Abstract
The animal-human relationship is essential for farm animal welfare and production. Generally, gentle tactile and vocal interactions improve the animal-human relationship in cattle. However, cows that are fearful of humans avoid their close presence and touch; thus, the animal-human relationship first has to be improved to a point where the animals accept stroking before their perception of the interactions and consequently the animal-human relationship can become positive. We tested whether the animal-human relationship of cows fearful of humans is improved more effectively by gentle interactions during restraint, allowing physical contact from the beginning, or if the gentle interactions are offered while the animals are free to move, giving them more control over the situation and thus probably a higher level of agency and a more positive perception of the interactions. Thirty-six dairy cows (median avoidance distance 1.6 m) were assigned to three treatments (each n = 12): gentle vocal and tactile interactions during restraint in the feeding rack (LOCK); gentle vocal and, if possible, tactile interactions while free in the barn (FREE); routine management without additional interactions (CON). Treatments were applied for 3 min per cow on 10 d per fortnight for 6 weeks (i.e., three periods). Avoidance and approach behaviour towards humans was tested before the start of the treatment period, and then at 2-week intervals. The recorded variables were reduced to one score by Principal Component Analysis. The resulting relationship score (higher values implying a better relationship with humans) increased in all groups; the increase was stronger in FREE than in CON, with the increase in LOCK being not significantly different from the other treatment groups. Thus, we recommend that gentle interactions with cows should take place while they are unrestrained, if possible.
Highlights
Nowadays, there is largely a consensus in the field of animal welfare science that farmed animals should have a good quality of life, a life mostly free of aversive experiences [1,2]
To investigate the interaction between treatment and test number in more detail, we calculated the change in the relationship score from test 1 to test 4 and from test 1 to test 5, as the most obvious effects of the treatment were expected for tests 4 and 5. We evaluated both resulting variables with linear mixed model (LMM) including the same random effects as the main model and treatment as the only fixed effect, and corrected the results for multiple testing using false discovery rate control (FDRC) [28]
Interacting gently with free-moving dairy cows in the barn improved the animal-human relationship to a higher degree than interactions during restraint in the feeding rack
Summary
There is largely a consensus in the field of animal welfare science that farmed animals should have a good quality of life, a life mostly free of aversive experiences [1,2]. In order to take advantage of the benefits of a good animal-human relationship mentioned above, it is necessary to improve the perception of the human from negative to neutral and possibly already positive, so that gentle tactile interactions can take place This happens in the beginning mainly by habituation, first to the human’s presence, decreasing the distance to the animals over time, and probably to physical contact with the human, so that the animals do not fear the person anymore, resulting in a more neutral perception of humans. The animals are usually able to enjoy the interactions, and once this point is reached, the improvement of the animal-human relationship can proceed due to positive reinforcement
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
