Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows

Crump, Andrew, Jenkins, Kirsty, Bethell, Emily J., Ferris, Conrad P. and Arnott, Gareth (2022) Pasture access and eye temperature in dairy cows. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. ISSN 1088-8705

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/haaw20
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Authors
Divisions:	CPNSS
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology
Date Deposited:	05 Aug 2022 15:09
Last Modified:	20 Sep 2025 02:15
URI:	http://eprintstest.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/115913

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