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Responses of positively handled calves to human interactions and disbudding

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

G.L. Charlton  and
E.C.L. Bleach
G.L. Charlton
Affiliation:
Writtle College, Chelmsford, United Kingdom
E.C.L. Bleach
Affiliation:
Writtle College, Chelmsford, United Kingdom
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Extract

Cattle have an innate fear of humans that may be reinforced during the potentially painful routine husbandry procedures performed by humans during the rearing of young calves. This fear may be reduced by positive handling of calves early in the rearing period (Krohn et al., 2001) and by use of calming devices such as blindfolds (Mitchell et al., 2004). Mitchell et al, (2004) found that blindfolding cattle during restraint and simulated husbandry procedures reduced struggling by 44% and decreased heart rate compared to control cattle with unrestricted vision. However, this study did not test the effectiveness of the blindfold during actual invasive procedures. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether blindfolding during disbudding and positive handling of dairy calves would influence the response of calves to human interactions.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2007 , April 2007 , pp. 43
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2007

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References

Krohn, C.C., Jago, J.G. and Boivin, X. (2001) ‘The effect of early handling on the socialisation of young calves to humans’, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 74, 121–133.Google Scholar
Mitchell, K.D., Stookey, J.M., Laturnas, D.K., Watts, J.M., Haley, D.B. and Huyde, T. (2004) ‘The effects of blindfolding on behavior and heart rate in beef cattle during restraint’, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 85, 233–245.Google Scholar