OHM Jr Holstein Club in Miner Institute "Farm Report" - pg. 12

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The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute

December 2016

FARM REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK: A NOSE FOR WELL-BEING? In This Issue: Work Place Motivation

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Got Beef?

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It Pays to Cool Dry Cows So Start Planning Now

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Some Thoughts on Reduced-Lignin Alfalfa

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Slick Bunk Feeding While Overstocked: Friend or Foe?

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Holiday Nutrition Fact Challenge

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Double Cropping Better for the Environment

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What's Happening on the Farm

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VT Dairy Producers Conference

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Dairy Day is Dec. 13!

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You’ve no doubt heard the expression “cold nose, warm heart.” Well, I recently read a research article that related nasal temperature with emotional state in dairy cows. Could it be that a stressed-out, fired-up cow experiencing an increase in core body temperature would have a colder than normal nose? With the increasing availability of infrared thermometer guns to record peripheral temperatures in cattle, this question might actually have a practical implication in the future. In fact, researchers in New Zealand have proposed that changes in core body temperature may reliably indicate whether an animal is experiencing poor or good welfare status (Proc. NZ Soc. Anim. Prod. 2004. 64:72-76). Directly measuring core body temperature routinely is unworkable on most farms, but indirect peripheral measures could work well. Essentially, the cow responds emotionally to environmental stimuli and consequently vasoconstriction of peripheral areas, such as the nose or eye, results in a temperature change that can be monitored using an infrared thermometer system. Stress, fear, and frustration cause a reduction in peripheral temperature in dairy cattle. Previous research has found that

eye temperature measured with infrared thermography accurately detected fear and pain in cattle that were hit with plastic tubing, prodded with electric cattle prods, or were shouted at and otherwise startled. I suppose the results aren’t too surprising, actually. Most recently, researchers from the UK investigated whether the nasal temperature of cows was affected by emotions and if nasal temperature could be reliably used as a measure of emotional state in cows (Physiol. Behav. 2015. 138:340-344). These researchers had previously found that they could induce a positive emotional state by stroking cows in a similar manner to allogrooming, or cows grooming each other. The average nasal temperature decreased significantly when cows were groomed, by about 0.7 degrees F. The researchers found that the stroking or grooming induced a See NOSE, Page 4


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