DOI: 10.31220/agriRxiv.2022.00150

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  Abstract: Abstract Farming with more than one livestock species has been discussed as being more sustainable compared to specialised production systems. Some potentially positive effects of multi-species livestock farming can only occur when different species share space, e.g. by co-grazing. To date there is limited research on the behaviour of animals in multi-species livestock groups. If co-grazing is adopted more widely, it is important to investigate its effect on the animals' behaviour and subsequently their welfare. One of the most prevalent species combinations in a survey of 126 multi-species livestock farms was cattle and poultry. Therefore, we aimed to describe and quantify inter-species interactions between young cattle and broiler chickens when co-grazing and descriptively compare intra-species interactions as well as maintenance, comfort and social behaviours between single- and multi-species groups of cattle and broilers on pasture. Additionally, we assessed fearfulness in broilers co-grazing with or without cattle as measured by Tonic Immobility (TI), an Inversion test and a Novel Object test. Across five replicates we observed three groups in each six-week cycle: One single-species group of ten cattle, one single-species group of 54 to 61 broilers, and one multi-species group of ten cattle and 54 to 61 broilers. Once per week the multi-species group was observed for 120 min using behaviour sampling to quantify the occurrence of inter- and intra-species interactions. On two other days per week, single- and multi-species groups were observed in a balanced order using continuous focal animal sampling to assess frequency and duration of maintenance, comfort and social behaviours for ten animals per species for 6 min each. During all observations scan sampling was performed every 6 minutes to count the number of visible animals per pasture sector. Across observation methods, two independent observers achieved high agreement for most behaviours. Inter-species interactions occurred two to three times per hour and ten animals per species, whereas intra-species interactions occurred between 18 and 28 times per hour and ten cattle or broilers. The most frequently observed inter-species interactions were cattle displacing broiler and broiler approaching cattle. More generally, maintenance, comfort and social behaviours as well as measures of fearfulness did not differ between animals in single- and multi-species groups, but the variation was high across observations. These findings should be verified with a greater number of animals and groups to be more applicable to commercial settings, but we conclude tentatively that co-grazing did not affect cattle or broilers negatively.

  Key words: cattle; multi; animals; species; single; broiler

  Submit time: 1 January 2022

  Copyright: The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted agriXiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.
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