Came across this article when searching for stress studies in cattle. I’ve been more and more interested in examining behavior and stress as I’ve read more Temple Grandin. I think it’s a field I can explore as I look for things I want to do with my DVM. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with clients and animals in a clinic setting, but I don’t see myself as a business owner, and I really want to look at what else is out there. Options I’ve been exploring are USDA jobs, lab work, and of course research through the college and elsewhere. Anyway, Giovanna Rosenlicht got me into the habit of reading journal articles in my spare time, which is great and actually really interesting….I am a nerd.

Anyway I don’t have too much to say about this article, the methods are sound and thorough, 395 animals used is a sample size I can get behind. Too many studies especially with companion animals have pitiful sample sizes of like 20 animals. Anyway, following reading the discussion, the dramatic difference I expected to see in the people acclimated group was not present. However there was a final statement that acclimation did have an inconsistent positive effect on reproduction success.

I have a vested interest in animal welfare, and I strongly support an approach that helps the industry see benefit, rather than dig trenches. Studies like this are the only way non-radical, educated, and effective welfare decisions can be made. What happens when people try to make knee-jerk responses to animal welfare? Look at the ban on horse slaughter and the subsequent problems associated with that piece of feel-good legislation.

Anyway, I get sidetracked, this post was supposed to be concerning the article. One of the main points that is crucial to the focus of the study was the correlation with excitable temperament (as often seen in Bos Indicus ancestry cattle) and elevated cortisol concentrations; which are detrimental to multiple physiological systems in the body, and result in “subclinical health disorders that negatively affect cattle reproduction, such as lethargy, lameness, and immunosuppression.” With cortisol levels (along with epinephrine and many other endocrine secretions that are a result of handling and housing stress) being a quantitative measure of animal health and contentment, this data will add onto the already large stack of evidence that the better we treat our meat/eggs/milk, the better product we receive.

It’s unfortunate that a larger and more consistent correlation was not found within the study, but the data is still sound, and definitely leaves room for further study in specific age groups, species and breeds, and other acclimation techniques.

It is also worth mentioning that this research was carried out in Florida, but one of the authors is now doing research at the Oregon State Burns research station. I’ll be looking for and have found many related articles from that location/author and will be discussing more of those in the future.