during the SO treatment. The blood gluthathion peroxidase (GPx) activity significantly increased and the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) concentration decreased significantly in the SO treatment. The non-protected sunflower has a perceptible effect on the milk fatty acid composition in Simmental cows of our research. The lower index of lipid peroxidation and higher GPx activity in blood of cows during the SO treatment could be a consequence of the antioxidant components that are normally present in the unrefined vegetable oils. The enzyme activity reflects appropriate functioning of the antioxidant defence of cows that emphasise importance of well balanced diet during the unsaturated fatty acid supplementation.

Effect of an outdoor rearing system on the welfare, growth performance, carcass and meat quality of a slow-growing rabbit population

The effect of Outdoor or Indoor housing systems on the growth, welfare and carcass and meat quality of a local rabbit population was investigated. The slaughter age was 103 ± 2 days. Open-field tests showed an effective capacity of the Outdoor group to combat stressors. Compared to Indoor rabbits, Outdoor rabbits showed better growth performance and higher slaughter weight (SW) (2535 vs 2137 g; P < 0.01). Outdoor housing conditions increased the physical activity of rabbits and their hind legs were more developed (36.1% vs 34.9%; P < 0.01). Slaughter yield was lower in Outdoor rabbits (57.8% vs 58.4% SW; P < 0.05) due to the higher skin proportion (17.2% vs 15.6% SW; P < 0.05). Outdoor rabbit meat showed lower L∗ value ( L. lumborum: 55.6 vs 59.2; P < 0.01; B. femoris: 53.0 vs 55.5; P < 0.01) and cooking loss ( L. lumborum: 15.9% vs 18.1%; P < 0.05). Outdoor rabbit hind leg meat was characterized by lower water (74.5% vs 75.1%; P < 0.01) and higher protein (22.9% vs 22.6%; P < 0.01) and fat (1.4% vs 1.1%; P < 0.01) contents; lipids were lower in SFA and higher in MUFA. Outdoor rearing seems to be a possible alternative housing system that allays the ethical concerns of modern consumers while also providing good meat quality.

Causes of mortality in laying hens in different housing systems in 2001 to 2004

BackgroundThe husbandry systems for laying hens were changed in Sweden during the years 2001 – 2004, and an increase in the number of submissions for necropsy from laying hen farms was noted. Hence, this study was initiated to compare causes of mortality in different housing systems for commercial laying hens during this change.MethodsBased on results from routine necropsies of 914 laying hens performed at the National Veterinary Institute (SVA) in Uppsala, Sweden between 2001 and 2004, a retrospective study on the occurrence of diseases and cannibalism, i.e., pecking leading to mortality, in different housing systems was carried out. Using the number of disease outbreaks in caged flocks as the baseline, the expected number of flocks with a certain category of disease in the other housing systems was estimated having regard to the total number of birds in the population. Whether the actual number of flocks significantly exceeded the expected number was determined using a Poisson distribution for the variance of the baseline number, a continuity correction and the exact value for the Poisson distribution function in Excel 2000.ResultsCommon causes of mortality in necropsied laying hens included colibacillosis, erysipelas, coccidiosis, red mite infestation, lymphoid leukosis and cannibalism. Less common diagnoses were Newcastle Disease, pasteurellosis and botulism. Considering the size of the populations in the different housing systems, a larger proportion of laying hens than expected was submitted for necropsy from litter-based systems and free range production compared to hens in cages (P < 0.001). The study showed a significantly higher occurrence of bacterial and parasitic diseases and cannibalism in laying hens kept in litter-based housing systems and free-range systems than in hens kept in cages (P < 0.001). The occurrence of viral diseases was significantly higher in indoor litter-based housing systems than in cages (P < 0.001).ConclusionThe results of the present study indicated that during 2001–2004 laying hens housed in litter-based housing systems, with or without access to outdoor areas, were at higher risk of infectious diseases and cannibalistic behaviour compared to laying hens in cages. Future research should focus on finding suitable prophylactic measures, including efficient biosecurity routines, to reduce the risk of infectious diseases and cannibalism in litter-based housing systems for laying hens.

Diverse production system and social status effects on pig immunity and behavior

Pig performance, immunity, and behavior may be influenced by production system and social status. A conventional indoor housing system was compared with an outdoor system to determine the effects of diverse production systems on pig performance, behavior, and immunity. At 21 days of age, weight matched pigs reared in a conventional indoor or an outdoor production system were weaned and randomly selected for use in the present study. Six replicate pens were evaluated per treatment, with two littermate female pigs in each pen. Social status was determined at 7 weeks of age by a feed competition test. Pig behavior was recorded for 24 h using a scan sample technique. At 9 weeks of age, blood samples were taken from indoor- and outdoor-reared pigs and immune assays performed. Both indoor- and outdoor-reared pigs were given a sheep red blood cell (SRBC) challenge at 6 and 8 weeks of age, and antibody titers to SRBC were measured at 6, 7, and 9 weeks of age. Performance data were recorded throughout the study period. Body weight and average daily gain were not influenced by the production system in which the pig was reared. The production system effected standing, lying, drinking, and oral/nasal/facial behaviors. The production system influenced the expression of certain behaviors depending on the time of day. Immune and blood measures were affected by production system. The percentage of phagocytosis was greater (P ≤0.05) and antibody titers to SRBC challenge tended to be greater (P=0.066) among outdoor-reared pigs compared with indoor-reared pigs. Outdoor reared pigs had higher hemoglobin concentrations (P<0.005), percentage of hematocrit (P<0.005), mean corpuscular volume (P<0.005), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (P<0.005) compared with indoor-reared pigs. Furthermore, dominance order influenced the immune system. Dominant pigs had greater phytohemagglutinin stimulated lymphocyte proliferation (P<0.01) and baseline antibody titers to sheep red blood cells (P<0.05) compared with submissive pigs. In conclusion, in the present study body weight and average daily gain were similar among diverse production systems. However, pig behavior and immune system were significantly influenced by the production system. Dominance order influenced the immune system regardless of the production system. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fatty acid composition and tocopherol concentrations in muscle of entire male, castrated male and female pigs, reared in an indoor or outdoor housing system

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of outdoor rearing on the fatty acid (FA) composition and contents of tocopherols of M. longissimus dorsi polar (PL) and neutral lipids (NL) in entire males, castrated males and female pigs. Fat content did not differ between genders or rearing conditions. In PL of the indoor pig muscle the level of n − 6 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) was higher in females and entire males compared with castrated males. The outdoor environment resulted in a slightly higher level of n − 3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) in muscle PL and NL of entire males compared with females and castrated males. We also found an increased level of 18:2 n − 6 in the muscle PL of outdoor reared females compared with the indoor females. The higher levels of PUFA in the entire male muscle, in both PL and NL, were not accompanied by a higher level of vitamin E.

A note on the effect of gestation housing environment on approach test measures in gilts

Systems’ welfare evaluation, including behavioural testing, is becoming increasingly popular in farm animal assurance schemes. The aims of this study were to investigate whether fairly short-term exposure to gestation housing systems, which varied in physical, environmental and human-input factors, influenced behavioural and physiological measures during a human approach test—often used to identify problems in human–animal interactions. Twenty-four Large White×Landrace gilts were initially subjected to identical human contact and daily husbandry. Forty-two days after service, the gilts were randomly assigned to either an indoor housing system (n=16) or an outdoor housing system (n=8), which differed physically and in the amount of human contact and daily husbandry. The indoor system used an electronic sow feeder (ESF), was more space-limited and thermally-controlled and had human contact centered on cleaning out. The outdoor system was more extensive, had much greater space accessible, was not thermally-controlled and had human contact that centered around feeding. The human approach test was carried out on all gilts 30–44 days after entry to the gestation system. At testing, each individual was fitted with heart rate monitor and then moved into a test arena. After 2min an unfamiliar human entered the pen and stood motionless for 3min against one wall and then approached the gilt and touched her snout. Throughout the experimental period, behaviour and sound within the test arena were recorded continuously. During the 2min familiarisation period, outdoor gilts had lower heart rates (108.2bpm versus 123.7bpm, P<0.05) and tended to perform fewer short vocalisations (0.5calls per min versus 3.4calls per min, P<0.1). Outdoor-housed gilts also carried out less locomotor behaviour (2.2 sections crossed versus 4.0 sections crossed, P<0.05) and tended to perform fewer short (1.4calls per min versus 5.0calls per min, P<0.1) and long vocalisations (0.2calls per min versus 1.8calls per min, P<0.1) over the 3min test period. Outdoor gilts tended to be slower to approach within 0.5m of the human (69.9s versus 19.3s, P<0.1) but they then took less extra time to make physical contact (3.3s versus 52.7s, P<0.1). Mean heart rate was significantly lower in outdoor sows over the whole 3min period (99.5bpm versus 115.5bpm, P<0.05). The results demonstrate that short-term exposure to different housing systems did influence behavioural and physiological measures during a standard human approach test and thus, systems differences should be taken into account before making judgements about the human–animal relationship on any commercial farm, based on results of behavioural tests of this type.