. 2023 May 16;21(5):e07993. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.7993

Table 42.

ABMs for comfort behaviour

ABM	Description of the ABM
Self‐grooming	Definition: Licking any part of the cow's own body, scratching with foot or horn or rubbing against object (Horvath and Miller‐Cushon, 2019). Absence or low levels of self‐grooming indicate the inability to perform comfort behaviour. Feasibility: Low ‐ Direct observation of self‐grooming at cow individual or group level. Requires long term observations for reliable data. Sensitivity and Specificity: High sensitivity and low specificity (in cows with healthy integument, specificity is high but self‐grooming may also result from external parasites)
Brush use	Definition: Cows touches brush with any part of the body (Newby et al., 2013). It is assumed that brush availability and placement is adequate. Absence or low levels of brush use indicate the inability to perform comfort behaviour. Feasibility: Low ‐ Direct observation of brush use at cow individual or group level. Requires long term observations for reliable data. Brush use can also be detected through sensors, but reliability questionable (Toaff‐Rosenstein et al., 2017). Sensitivity and Specificity: High sensitivity and low specificity (in cows with healthy integument, specificity is high, but brush use may also result from external parasites)
Allo‐grooming (at cow individual level)	Definition: Repeated licking movements carried out by a cow on any part of the body of another individual, except the ano‐genital area (De Freslon et al., 2020). Low levels of allo‐grooming are assumed to indicate the inability to perform comfort behaviour. However, the validity of the ABM is unclear as it may also reflect social tension within the herd or lack of other stimuli. Feasibility: Low ‐ Direct observation of allo‐grooming at cow individual or group level. Requires long term observations for reliable data. Sensitivity and Specificity: Low sensitivity and low specificity (in situations of tension within the herd)

ABM

Description of the ABM

Self‐grooming

Definition: Licking any part of the cow's own body, scratching with foot or horn or rubbing against object (Horvath and Miller‐Cushon, 2019). Absence or low levels of self‐grooming indicate the inability to perform comfort behaviour.

Feasibility: Low ‐ Direct observation of self‐grooming at cow individual or group level. Requires long term observations for reliable data.

Sensitivity and Specificity: High sensitivity and low specificity (in cows with healthy integument, specificity is high but self‐grooming may also result from external parasites)

Brush use

Definition: Cows touches brush with any part of the body (Newby et al., 2013). It is assumed that brush availability and placement is adequate. Absence or low levels of brush use indicate the inability to perform comfort behaviour.

Feasibility: Low ‐ Direct observation of brush use at cow individual or group level. Requires long term observations for reliable data. Brush use can also be detected through sensors, but reliability questionable (Toaff‐Rosenstein et al., 2017).

Sensitivity and Specificity: High sensitivity and low specificity (in cows with healthy integument, specificity is high, but brush use may also result from external parasites)

Allo‐grooming (at cow individual level)

Definition: Repeated licking movements carried out by a cow on any part of the body of another individual, except the ano‐genital area (De Freslon et al., 2020). Low levels of allo‐grooming are assumed to indicate the inability to perform comfort behaviour. However, the validity of the ABM is unclear as it may also reflect social tension within the herd or lack of other stimuli.

Feasibility: Low ‐ Direct observation of allo‐grooming at cow individual or group level. Requires long term observations for reliable data.

Sensitivity and Specificity: Low sensitivity and low specificity (in situations of tension within the herd)