Page 302 - The Welfare of Cattle

herdsManshIP and huMan InteraCtIon 279

Impact of Attitudes

Multiple studies have investigated the relationships between the attitude of stockpersons toward
animals, animal care activities, and the ultimate interaction and care afforded to animals (Fukasawa
et al., 2017; Waiblinger et al., 2002; Ward and Melfi, 2015). Attitudes of animal handlers toward
the animals they work with as well as extensive experience and knowledge of the species they work
with are conducive to good animal handling and welfare (Ward and Melfi, 2015).
Dairy stockpersons with greater composite attitude scores, defined through a series of survey
questionnaire items regarding petting and talking to cows, the ability of cows to recognize people,
and the ease of moving cows, had a positive impact on milk yield and protein concentration (Breuer
et al., 2000). In the same study, reduction in composite attitude score—indicative of increasingly
negative attitude toward dairy cows—had a negative correlation with the occurrence of flinch, step,
and kick behaviors by cows during milking. This means that as stockperson attitude toward the
cows they care for becomes increasingly negative, the cows display a greater incidence of flinches,
steps, and kicks during milking. Such behaviors have been identified as indicators of a cow’s rest-
lessness (Breuer et al., 2000). Although the authors in the previously mentioned study attributed the
restlessness to human interaction, they acknowledged that dairy cattle restlessness is also impacted
by other factors such as stray voltage within their environment, nutrient deficiency, social pressures
from other cows, and lameness.

CONCLUSIONS

herdsmanship and human Interaction are Very Important

The intimacy and duration of dairy cattle handling is unique to animal agriculture in the sense
that other species are not handled on a daily basis to carry out standard routines. As any animal
becomes acclimated to routine handling, it is likely that fear will subside and a reliance on routin-
ized behavior will be necessary to achieve desired handling outcomes. It is important for dairy
stock people to understand and embrace this substantial difference between dairy cattle and other
farm animal species. Researchers that have worked to better understand the relationship between
stockmanship and dairy cattle welfare and productivity have indicated that improvement of the
attitude and behavior of stockpeople has the potential to improve the welfare and productivity of
dairy cows. There is still much to learn regarding the development, remediation, and maintenance
of good stockmanship. In the meantime, it is imperative that stockpeople are consistently reminded
that it is not just acceptable to care and express empathy for dairy cattle—it is the very core of being
a good stockperson.

reFereNCeS

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Breuer, K., P. H. Hemsworth, J. L. Barnett, L. R. Matthews, and G. J. Coleman. 2000. Behavioural response to
humans and the productivity of commercial dairy cows. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 66:273–288.
Burton, R. J. F., S. Peoples, and M. H. Cooper. 2012. Building “cowshed cultures”: A cultural perspective on
the promotion of stockmanship and animal welfare on dairy farms. J. Rural Stud. 28:174–187.
Coleman, G. J., P. H. Hemsworth, and M. Hay. 1998. Predicting stockperson behavior towards pigs from atti-
tudinal and job-related variables and empathy. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 58:63–75.
de Passillé, A. M. and J. Rushen. 2005. Can we measure human-animal interactions in on-farm animal welfare
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