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Abstract

Approaches in Poultry, Dairy & Veterinary Sciences

Heart Rate Variability as a Non-Invasive Method to Assess Welfare in Dairy Cows

Submission: February 03, 2018;Published: March 08, 2018

DOI: 10.31031/APDV.2018.03.000553

ISSN: 2576-9162
Volume3 Issue1

Abstract

Adaptation to environmental changes can be challenging for highly productive dairy cow breeds. Animal welfare associated with husbandry procedures cabe assessed not only by classical descriptive behavioral observations, but with physiological measures as well. Assessment of blood cortisol levels requires handling, what represents additional stress to cows. Measures of cardiovascular parameters including heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) have a long tradition as indicators of health and welfare in livestock species since the begging of the 1970s. HRV is a parameter that reflects the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous activity. Therefore, the power spectral analysis of HRV allows researchers to measure stress levels in cattle without handling or restraining them, thus making it a non-invasive indicator of welfare.

Keywords: Autonomic nervous system; Cattle; ECG; Stress; Sympathetic; Parasympathetic

Abbreviations: ANS: Autonomic Nervous System; ECG: Electrocardiogram; HF: High Frequency; HPA: Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis; HR:Heart Rate; HRV: Heart Rate Variability; LF: Low Frequency.

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