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Milk cortisol response to group relocation in lactating cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2017

Nataliya Pošćić
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari, Ambientali e Animali, Università di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy
Gianfranco Gabai
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata ed Alimentazione, Università di Padova, viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Bruno Stefanon
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari, Ambientali e Animali, Università di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy
Laura Da Dalt
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata ed Alimentazione, Università di Padova, viale dell'Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Sandy Sgorlon*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari, Ambientali e Animali, Università di Udine, via delle Scienze 208, 33100 Udine, Italy
*
*For correspondence; e-mail: sandy.sgorlon@uniud.it

Abstract

The aim of the study reported in this Research Communication was to analyse the variations of milk cortisol concentrations in response to the relocation of dairy cows between production groups. Milk cortisol measured during 3 consecutive days did not vary significantly in cows without environmental perturbation. However, relocation of cows caused a significant increase of cortisol in milk starting from the first milking after the group change. This suggests that cortisol in milk can be a suitable biomarker to assess the HPA response of dairy cows to a short/medium-term environmental challenge.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2017 

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