The influence of feeding and handling on the development of the human–animal interactions in young cattle

Abstract

The effect of feeding and handling on the response of young cattle to humans was investigated using 40 Danish Friesian calves removed from their dam immediately after birth. From day 3 to 17 of age calves were either: fed by humans and handled (stroking); fed by humans but not handled; fed without visual contact with humans and handled; or fed without visual contact with humans and not handled (control). Observations during the handling and/or feeding treatments revealed that calves fed with a human present performed more bunting behaviour but performed less play behaviour than those handled but not fed. The approach behaviour of each calf to an unknown person was assessed at days 3, 17, 32, and 62 in both their home pen and in an arena. In the home pen, handling had no effect on latency to interact with the person, but at days 17, 32, and 62 calves fed by humans were quicker to interact with a person than those fed without a human present. When tested in the arena, no consistent significant treatment effects were found at any age in latencies to approach or interact with the person. In a third test, the approach behaviour towards a person when social companions were present was assessed. With the human present only, time spent within 1 m of the person did not differ with age or treatment (17 to 62 days). But when two other calves were present, latency to approach the person increased ( p<0.05) and time spent near the person decreased ( p<0.05) with age. It is concluded that feeding has a greater influence on the responses of young calves towards humans than handling. However, this appears to be limited to the location in which the feeding took place. Despite receiving no additional handling, calves that were fed without a human present readily approached and interacted with an unknown person and spent a large proportion of time near the person in the arena tests, suggesting that handling in the first 2 days after birth may be very important in the development of the subsequent interactions between humans and cattle.