32 Scratch that itch!


Research shows cattle will make effort to reach mechanical brush


Having an itch is really irritating if you can’t scratch it. And that is no less so for cows.


Research by MARGARET EVANS


Part of avoiding itchy skin


is grooming, an essential and desired behaviour among many animals. It removes dead hair, dirt, dust, biting insects and parasites and relieves mild skin irritations. Cows will groom themselves, lick their fur, scratch with a foot, groom each other or use


fence posts, tree bark or low branches to get to that itch they can’t easily scratch. But for dairy cows kept


indoors, their options are limited and if they don’t have access to suitable tools to help them scratch, that itch can be a constant irritant. Some dairy farms


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provide their cows access to automated rotating mechanical brushes that are driven by touch and, in Denmark, providing cows with access to coat care resources is mandatory. Cows appreciate that and, in fact, cattle with access to mechanical brushes are cleaner, more content and groom five times longer than cows that don’t have the same benefits. The pleasures of a good brushing are clearly not lost on them. At the UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre in Agassiz, a motivational study was conducted to assess the importance of a mechanical brush for dairy cows. It was thought, logically, that the harder an animal is willing to work to gain access, the more important that resource is. Motivational testing of


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heifers was based on two tests using a mechanical brush: a test for accessing a total mixed ration of food and access to empty space. But first the cows were given a few days’ training to get used to the experimental pen, the weighted gate and the expectation of a reward. To be included in the study, all the cows had to be able to open the push gate without a trainer present. “The research idea came up


shortly after we published the work where we assessed motivation for dairy cows to access pasture,” says Marina von Keyserlingk, NSERC Industrial Research Chair and animal welfare professor in UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems. “The methodology we used was the same but this time we


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NSERC Industrial Research chair Marina von Keyserlingk SUBMITTED PHOTO


were interested to determine if cows would work for access to the mechanical brush.” For the empty space and


for both brush treatments, the cows had continuous access to the push gate. But for fresh food, the methods were altered to adjust for food restrictions prior to their access to the gate. The fresh food treatment involved daily testing and each cow was taken to the experimental pen and allowed 15 minutes to open the push gate to get to the feed. If the cow succeeded in pushing it open, weights were added each subsequent day until the cow reached its cut-off point. “The maximum weight placed on the pulley that was pushed was 50 kg,” says von Keyserlingk. Results showed that cows


were equally motivated to push the gate to access both the mechanical brush and


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food but appeared to be less motivated to access the empty space. “We have no idea as to why


some cows pushed to access the empty alley,” says von Keyserlingk. “However, some cows did not push at all and others only pushed a low amount of weight to access [it].”


Those that did access the


empty alley may have been motivated by their natural exploratory nature and an instinct to learn about their environment.


One point of view was whether the cows were physically unable to open the gate rather than being unmotivated. Since the weighted gate pressed on the sides of the pregnant cows, it was thought that maybe moving through it could have been uncomfortable. In Canada, there are no estimates of how many farms


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have installed mechanical brushes but von Keyserlingk believes that they are gaining in popularity. “We have heard from many farmers since the work was published that they either have already installed brushes or will be installing them.” As for future research, von


Keyserlingk says that she is currently looking at whether cows that suffer from mange are motivated to access the brush and if this motivation changes once the mites go away. In June this year, von


Keyserlingk received the DeLaval Dairy Extension Award which recognizes outstanding achievement in dairy extension and dairy cattle welfare. The research on the motivational study of cows seeking mechanical brushes was published in August in Biology Letters.


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