The Use of Subjective and Objective Methods of Behavioral Evaluation in Swine and Dairy Cattle

摘要

The objectives of the studies described in this thesis were to quantify livestock behavior and improve animal wellbeing. Subjective and objective evaluation methods can be used as an estimation parameter of animal welfare. The first study used behavioral methods to evaluate the analgesic effects of a pharmaceutical drug in lame dairy cattle. Lameness pain was evaluated by measuring weight shifting, locomotion score, and visual analog scale score. Correlation analysis of the three methods determined cohesion among subjective methods. The second study measured the behavioral effects of ramp exposure during the nursery period of swine development. Loading can be a stressful event for hogs which may cause an increased incidence of stress. Conditioning methods and environmental enrichment reduced the duration of time spent on the loading ramp and decreased production inputs. Both trials identified methods to improve animal welfare and future efforts will aid in the development of positive management strategies.