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Welfare assessment protocols have been developed for dairy cows and veal calves during the past decades. One practical use of such protocols may be conducting welfare assessments by using routinely collected digital data (i.e., data-based assessment). This approach can allow for continuous monitoring of animal welfare in a large number of farms. It recognises changes in the animal welfare status over time and enables comparison between farms. Since no comprehensive data-based assessment for veal calves is currently available, the purposes of this review are (i) to provide an overview of single existing data-based indicators for veal calves and (ii) to work out the necessary requirements for data-based indicators to be used in a comprehensive welfare assessment for veal calves in Switzerland. We used the Welfare Quality Protocol® (WQ) for veal calves and the Terrestrial Animal Health Code from the World Organisation of Animal Health for guidance throughout this process. Subsequently, routinely collected data were evaluated as data sources for welfare assessment in Swiss veal operations. The four WQ principles reflecting animal welfare, i.e., 'good feeding', 'good housing', 'good health' and 'appropriate behaviour' were scarcely reflected in routinely available data. Animal health, as one element of animal welfare, could be partially assessed using data-based indicators through evaluation of mortality, treatments, and carcass traits. No data-based indicators reflecting feeding, housing and animal behaviour were available. Thus, it is not possible to assess welfare in its multidimensionality using routinely collected digital data in Swiss veal calves to date. A major underlying difficulty is to differentiate between veal calves and other youngstock using routine data, since an identifying category for veal calves is missing in official Swiss databases. In order to infer animal welfare from routine data, adaptations of data collection strategies and animal identification are required. Data-based welfare assessment could then be used to complement on-farm assessments efficiently and, e.g., to attribute financial incentives for specifically high welfare standards accordingly.

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The assessment of dairy cow welfare has become increasingly important in recent years. Welfare assessments that use animal-based indicators, which are considered the most direct indicators, are time consuming and therefore not feasible for assessments on a large number of farms. One approach to reducing this effort is the use of data-based indicators (DBIs) calculated from routine herd data. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between common DBIs and the welfare of 35 dairy herds to evaluate the feasibility of a data-based welfare prediction method. For this purpose, the WelfareQuality® (WQ) protocol was used to assess the welfare of dairy cows on 35 Swiss farms, for each of which 10 commonly used DBIs were calculated from herd data. Spearman's rank correlations were used to investigate the relationship between DBIs and WQ criteria and measurements. The study found only a few statistically weak associations between DBIs and animal welfare, with no associations for measurements or criteria of resting comfort and appropriate behavior. Thus, the multidimensional welfare definition is insufficiently covered, and the present publication does not support the approach of a purely data-based prediction of dairy welfare status at the farm level. Instead, the regular calculation of DBIs that are indicative of isolated animal welfare problems or metrics of animal health could allow monitoring of these specific areas of animal welfare.

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OBJECTIVES: Antimicrobial drugs are frequently administered in veal calves, but investigations on associations with antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria are scarce and convey partly contradictory findings. The aim of this study was to investigate associations of antimicrobial use (AMU) during the fattening period with antimicrobial susceptibility shortly before slaughter. METHODS: Detailed treatment data of 1905 veal calves from 38 farms were collected prospectively during monthly farm visits for 1 year (n = 1864 treatments, n = 535 visits); 1582 Escherichia coli, 1059 Pasteurella multocida and 315 Mannheimia haemolytica were isolated from rectal and nasopharyngeal swabs collected before slaughter and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing by microdilution. Associations of antimicrobial treatments with resistant isolates were investigated at the calf level. RESULTS: Associations of AMU with antimicrobial resistance were observed using generalized linear models. For E. coli, the odds of being resistant were increased with increased AMU (OR 1.36 when number of treatments >1, P = 0.066). Use of tetracyclines was associated with resistance to tetracycline (OR 1.86, P < 0.001) and use of penicillins was associated with resistance to ampicillin (OR 1.66, P = 0.014). No significant associations were observed for P. multocida (use of aminoglycosides: OR 3.66 for resistance to spectinomycin, P = 0.074). For M. haemolytica, the odds of being resistant were increased with increased AMU (OR 4.63, P < 0.001), and use of tetracyclines was associated with resistance to tetracycline (OR 6.49, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Occurrence of resistant bacteria shortly before slaughter was associated with AMU in veal calves. Prudent and appropriate use may contribute to limit the selection of resistant bacteria on veal farms.

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Salmonella (S.) enterica subspecies diarizonae (IIIb) serovar 61:k:1,5,(7) (S. IIIb 61:k:1,5,(7)) is considered to be sheep-associated, as it can be found in the intestine, tonsils and nose of clinically healthy sheep, but it has also been described in separate clinical disorders in sheep. In particular, S. IIIb 61:k:1,5,(7) is described as the causative agent of chronic proliferative rhinitis (CPR) in sheep. In Switzerland, CPR in sheep due to S. IIIb 61:k:1,5,(7) was first described in 2017 in a flock of Texel sheep. Therefore, we assessed the prevalence of S. IIIb 61:k:1,5,(7) within the Swiss sheep population using a representative sampling strategy. From May 2017 to June 2018 a total of 681 nasal swabs from individual clinically healthy sheep of 141 different flocks throughout Switzerland were taken. Swabs were analysed by selective enrichment for the presence of S. IIIb 61:k:1,5,(7). Additionally, antimicrobial resistance of the isolates was determined by broth microdilution. A total of 146 out of 681 nasal swabs tested positive for S. IIIb 61:k:1,5,(7), which corresponds to a prevalence on animal level of 21% (95%CI 18%-25%). In 73 out of 141 flocks tested, at least one sheep tested positive for S. IIIb 61:k:1.5,(7), resulting in a minimal prevalence on flock level of 52% (95%CI 43%-60%). Positive flocks were found in all cantons except the canton of Jura. Adults were significantly more affected than sheep under one year/lambs and positive sheep were found in several breeds. No microbiologically resistant isolates were detected, except for one isolate showing resistance against ampicillin. Because of its widespread occurrence in the Swiss sheep population, further research should focus on the pathogenic impact of S. IIIb 61:k:1,5,(7) on the health status of sheep.

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The study aims to verify the usefulness of new intervals-based algorithms for clinical interpretation of animal behavior in dairy cows around calving period. Thirteen activities associated with feeding-ruminating-locomotion-behaviors of 42 adult Holstein-Friesian cows were continuously monitored for the week (wk) -2, wk -1 and wk +1 relative to calving (overall 30'340 min/animal). Soon after, animals were retrospectively assigned to group-S (at least one spontaneous diseases; n = 24) and group-H (healthy; n = 18). The average activities performed by the groups, recorded by RumiWatch® halter and pedometer, were compared at the different weekly intervals. The average activities on the day of clinical diagnosis (dd0), as well as one (dd-1) and two days before (dd-2) were also assessed. Differences of dd0 vs. dd-1 (ΔD1), dd0 vs. wk -1 (ΔD2), and wk +1 vs. wk -1 (Δweeks) were calculated. Variables showing significant differences between the groups were used for a univariate logistic regression, a receiver operating characteristic analysis, and a multivariate logistic regression model. At wk +1 and dd0, eating- and ruminating-time, eating- and ruminate-chews and ruminating boluses were significantly lower in group-S as compared to group-H, while other activity time was higher. For ΔD2 and Δweeks, the differences of eating- and ruminating-time, as well as of eating-and ruminate-chews were significantly lower in group-S as compared to group-H. Concerning the locomotion behaviors, the lying time was significantly higher in group-S vs. group-H at wk +1 and dd-2. The number of strides was significantly lower in group-S compared to group-H at wk +1. The model including eating-chews, ruminate-chews and other activity time reached the highest accuracy in detecting sick cows in wk +1 (area under the curve: 81%; sensitivity: 73.7%; specificity: 82.4%). Some of the new algorithms for the clinical interpretation of cow behaviour as described in this study may contribute to monitoring animals' health around calving.

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During the last years, the interest in data-based variables (DBVs) as easy-to-obtain, cost-effective animal welfare indicators has continued to grow. This interest has led to publications focusing on the relationship between DBVs and animal welfare. This review compiles 13 papers identified through a systematic literature search to provide an overview of the current state of research on the relationship between DBVs and dairy cow welfare at farm level. The selected papers were examined regarding their definition of animal welfare and classified according to this definition into three categories: (a) papers evaluating DBVs as predictors of animal welfare violations, (b) papers investigating the relationship between DBVs and animal-based measurements, and (c) papers investigating the relationship of DBVs to scores of welfare assessments like the Welfare Quality protocol or to overall welfare scores at farm level. In addition, associations between DBVs and indicators of animal welfare were extracted, grouped by the type of DBV, and examined for replications that may confirm the associations. All the identified studies demonstrated associations between DBVs and animal welfare. Overall, the first indications of a possible suitability of DBVs for predicting herds with animal welfare violations as well as good or poor animal welfare status were given. The evaluation of relationships between DBVs and animal-based measurements (ABMs) found mortality-based DBVs to be frequently associated with ABMs. However, owing to varying definitions of animal welfare, the use of different variants of DBVs, and different methods used to assess DBVs, the studies could only be compared to a limited extent. Future research would benefit from a harmonisation of DBVs and the use of valid measurements that reflect the multidimensionality of welfare. Data sources rarely investigated so far may have the potential to provide additional DBVs that can contribute to the monitoring of cow welfare at farm level.

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This review describes the current state of knowledge relating to scientific literature on welfare indicators for goats. Our aim was to provide an overview of animal-based indicators for on-farm welfare assessments. We performed a literature search and extracted 96 relevant articles by title, abstract, and full-text screening. Out of these articles, similar indicators were aggregated to result in a total of 32 welfare indicators, some of which were covered in multiple articles, others in only a single one. We discuss a set of three established assessment protocols containing these indicators, as well as all individual indicators which were covered in more than one article. As single indicators, we identified lameness, body condition score (BCS), qualitative behaviour assessment (QBA), and human-animal relationship (HAR) tests with substantial evidence for sufficient validity to assess welfare in goats. A multitude of indicators (e.g., hair coat condition) was studied less intensively but was successfully used for welfare assessments. For some indicators (e.g., oblivion, lying behaviour), we highlight the need for future research to further validate them or to optimise their use in on-farm welfare assessments. Moreover, further investigations need to include kids, bucks, and meat and fibre goats, as well as extensively kept goats as the literature predominantly focuses on dairy goats in intensive production systems.

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The value society assigns to animal welfare in agricultural productions is increasing, resulting in ever-enhancing methods to assess the well-being of farm animals. The aim of this study was to review the scientific literature to obtain an overview of the current knowledge on welfare assessments for sheep and to extract animal-based welfare indicators as well as welfare protocols with animal-based indicators. By title and abstract screening, we identified five protocols and 53 potential indicators from 55 references. Three out of the five protocols include animal-based as well as resource-based indicators. All of them were assessed as being practicable on-farm but lacking reliability. Some of the single indicators are endorsed by the literature and widely used in the field like assessment of behaviour, lameness or body condition score. Others (e.g., Faffa Malan Chart FAMACHA©, dag score or pain assessment) are regularly mentioned in the literature, but their reliability and usefulness are still subject of discussion. Several indicators, such as pruritic behaviour, eye condition, lying time or tooth loss are relatively new in the literature and still lack evidence for their validity and usefulness. This literature review serves as a starting point for the development of valid and practicable welfare protocols for sheep.

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The prevention of bovine respiratory disease is important, as it may lead to impaired welfare, economic losses, and considerable antimicrobial use, which can be associated with antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of respiratory viruses and to identify risk factors for their occurrence. A convenience sample of 764 deep nasopharyngeal swab samples from veal calves was screened by PCR for bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), bovine parainfluenza-3 virus (BPI3V), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), influenza D virus (IDV), and influenza C virus (ICV). The following prevalence rates were observed: BRSV, 2.1%; BPI3V, 3.3%; BCoV, 53.5%; IDV, 4.1%; ICV, 0%. Logistic mixed regression models were built for BCoV to explore associations with calf management and housing. Positive swab samples were more frequent in younger calves than older calves (>100 days; p < 0.001). The probability of detecting BCoV increased with increasing group size in young calves. Findings from this study suggested that young calves should be fattened in small groups to limit the risk of occurrence of BCoV, although an extended spectrum of risk factors for viral associated respiratory disorders such as nutritional aspects should be considered in future studies.

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Lameness affects dairy cows worldwide and is usually associated with pain. Behavioral differences in lame compared to non-lame tie-stall-housed dairy cows might be less pronounced than in free-stall-housed, since the principle demands to a cow's locomotor system and thus the impact of lameness on behavior seem to be lower in tie stalls. Behavioral differences between lame and non-lame cows might be used to estimate the impact of lameness on the well-being of tied dairy cows. In the current study, lame cows were categorized as locomotion scoring between 2.25 and 3.25 on a 1-5 scale. The aim was to compare the eating, rumination and lying behavior of lame cows against non-lame tied dairy cows, in order to draw conclusions on the association of lameness, behavior and well-being in tied dairy cows. The eating and rumination behavior of 26, the lying behavior of 30, and the relative upright and lying activities of 25 matched case-control pairs were analyzed, considering the matching criteria farm, breed-type, and parity-group. Lame cows had fewer [mean of the pairwise differences (case-control) (meandiff) = -2.6 bouts, CI95% (-3.8--1.4) bouts, p = 0.001], but longer lying bouts [meandiff = 26.7 min per bout, CI95% (10.1-43.4) min per bout, p = 0.006]. The lying time was shorter [meandiff = -64.7 min, CI95% (-104.4--24.9) min, p = 0.006] in lame cows compared to their non-lame controls. Lame cows had a shorter eating time [meandiff = -27.7 min, CI95% (-51.5--4.0) min, p = 0.042] and spent a larger proportion of their upright time ruminating [meandiff = 7.2%, CI95% (3.2-11.1)%, p = 0.001] instead of eating. The results of the current study indicate that the eating, rumination, and lying behavior of lame tied dairy cows is altered. These findings indicate that slight and moderate lameness (locomotion score between 2.25 and 3.25 on a 1-5 scale) are likely to be associated with an impaired well-being in affected tied dairy cows. This underlines the need to continuously reduce the lameness prevalence and severity in tied dairy herds.

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Life history strategies often shape biological interactions by specifying the parameters for possible encounters, such as the timing, frequency, or way of exposure to parasites. Consequentially, alterations in life-history strategies are closely intertwined with such interaction processes. Understanding the connection between life-history alterations and host-parasite interactions can therefore be important to unveil potential links between adaptation to environmental change and changes in interaction processes. Here, we studied how two different host-parasite interaction processes, oral and hemocoelic exposure to bacteria, affect various life histories of the Glanville fritillary butterfly Melitaea cinxia. We either fed or injected adult butterflies with the bacterium Micrococcus luteus and observed for differences in immune defenses, reproductive life histories, and longevity, compared to control exposures. Our results indicate differences in how female butterflies adapt to the two exposure types. Orally infected females showed a reduction in clutch size and an earlier onset of reproduction, whereas a reduction in egg weight was observed for hemocoelically exposed females. Both exposure types also led to shorter intervals between clutches and a reduced life span. These results indicate a relationship between host-parasite interactions and changes in life-history strategies. This relationship could cast restrictions on the ability to adapt to new environments and consequentially influence the population dynamics of a species in changing environmental conditions.

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Eusocial insects, such as ants, have access to complex disease defenses both at the individual, and at the colony level. However, different species may be exposed to different diseases, and/or deploy different methods of coping with disease. Here, we studied and compared survival after fungal exposure in 12 species of ants, all of which inhabit similar habitats. We exposed the ants to two entomopathogenic fungi (Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium brunneum), and measured how exposure to these fungi influenced survival. We furthermore recorded hygienic behaviors, such as autogrooming, allogrooming and trophallaxis, during the days after exposure. We found strong differences in autogrooming behavior between the species, but none of the study species performed extensive allogrooming or trophallaxis under the experimental conditions. Furthermore, we discuss the possible importance of the metapleural gland, and how the secondary loss of this gland in the genus Camponotus could favor a stronger behavioral response against pathogen threats.

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Organisms are simultaneously exposed to multiple stresses, which requires regulation of the resistance to each stress. Starvation is one of the most severe stresses organisms encounter, yet nutritional state is also one of the most crucial conditions on which other stress resistances depend. Concomitantly, organisms often deploy lower immune defenses when deprived of resources. This indicates that the investment into starvation resistance and immune defenses is likely to be subject to trade-offs. Here, we investigated the impact of starvation and oral exposure to bacteria on survival and gene expression in the ant Formica exsecta. Of the three bacteria used in this study, only Serratia marcescens increased the mortality of the ants, whereas exposure to Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas entomophila alleviated the effects of starvation. Both exposure to bacteria and starvation induced changes in gene expression, but in different directions depending on the species of bacteria used, as well as on the nutritional state of the ants.

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Short term variation in environmental conditions requires individuals to adapt via changes in behavior and/or physiology. In particular variation in temperature and humidity are common, and the physiological adaptation to changes in temperature and humidity often involves alterations in gene expression, in particular that of heat-shock proteins. However, not only traits involved in the resistance to environmental stresses, but also other traits, such as immune defenses, may be influenced indirectly by changes in temperature and humidity. Here we investigated the response of the ant F. exsecta to two temperature regimes (20°C & 25°C), and two humidity regimes (50% & 75%), for two populations. We measured the survival and the expression of six metabolism- and immunity-related genes, and furthermore compared the expression levels in each condition with the pre-experiment expression levels. Both populations survived equally well at the two humidities, but one population showed higher mortality at 25°C than 20°, at 50% humidity. Similarly, the two populations showed striking differences in their gene expression before the experiment, and in their responses to the environmental conditions. Surprisingly, instead of converging to similar expression levels in the same environmental conditions, gene expression diverged further apart. This indicates different reaction norms to both temperature and humidity for the two populations. Furthermore, our results suggest that also immune defenses are indirectly affected by environmental conditions.

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Protection against inflammation and oxidative stress is key in slowing down aging processes. The honey bee (Apis mellifera) shows flexible aging patterns linked to the social role of individual bees. One molecular factor associated with honey bee aging regulation is vitellogenin, a lipoglycophosphoprotein with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Recently, we identified three genes in Hymenopteran genomes arisen from ancient insect vitellogenin duplications, named vg-like-A, -B, and -C. The function of these vitellogenin homologs is unclear. We hypothesize that some of them might share gene- and protein-level similarities and a longevity-supporting role with vitellogenin. Here, we show how the structure and modifications of the vg-like genes and proteins have diverged from vitellogenin. Furthermore, all three vg-like genes show signs of positive selection, but the spatial location of the selected protein sites differ from those found in vitellogenin. We show that all these genes are expressed in both long-lived winter worker bees and in summer nurse bees with intermediate life expectancy, yet only vg-like-A shows elevated expression in winter bees as found in vitellogenin. Finally, we show that vg-like-A responds more strongly than vitellogenin to inflammatory and oxidative conditions in summer nurse bees, and that also vg-like-B responds to oxidative stress. We associate vg-like-A and, to lesser extent, vg-like-B to the antiaging roles of vitellogenin, but that vg-like-C probably is involved in some other function. Our analysis indicates that an ancient duplication event facilitated the adaptive and functional divergence of vitellogenin and its paralogs in the honey bee.

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The genetic conflict between parents and their offspring is a cornerstone of kin selection theory and the gene-centred view of evolution, but whether it actually occurs in natural systems remains an open question. Conflict operates only if parenting is driven by genetic trade-offs between offspring performance and the parent's ability to raise additional offspring, and its expression critically depends on the shape of these trade-offs. Here we investigate the occurrence and nature of genetic conflict in an insect with maternal care, the earwig Forficula auricularia. Specifically, we test for a direct response to experimental selection on female future reproduction and correlated responses in current offspring survival, developmental rate and growth. The results demonstrate genetic trade-offs that differ in shape before and after hatching. Our study not only provides direct evidence for parent-offspring conflict but also highlights that conflict is not inevitable and critically depends on the genetic trade-offs shaping parental investment.

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Families with parental care show a parent-offspring conflict over the amount of parental investment. To date, the resolution of this conflict was modeled as being driven by either purely within-brood or between-brood competition. In reality the partitioning of parental resources within- versus between-broods is an evolving life history trait, which can be affected by parent-offspring interactions. This coevolutionary feedback between life history and family interactions may influence the evolutionary process and outcome of parent-offspring coadaptation. We used a genetic framework for a simulation model where we allowed parental parity to coevolve with traits that determine parental investment. The model included unlinked loci for clutch size, parental sensitivity, baseline provisioning, and offspring begging. The simulation showed that tight coadaptation of parent and offspring traits only occurred in iteroparous outcomes whereas semelparous outcomes were characterized by weak coadaptation. When genetic variation in clutch size was unrestricted in the ancestral population, semelparity and maximal begging with poor coadaptation evolved throughout. Conversely, when genetic variation was limited to iteroparous conditions, and/or when parental sensitivity was treated as an evolutionarily fixed sensory bias, coadapted outcomes were more likely. Our findings show the influence of a feedback between parity, coadaptation, and conflict on the evolution of parent-offspring interactions.

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