Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows

• Published in: Journal of applied animal welfare science Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 234 - 242
• Main Authors: Crump, Andrew, Jenkins, Kirsty, Bethell, Emily J., Ferris, Conrad P., Arnott, Gareth
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 02.04.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Animal welfare; Animals; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Cattle; continuous housing; Dairy cattle; dairy cows; Dairying - methods; eyes; Female; Holstein; Housing; Housing, Animal; Indoor environments; Infrared imaging; Lactation - physiology; Pasture; pastures; Temperature; Thermal imaging; Thermography; zero-grazing; Animal welfare; continuous housing; thermography; zero-grazing
• ISSN: 1088-8705; 1532-7604; 1532-7604
• DOI: 10.1080/10888705.2022.2063020

Pasture access can benefit dairy cows' behavior, health, and welfare, but herds are increasingly housed indoors full-time. Recent infrared thermal-imaging (thermography) studies suggest that higher eye temperatures may be a physiological indicator of chronic stress. We, therefore, hypothesized that, compared to cows with pasture access, cows housed indoors full-time would have higher eye temperatures. In a two-phase crossover experiment, 29 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows experienced 18 days of overnight pasture access and 18 days of full-time indoor housing. We measured each animal's eye temperature 16 times (eight/phase). During Phase One, cows with pasture access had higher eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time (contrary to our hypothesis). However, during Phase Two, cows with pasture access had lower eye temperatures than cows housed indoors full-time. It is, therefore, unclear whether eye temperature reflected disparities in dairy cow welfare between different housing treatments.