CORTISOL CONCENTRATION AND FAECES AS ANIMAL WELFARE INDICATOR IN ORGANIC DAIRY COWS

Cortisol is frequently used to detect changes in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis (HPA), which in turn regulates many biological processes such as energy balance, reproduction or immune responses, but it is also activated by stress conditions. For many years, cortisol was measured primarily in blood, saliva or urine, whereas later approaches added other matrices as hair and feces for non-invasive monitoring of HPA functioning. The aim of this study was to investigate the cortisol concentration of dairy cows reared in organic farming system obtained from two different matrices: hair and feces. The study involved 20 cows from two organic farms located near Florence (Mugello area). Samples of hair were taken from the tail switch and feces were directly picked up from the rectum ampule. Hair cortisol extraction and determination were performed according to validated methods. ANOVA test was applied to check differences between hair ad fecal cortisol. Significant differences were observed between the two biological matrices (1.6 vs 1.0 pg/mg respectively for hair and fecal cortisol), nevertheless the scored levels did not indicate a state of animal suffering.