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Related Experiment Videos

Aversion learning techniques to evaluate dairy cattle handling practices.

Pajor1, Rushen, de Passillé AM

  • 1Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, J1M 1Z3, Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada

Applied Animal Behaviour Science
|July 25, 2000
PubMed
Summary

Aversion learning techniques identified that hitting and shouting are the most aversive handling practices for dairy cattle. Gentling and hand feeding were not found to be significantly different from control conditions.

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Area of Science:

  • Animal Behavior
  • Animal Welfare Science
  • Applied Ethology

Background:

  • Fear of humans causes stress in Holstein dairy cattle, often due to aversive handling.
  • Understanding cattle's perception of handling is crucial for improving their welfare.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify specific handling practices that dairy cattle perceive as most aversive using aversion learning.
  • To evaluate the effectiveness of the aversion race method in discriminating between different handling stimuli.

Main Methods:

  • An aversion race was used, where cattle repeatedly walked a race with different treatments applied at the end.
  • Measurements included time and force required to traverse the race, correlating with the aversiveness of the treatment.
  • Experiments involved various treatments such as hitting, shouting, brushing, electric prods, tail twists, and positive reinforcement (food, gentling).

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Main Results:

  • Hitting and shouting treatments significantly increased the time and force cattle needed to move through the race compared to control.
  • Electric prods and shouting also resulted in increased time and force.
  • Brushing was perceived as more aversive than food, but gentling and hand feeding did not significantly differ from control.

Conclusions:

  • Aversion learning techniques, particularly the aversion race, can effectively differentiate between highly aversive and less aversive handling practices in cattle.
  • The method showed limitations in distinguishing between treatments with subtle differences in aversiveness.
  • Findings highlight the negative impact of harsh handling on cattle stress and inform best practices for animal management.