EVALUATING LONG-TERM PERFORMANCE AND WELFARE IMPLICATIONS OF EARLY SOCIAL NETWORKS IN DAIRY CATTLE

The research goal of this project is to characterize social bond formation during ontogeny of dairy calves and assess associations between early life social networks and long-term reproductive outcomes and stress responses in dairy cattle. Considering the growing use of location tracking technology across sectors including agriculture and the adoption of 'precision farming' in the livestock industry, social networks offer a novel means to develop an efficient and non-invasive tool yielding a behavioral phenotype relevant for dairy cattle management and welfare. Ultimately, improved measurement of early life behavioral phenotypes, and understanding of their association with later life outcomes, offers a means to potentially predict longer-term welfare and productivity of dairy cattle.Specific goals are toaddress the impact of early social bonds (social network position) on long-term responses:Objective 1. Behavioral and physiological measures of dairy heifers, as measured based on transition to a novel environment and a biomarker of stress-related hormones.Objective 2. Reproductive success and performance of dairy heifers, as assessed based on growth, age at onset of cycling, age at first calving, latency to first offspring, and milk yield in first lactation.