Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy Cows
In alpine regions, cows are often equipped with bells during pasture season to ensure that farmers can locate them. Constant exposure to the chime of a bell may affect cows’ acoustic perception in general. The aim of this study is to test whether routine bell exposure affects the reactivity to a noi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2017.00153/full |
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| author | Julia Johns Julia Johns Sophie Masneuf Sophie Masneuf Antonia Patt Antonia Patt Edna Hillmann Edna Hillmann |
| author_facet | Julia Johns Julia Johns Sophie Masneuf Sophie Masneuf Antonia Patt Antonia Patt Edna Hillmann Edna Hillmann |
| author_sort | Julia Johns |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In alpine regions, cows are often equipped with bells during pasture season to ensure that farmers can locate them. Constant exposure to the chime of a bell may affect cows’ acoustic perception in general. The aim of this study is to test whether routine bell exposure affects the reactivity to a noise stimulus and might be associated with hearing impairment in cows. For the assessment, behavioral and cardiac indicators were used as indirect measures of hearing capacity. Cows that were either used to wearing a bell or not were exposed to a playback of low and high amplitude (=varying loudness). In addition, we tested whether wearing earplugs, mimicking hearing impairment, reduced the cows’ reactivity toward the playback. On 24 farms, half of them routinely using cowbells, 96 Brown Swiss cows were tested in a 2 × 2 factorial cross-over design (65 or 85 dB, without or with earplugs) in a balanced order. The effects of bell experience, amplitude, and earplugs on the latency to the first behavioral and cardiac response to a 5-s playback were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models, considering dependencies within the data set. Cows reacted faster without earplugs and when they were exposed to 85 dB compared with 65 dB. The proportion of cows leaving the feeding rack after onset of the playback was reduced by bell experience and earplugs and was increased when exposed to 85 dB compared with 65 dB. Exposure without earplugs to 85 dB but not to 65 dB increased heart rate. Heart rate and heart rate variability indicated increased sympathetic activation during the exposure to 85 dB compared with 65 dB. In general, behavioral and cardiac indicators did not indicate severe hearing impairment due to routine bell exposure. The 85-dB stimulus increased arousal and avoidance compared with the 65-dB stimulus, with bell experience and earplugs leading to a general decrease in avoidance of the stimulus. This may reflect an altered acoustic perception of the playback stimulus in dairy cows that are routinely exposed to bells. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T23:15:20Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T23:15:20Z |
| publishDate | 2017-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-a14b78cdb8514a16b47d54ce20102ad22022-12-22T00:08:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692017-09-01410.3389/fvets.2017.00153278717Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy CowsJulia Johns0Julia Johns1Sophie Masneuf2Sophie Masneuf3Antonia Patt4Antonia Patt5Edna Hillmann6Edna Hillmann7Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, Farm Animal Behavior and Husbandry Section, University of Kassel, Witzenhausen, GermanyEthology and Animal Welfare Unit, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandEthology and Animal Welfare Unit, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandEthology and Animal Welfare Unit, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Animal Welfare and Animal Husbandry, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Celle, GermanyEthology and Animal Welfare Unit, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandAnimal Husbandry, Albrecht Daniel Thaer-Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GermanyIn alpine regions, cows are often equipped with bells during pasture season to ensure that farmers can locate them. Constant exposure to the chime of a bell may affect cows’ acoustic perception in general. The aim of this study is to test whether routine bell exposure affects the reactivity to a noise stimulus and might be associated with hearing impairment in cows. For the assessment, behavioral and cardiac indicators were used as indirect measures of hearing capacity. Cows that were either used to wearing a bell or not were exposed to a playback of low and high amplitude (=varying loudness). In addition, we tested whether wearing earplugs, mimicking hearing impairment, reduced the cows’ reactivity toward the playback. On 24 farms, half of them routinely using cowbells, 96 Brown Swiss cows were tested in a 2 × 2 factorial cross-over design (65 or 85 dB, without or with earplugs) in a balanced order. The effects of bell experience, amplitude, and earplugs on the latency to the first behavioral and cardiac response to a 5-s playback were analyzed using linear mixed-effects models, considering dependencies within the data set. Cows reacted faster without earplugs and when they were exposed to 85 dB compared with 65 dB. The proportion of cows leaving the feeding rack after onset of the playback was reduced by bell experience and earplugs and was increased when exposed to 85 dB compared with 65 dB. Exposure without earplugs to 85 dB but not to 65 dB increased heart rate. Heart rate and heart rate variability indicated increased sympathetic activation during the exposure to 85 dB compared with 65 dB. In general, behavioral and cardiac indicators did not indicate severe hearing impairment due to routine bell exposure. The 85-dB stimulus increased arousal and avoidance compared with the 65-dB stimulus, with bell experience and earplugs leading to a general decrease in avoidance of the stimulus. This may reflect an altered acoustic perception of the playback stimulus in dairy cows that are routinely exposed to bells.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2017.00153/fullavoidancebehaviorcattleearplugnoiseplayback |
| spellingShingle | Julia Johns Julia Johns Sophie Masneuf Sophie Masneuf Antonia Patt Antonia Patt Edna Hillmann Edna Hillmann Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy Cows Frontiers in Veterinary Science avoidance behavior cattle earplug noise playback |
| title | Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy Cows |
| title_full | Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy Cows |
| title_fullStr | Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy Cows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy Cows |
| title_short | Regular Exposure to Cowbells Affects the Behavioral Reactivity to a Noise Stimulus in Dairy Cows |
| title_sort | regular exposure to cowbells affects the behavioral reactivity to a noise stimulus in dairy cows |
| topic | avoidance behavior cattle earplug noise playback |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fvets.2017.00153/full |
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