Effect of previous stroking on reactions to a veterinary procedure: Behaviour and heart rate of dairy cows

Schmied, Claudia; Boivin, Xavier; Scala, Sebastian; Waiblinger, Susanne

doi:10.1075/is.11.3.08sch

Article published In: Human–Animal Interaction
Edited by Márta Gácsi and Ádám Miklósi
[Interaction Studies 11:3] 2010
► pp. 467–481

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Effect of previous stroking on reactions to a veterinary procedure

Behaviour and heart rate of dairy cows

Claudia Schmied | University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria

Xavier Boivin | INRA, France

Sebastian Scala | University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria

Susanne Waiblinger | University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria

Published online: 17 November 2010

https://doi.org/10.1075/is.11.3.08sch

This study investigated the effect of stroking vs. simple human presence on later reactions of dairy cows to routine veterinary handling. While in two groups of cows the experimenter stroked the ventral part of the neck (Neck, N = 14) or the withers (Withers, N = 15) for three consecutive weeks, the third group was exposed to close visual presence (Control, N = 14). After the treatment period the cows were subjected to rectal palpation. The three groups differed significantly in stepping during rectal palpation, which occurred less often in Neck- and Withers-animals than in control animals. Heart rate increase was significantly higher in the control group than in the two stroking groups. Previous stroking led to fewer stress reactions during the rectal palpation, possibly due to a combined effect of improved relationship towards and thus perception of humans and lasting anti-stress effects of tactile stimulation. Keywords: cattle; tactile stimulation; human–animal relationship; animal welfare

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