Effects of Cows&rsquo; Licking on Behavior, Serum Stress and Immunity Parameters of Newborn Calves

JIN Shuang; LI Congcong; GU Xianhong

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2021.02.058

Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition >

2021 , Vol. 33 >Issue 2: 1173 - 1183

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2021.02.058

Effects of Cows’ Licking on Behavior, Serum Stress and Immunity Parameters of Newborn Calves

JIN Shuang ,
LI Congcong ,
GU Xianhong

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State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China

Received date: 2020-07-06

Online published: 2021-02-04

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Abstract

The experiment was conducted to study the effects of cows' licking on behavior, serum stress and immunity parameters of newborn calves. Thirty healthy Holstein female calves with similar birth weight were selected and divided into two groups according to the durations of the calves were licked by the cows after birth, each group contained 15 calves. Calves in the control group (Con group) were licked only a few times or not being licked, and calves in the licked group (Lick group) were licked for 15 to 20 minutes after birth. The behaviors of calves during the 24 hours after being licked were recorded by video recording, and the serum stress hormone and immune cytokines contents at 0 and 24 hours after being licked were measured. The results showed as follows: 1) the time of first successful standing after the calves enter the house of calves in the Lick group was tended to be lower than that in the Con group (P=0.056), the standing attempt times between the first standing attempt to the first successful standing of calves in the Lick group was tended to be lower than that in the Con group (P=0.094), and the time from the first standing attempt to successful standing of calves in the Lick group was significantly shorter than that in the Con group (P<0.05). 2) The proportion of standing duration to total duration of colostrum intake of calves in the Lick group was tended to be higher than that in the Con group (P=0.068), and the proportion of lying duration to total duration of colostrum intake of calves in the Lick group was tended to be lower than that in the Con group (P=0.068). 3) Before and after colostrum intake, the standing duration and times of calves in the Lick group were significantly higher than that in the Con group (P<0.05), the lying duration was significantly lower than that in the Con group (P<0.05), the walking duration and times were significantly higher than that in the Con group (P<0.05), the exploring duration was tended to be higher than that in the Con group (0.05≤P<0.10), and the exploring times was significantly higher than that of the Con group (P<0.05). 4) At 0 h after licking, the serum cortisol content of calves in the Lick group was significantly lower than that in the Con group (P<0.05). At 24 h after licking, the serum interleukin-2 content of calves in the Lick group was tended to be lower than that in the Con group (P=0.097), and the serum interleukin-6 content was significantly lower than that in the Con group (P<0.05). In conclusion, newborn calves being licked for 15 to 20 minutes by their dams after delivery can reduce their stress level, enhance their vitality, and being more active.

Key words： licking; newborn calves; behavior; immune

Cite this article

JIN Shuang , LI Congcong , GU Xianhong . Effects of Cows’ Licking on Behavior, Serum Stress and Immunity Parameters of Newborn Calves[J]. Chinese Journal of Animal Nutrition, 2021 , 33(2) : 1173 -1183 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-267x.2021.02.058

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