HEART RATE VARIABILITY AS NON-INVASIVE MEASURE OF STRESS IN CATTLE - FIELD STUDIES ON HUNGARIAN DAIRY HERDS

摘要

Heart rate (HR) measurements have been used to determine stress in farm animal species since the beginning of the 1970's. However, according to the latest studies in veterinary and behaviour-physiological sciences heart rate variability (HRV) proved to be more precise for studying the activity of the autonomic nervous system. In dairy cattle, HR and HRV indices have been used to detect stress caused by social interactions, routine management practices such as castration and disbudding, or by machinemilking. This review provides the significance of HR and HRV measurements in dairy cattle by summarizing current knowledge on measurement methods and data analysis. The biological background of the autonomic regulation of cardiovascular function and HRVare discussed. Equipment and methodological approaches developed to measure interbeat intervals (IBI) and the assessment of HRV in dairy cattle are described. Finally, selected results of our recent field studies are presented.