Behavioural response to humans and the productivity of commercial dairy cows

This study examined the relationships between the attitude and the behaviour of the stockperson towards cows and the behavioural response to humans and the milk production of cows at 31 commercial dairy farms over one lactation. The attitude of the stockperson was measured on the basis of the stockp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied animal behaviour science 2000-03, Vol.66 (4), p.273-288
Main Authors: Breuer, K, Hemsworth, P.H, Barnett, J.L, Matthews, L.R, Coleman, G.J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animal behavior
Attitude
attitudes to work
Behaviour
Cows
dairy cows
Fear
fearfulness
human behavior
Human–animal interaction
milk fat yield
milk protein yield
milk yield
milkability
Productivity
Stock person
stockmen
Stress
stress response
vocalization
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Summary:This study examined the relationships between the attitude and the behaviour of the stockperson towards cows and the behavioural response to humans and the milk production of cows at 31 commercial dairy farms over one lactation. The attitude of the stockperson was measured on the basis of the stockperson's opinion of the cow's behaviour and how the stockperson evaluated his own behaviour. The behaviour of the stockperson was measured by recording the nature and frequency of the tactile interactions and some visual and auditory interactions directed towards the cows. The behavioural response of cows to humans was assessed by observing their approach behaviour to an unfamiliar experimenter in a standard test and production records were collected for the entire lactation at each farm. Correlation and regression analyses using farm averages were used to examine relationships between human and cow variables. Several cow behaviour variables, indicative of fear of humans, were moderately ( P
ISSN:0168-1591
1872-9045
DOI:10.1016/S0168-1591(99)00097-0