No effects of tactile stimulation on welfare indicators of Saanen goat kids: a pilot study

Andrioli, Mayara; Grajales-Cedeño, Joseph Kaled; Carvalhal, Monique Valéria de Lima; Costa, Mateus José Rodrigues Paranhos da

doi:10.4025/actascianimsci.v47i1.69820

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ANIMAL PRODUCTION • Acta Sci., Anim. Sci. 47 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.4025/actascianimsci.v47i1.69820 linkcopy

No effects of tactile stimulation on welfare indicators of Saanen goat kids: a pilot study

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of tactile stimulation on the welfare of goat kids. Thirty-six goat kids were allocated into three treatments as follows: TSG = taking the goat kids out of the cage every day when they received tactile stimulation, RCG = taking the goat kids out of the cage for 5 s, and NRS = not taking the goat kids out of the cage nor receiving tactile stimulation. TSG goat kids received tactile stimulation once a day, for two minutes, from the 3^rd to the 40^th day. Goat kids' welfare was assessed by considering performance, health, and behavioral indicators. During the voluntary approach test, 96.5% of the goat kids voluntarily approached familiar and unfamiliar humans. There were significant effects only on the interaction between treatment and age on time spent in the corners and time playing (KW = 27.54 and 47.83, p < 0.01, respectively). We conclude that tactile stimulation did not affect any of the welfare indicators addressed in this study.

Keywords:
human-animal interactions; performance; health; behavior

Authorship

Mayara Andrioli

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência Animal, Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Etologia e Ecologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Via de Acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n., 14884-900, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Estadual PaulistaBrazilJaboticabal, São Paulo, BrazilPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ciência Animal, Grupo de Estudos e Pesquisas em Etologia e Ecologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Via de Acesso Professor Paulo Donato Castellane, s/n., 14884-900, Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil

Joseph Kaled Grajales-Cedeño

Departamento de Zootecnia, Faculdad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad de Panamá, Provincia de Panamá, PanamáUniversidad de PanamáPanamáProvincia de Panamá, PanamáDepartamento de Zootecnia, Faculdad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad de Panamá, Provincia de Panamá, Panamá

Monique Valéria de Lima Carvalhal

Mateus José Rodrigues Paranhos da Costa ^** Author for correspondence. E-mail: mateus.paranhos@unesp.br

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0088-4008

* Author for correspondence. E-mail: mateus.paranhos@unesp.br

SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Figures | Tables

Figures (1)
Tables (3)

Thumbnail

Figure 1
Box plots of (a) the time spent by each goat kid in the corners of the test room (TOC) and (b) time spent playing (PLAY) according to the treatments TSG = taking the kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding and tactile stimulating them for two minutes; RCG = removing the kids from the cages for 5 s and putting them back; and NRS = maintaining the kids inside the cages throughout the experimental period, with no removal or tactile stimulation ), and goat kids age (15, 30, 45, and 60 days). The line within the box represents the median and the circles represent the outliers.

Thumbnail

Table 1
Means ± standard errors of body weight (BW, kg) and average daily gain (ADG, kg day^-1) of goat kids (n = 36) according to the treatments (TSG = taking the kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding and tactile stimulation for two minutes; RCG = removing the kids from the cages for 5 s and putting them back; and NRS = maintaining the kids inside the cages throughout the experimental period, with no removal or tactile stimulation ), and goat kids gender (females and males) and age (15, 30, 45 and 60 days). Lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Thumbnail

Table 2
Number of days of occurrence of clinical signs of diarrhea (DIA), ocular (OD), and nasal discharge (ND) according to the treatments (TSG = taking the goat kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding when they received tactile stimulation, RCG = taking the goat kids out of the cage for 5 s and putting them back, and NRS = not taking the goat kids out of the cage or receiving tactile stimulation).

Thumbnail

Table 3
Means ± standard error of vocalizations (VOC) and time attempting to escape from the room (TAE, s) according to the treatments (TSG = taking the goat kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding when they received tactile stimulation, RCG = taking the goat kids out of the cage for 5 s and putting them back, and NRS = not taking the goat kids out of the cage nor receiving tactile stimulation), and goat kids gender (females and males), and age (15, 30, 45, and 60 days). Lower-case letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

imageFigure 1 Box plots of (a) the time spent by each goat kid in the corners of the test room (TOC) and (b) time spent playing (PLAY) according to the treatments TSG = taking the kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding and tactile stimulating them for two minutes; RCG = removing the kids from the cages for 5 s and putting them back; and NRS = maintaining the kids inside the cages throughout the experimental period, with no removal or tactile stimulation ), and goat kids age (15, 30, 45, and 60 days). The line within the box represents the median and the circles represent the outliers. open_in_new

table_chartTable 1 Means ± standard errors of body weight (BW, kg) and average daily gain (ADG, kg day^-1) of goat kids (n = 36) according to the treatments (TSG = taking the kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding and tactile stimulation for two minutes; RCG = removing the kids from the cages for 5 s and putting them back; and NRS = maintaining the kids inside the cages throughout the experimental period, with no removal or tactile stimulation ), and goat kids gender (females and males) and age (15, 30, 45 and 60 days). Lowercase letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Sources of variation	BW	ADG
Treatment
TSG	7.78 ± 0.25	0.11 ± 0.007
RCG	7.41 ± 0.23	0.11 ± 0.006
NRS	7.70 ± 0.22	0.12 ± 0.006
Gender
Female	7.33 ± 0.15b	0.11 ± 0.004
Male	7.94 ± 0.23a	0.12 ± 0.006
Age (days)
15	4.43 ± 0.16d	0.09 ± 0.004c
30	6.40 ± 0.16c	0.11 ± 0.004b
45	9.08 ± 0.16b	0.12 ± 0.004a
60	10.62 ± 0.16a	0.13 ± 0.004a

table_chartTable 2 Number of days of occurrence of clinical signs of diarrhea (DIA), ocular (OD), and nasal discharge (ND) according to the treatments (TSG = taking the goat kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding when they received tactile stimulation, RCG = taking the goat kids out of the cage for 5 s and putting them back, and NRS = not taking the goat kids out of the cage or receiving tactile stimulation).

Treatment	Clinical signs of disease (number of days)
Treatment	DIA	OD	ND
TSG	2	4	4
RCG	5	5	11
NRS	3	1	0

table_chartTable 3 Means ± standard error of vocalizations (VOC) and time attempting to escape from the room (TAE, s) according to the treatments (TSG = taking the goat kids out of the cage every day after morning milk feeding when they received tactile stimulation, RCG = taking the goat kids out of the cage for 5 s and putting them back, and NRS = not taking the goat kids out of the cage nor receiving tactile stimulation), and goat kids gender (females and males), and age (15, 30, 45, and 60 days). Lower-case letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).

Sources of variation	VOC (frequency)	TAE (s)
Treatment
TSG	21.4 ± 4.09	4.24 ± 1.02
RCG	21.3 ± 3.70	3.90 ± 0.91
NRS	28.9 ± 0.352	2.82 ± 0.87
Gender
Female	23.8 ± 2.50	2.63 ± 0.62
Male	24.0 ± 3.58	4.68 ± 0.88
Age (days)
15	49.0 ± 3.14a	0.65 ± 0.88c
30	20.3 ± 2.98b	1.62 ± 0.81c
45	14.5 ± 2.98b	4.26 ±.081b
60	11.9 ± 3.03b	8.08 ± 0.83a

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