Dataset from Hunger affects cognitive performance of dairy calves

Hunger remains a significant animal welfare concern as restricted feeding practices are common on farms. Studies to date have focused on negative effects on health and productivity but little research has addressed the <i>feeling of hunger</i>, mostly due to methodological difficulties in assessing animals' subjective experiences. Here, we explored the use of a cognitive approach to disentangle motivational hunger (a normal state that is of limited welfare concern) from distressful hunger (a state associated with intense negative emotions). Cognitive performance in a foraging task is expected to follow an inverted U relationship with hunger levels, providing an opportunity to make inferences about different hunger states. We assessed the effect of milk restriction on calf cognition in two experiments using a modified hole-board test. Experiment 1 showed that reducing milk allowance from 12 to 6 l d⁻¹ impaired all measures of cognitive performance. Experiment 2 showed that the same type of feed restriction also disrupted calves’ capacity to re-learn. We conclude that hunger associated with reduced milk allowance can disrupt cognitive performance of dairy calves, a result consistent with the experience of distressful hunger.