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Replication data for: Redefining dominance calculation: Increased competition flattens the dominance hierarchy in dairy cows

Sheng, Kehan Sky; Sheng, Kehan Sky; Foris, Borbala; Krahn, Joseph; Weary, Daniel; von Keyserlingk, Marina

Dominance hierarchies are known for mitigating conflicts and guiding priority of access to limited resources in gregarious animals. The dominance hierarchy of dairy cows is typically constructed using agonistic interactions, usually monitored at the feed bunk right after fresh feed delivery when competition is high resulting in numerous interactions. Yet, the outcome of agonistic interactions under time of high competition time may be more influenced by cows’ high valuation of fresh feed than their intrinsic dominance attributes. Thus, the dominance hierarchy constructed using agonistic interactions under high versus low competition times might differ. The aim of this study was to test how the structure of the dominance hierarchy changes in relation to different levels of competition. We monitored a dynamically changing group of 48 lactating dairy cows over 10 mo with 6 cows exchanged every 16 d, totally 159 cows. We used a validated algorithm to continuously detect the actor and reactor of replacement behaviors as cows competed for feed. We calculated feeder occupancy, the percentage of occupied feed bins, to characterize competition at the moment of each replacement, and created 25 corresponding dominance hierarchies using Elo ratings for occupancy levels ranging from 13% to 100%. With each 10% rise in feeder occupancy, hierarchy steepness fell by 0.02 (R2 = 0.96) and two-way dyads rose by 1.3% (R2 = 0.84). The win rate of the dominant cow within dyads declined with increased feeder occupancy (y = -0.11x -0.21, P < 0.001). Our findings provide evidence that there is noticeable variation in inferred hierarchies based on the competition context, with high competition flattening the hierarchy as subordinate animals succeed more in replacing others in order to gain feed access. This finding underscores that during heightened competition, the valuation of resources impacts agonistic behaviors and the subsequently constructed dominance hierarchy more than the individual's intrinsic dominance attributes. We recommend that researchers avoid using agonistic interactions occurring immediately after fresh feed delivery to establish dominance hierarchies. We also urge researchers to differentiate agonistic interactions based on context when constructing dominance hierarchies to draw inferences on animal behavior, cognition and health.

Dataset

University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0438289

https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/HT9EHX

Dataverse