Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-19T12:06:23.448Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Behavioural Reactivity Affected by Chronic Stress: An Experimental Approach in Calves Submitted to Environmental Instability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

A Boissy ,
I Veissier  and
S Roussel
A Boissy*
Affiliation:
Unité de Recherches sur les Herbivores, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 63 122 Saint-Genes-Champanelle, France
I Veissier
Affiliation:
Unité de Recherches sur les Herbivores, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 63 122 Saint-Genes-Champanelle, France
S Roussel
Affiliation:
Unité de Recherches sur les Herbivores, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 63 122 Saint-Genes-Champanelle, France now at: Institut National de l'Agronomie - Paris Grignon, 75 231 Paris, France
*
† Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Whereas physiological and behavioural responses to acute stressors are well documented, chronic stress remains difficult to assess in farm animals. The aim of the present paper is to investigate whether calves’ behavioural reactions to acute events are modified during chronic intermittent stress. Thirty-two calves housed in pairs were used. For half of the calves the partner and the pen were changed once a week for 14 weeks (regrouped calves) while the others remained unchanged (controls). Four behavioural tests were performed to assess calves’ reactivity to novel or sudden events, to predator cues and to restraint. In the water spray test, regrouped calves were startled more often. In the umbrella test, regrouped calves took a longer time to feed in front of the closed umbrella but no differences between the two treatments were observed on opening the umbrella. In the dog test, regrouped calves moved more and looked at the dog more often. In the restraint test, regrouped calves were more agitated. These differences disappeared when the tests were repeated. In conclusion, repeated changes in the social and physical environment of calves enhances their behavioural reactivity to novelty. This is likely to make them more adaptive to potential changes in their environment.

Keywords

animal welfarecattlenoveltypredatorreactivitysocial instability
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 10 , Issue S1: Consciousness, Cognition and Animal Welfare: Proceedings of the UFAW Symposium, Zoological Society of London, 11-12 May 2000 , February 2001 , pp. S175 - S185
Copyright
© 2001 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Boissy, A 1998 Fear and fearfulness in determining behavior. In: Grandin, T (ed) Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals pp 67–111. Academic Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Boissy, A and Bouissou, M F 1995 Assessment of individual differences in behavioural reactions of heifers exposed to various fear-eliciting situations. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 46: 17–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boissy, A and Le Neindre, P 1990 Social influences on the reactivity of heifers: implications for learning abilities in operant conditioning. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 25: 149–165CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouissou, M F and Andrieu, S 1978 Etablissement des relations préférentielles chez les bovins domestiques. Behaviour 64: 148–157CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bouissou, M F, Boissy, A, Le Neindre, P and Veissier, I The bovines among other bovids: social structure of domestic bovines. In: Gonyou, H and Keeling, L (eds) Social Behavior in Farm Animals. CAB International: Wallingford, UK (in press)Google Scholar
Broom, D M 1987 Applications of neurobiological studies to farm animal welfare. In: Wiepkema, P R and Van Adrichem, P W M (eds) Biology of Stress in Farm Animals: an Integrative Approach pp 101–110. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: The Hague, The Netherlands for the Commission of the European CommunitiesCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, B J, Feinberg, M, Greden, J F, Tarika, J, Albala, A A, Haskett, R F, James, N, Kronfol, Z, Lohr, N, Steiner, M, De Vigne, J P and Young, E 1981 A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia. Archives of General Psychiatry 38: 15–22CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coss, R G 1991 Evolutionary persistence of memory-like processes. Concepts in Neurosciences 2: 129–168Google Scholar
Cronin, G M 1985 The Development and Significance of Abnormal Stereotyped Behaviours in Tethered Sows. PhD Thesis, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The NetherlandsCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dantzer, R and Mormède, P 1983a Stress in farm animals: a need for reevaluation. Journal of Animal Science 57: 6–18CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dantzer, R and Mormède, P 1983b De-arousal properties of stereotyped behaviour: evidence from pituitary-adrenal correlates in pigs. Applied Animal Ethology 10: 233–244CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dantzer, R, Mormède, P, Bluthe, R M and Soissons, J 1983 The effect of different housing conditions on behavioural and adrenocortical reactions in veal calves. Reproduction Nutrition et Développement 23: 501–508CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friend, T H, Polan, C E and Mc Gilliard, M L 1977 Free stall and feed bunk requirements relative to behavior, production and individual feed intake in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 60: 108–116CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friend, T H, Dellmeier, G R and Gbur, E E 1985 Comparison of four methods of calf confinement: I. Physiology. Journal of Animal Science 60: 1095–1101CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, J A 1987 The Psychology of Fear and Stress, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKGoogle Scholar
Henry, J P, Liu, J and Meehan, W P 1995 Psychosocial stress and experimental hypertension. In: Laragh, J H and Brenner, B M (eds) Hypertension: Physiology, Diagnosis, and Management pp 905–921. Raven Press: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Klemcke, H G 1994 Responses of the porcine pituitary-adrenal axis to chronic intermittent stressor. Domestic Animal Endocrinology 11: 133–149CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ladewig, J Chronic intermittent stress: a model for the study of long-term stressors. In: Moberg, G P and Mench, J A (eds) The Biology of Animal Stress. CAB International: Wallingford, UK (in press)Google Scholar
Lazarus, R S 1968 Emotions and adaptation: conceptual and empirical relations. In: Arnold, W J (ed) Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Volume 16 pp 175–270. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, USAGoogle Scholar
Maier, S F and Seligman, M E 1976 Learned helplessness: theory and evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology General 105: 3–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mormède, P, Lemaire, V, Castanon, N, Dulluc, J, Laval, M and Le Moal, M 1990 Multiple neuroendocrine responses to chronic social stress: interaction between individual characteristics and situational factors. Physiology and Behavior 47: 1099–1105CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Toole, S M, Chiapelli, F and Rubin, R T 1998 Plasma neopterin in major depression: relationship to basal and stimulated pituitary-adrenal cortical axis function. Psychiatry Research 79: 21–29CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reinhardt, V and Reinhardt, A 1981 Cohesive relationships in a cattle herd (Bos indicus). Behaviour 77: 121–151CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rushen, J 1991 Problems associated with the interpretation of physiological data in the assessment of animal welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 28: 381–386CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russel, P A 1979 Fear-evoking stimuli. In: Sluckin, W (ed) Fear in Animals and Man pp 86–124. Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Scherer, K R 1993 Neuroscience projections to current debates in emotion psychology. Cognition and Emotion 7: 1–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, H S and Latimer, J W 1975 Social interactions and antibody titres in young male chickens (Gallus domesticus). Animal Behaviour 23: 323–330CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Terlouw, C, Boissy, A and Blinet, P 1998 Behavioural responses of cattle to the odours of blood and urine from conspecifics and to the odour of faeces from carnivores. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 57: 921CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veissier, I, Le Neindre, P and Trillat, G 1989 The use of circadian behaviour to measure adaptation of calves to changes in their environment. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 22: 1–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Veissier, I, Chazal, P, Pradel, P and Le Neindre, P 1997 Providing social contacts and objects for nibbling moderates reactivity and oral behaviors in veal calves. Journal of Animal Science 75: 356–365CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veissier, I, Boissy, A, Nowak, R, Orgeur, P and Poindron, P 1998 Ontogeny of social awareness in domestic herbivores. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 57: 233–245CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Borell, E and Ladewig, J 1992 The relationship between behaviour and adrenocortical response pattern in domestic pigs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 34: 195–206CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, J M 1972 Psychological factors in stress and disease. Scientific American 226: 104–113CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed