Assessing the emotional states of dairy cows housed with or without their calves

Abstract

There is growing interest in keeping dairy cows with their calves. Cow-calf contact or lack thereof is expected to affect emotional states, but this requires empirical testing. Different types of cow-calf contact may also affect the emotional states of cows. The primary objective of this study was to assess the emotional state of dairy cows with full-time (23 h/d), part-time (10 h/d), or no contact with their calves (separated 48 h after birth), using a visual judgement bias test (JBT) about one month after calving; JBT is the current gold-standard method to assess emotional state in animals by evaluating optimism or pessimism (illustrated by the proverbial half-full or half-empty water glass). The secondary objective was to compare outcomes of color- versus shape-based visual JBT. Fifty dairy cows were trained to approach a positive image on a screen (rewarded with food) and to avoid a negative image (else punished with waving bag). Once learned (>80% correct over 2 consecutive days), cows were presented with 3 ambiguous images (each presented once per day among 4 positive and 3 negative images, repeated over 4 d), and their approach responses recorded. For the color method (10 full-time, 9 part-time and 11 no-contact cows), positive and negative images were a solid red or white background; ambiguous images were shades of pink. For the shape method (8 full-time, 6 part-time and 6 no-contact cows), positive and negative images were a white circle or cross on a black background; ambiguous images were overlaid circle and cross in varying shades of gray. Cows learned to discriminate colors quicker than shapes (7.3 d, CL: 6.6 - 8.2 d; vs. 9.3 d, CL: 8.1 - 10.6 d; P = 0.01). Approaches to ambiguous colors followed a generalization curve (81.0, 33.1 and 5.0 ± 3.7% for near-positive, middle and near-negative images, respectively), but not approaches to ambiguous shapes (31.9, 25.7 and 21.9 ± 4.8%, respectively), indicating colors over shapes should be used in visual JBT for cattle. Part-time cows approached fewer ambiguous color images than full-time cows (23.5%, CL: 13.4 - 34.4%; vs. 44.8%, CL; 32.8 - 57.1%; P = 0.02) while no-contact cows were intermediate, but not different from full-time or part-time cows (37.8%, CL; 26.8 - 49.5%; P > 0.08). The color JBT results show a pessimistic bias (indicating a negative emotional state) in cows with part-time calf contact, possibly due to repeated daily separation from her young calf, relative to cows with full-time calf contact. Thus, cow-calf contact systems appear to influence the emotional state of cows depending on the practice. Cows without calf contact showed no difference in judgement bias between cows with full- or part-time calf contact, suggesting these cows probably do not experience a pervasive negative emotional state (relative to those with calf contact) approximately 30 d after calf separation. However, individual variability in judgement bias was evident for all treatments. The visual judgement bias test is a useful methodology for assessing emotional states of dairy cows; future research should prioritize understanding the emotional states of dairy cows in alternative management systems.