Bridging the gap between human behaviour and animal welfare: A study on human behaviour change and body condition scoring of suckler cows

There are several examples of best animal husbandry practices that are not adopted, leading to animal welfare compromises. Bridging this gap between advice and human behaviour is crucial in helping drive improvements in animal welfare. Inappropriate feeding of pregnant cows is common and associated with compromised health and welfare. Obesity and leanness can cause calving difficulty and reduce the vigour of newborn calves. One way to offset the problems associated with body condition extremes is to adopt body condition scoring (BCS) by hand. Knowing each animal's condition helps the farmer identify 'at risk' cows leading to better feeding decisions and improved health and welfare. Despite the significant benefits of BCS, very few farmers routinely adopt this practice, relying more upon a visual assessment of condition. Some farmers also report that they do not BCS by hand, or by eye. The current study identified the key barriers and drivers of BCS by hand to develop an evidence-based intervention designed to encourage more adoption. We propose that human behaviour change frameworks, such as the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), present the opportunity to address other animal welfare issues where best management practices are rarely adopted. We also recommend that an interdisciplinary team of animal welfare and social scientists are best positioned to develop human behaviour change interventions that will more likely lead to tangible, persistent and positive change.