Early handling increases lamb affinity for humans

Markowitz, Tim M.; Dally, Martin R.; Gursky, Karin; Price, Edward O.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1997.0640

Cited by 85 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…This was also correlated with the calves' age and therefore, the time that they stayed on the mountain with their mothers without or with minimal human contacts. If the animals were older, it was more difficult for them to become accustomed to the new environment than the younger ones, as was suggested by Markowitz et al [23] in lambs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Analysis of temperament development during the fattening period in the semi-feral bovine calves of theAlberesMassif

et al. 2006

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-The aim of this study was to evaluate the progression of temperament in Alberes male calves during the fattening period. The Alberes breed is a semi-feral beef cattle breed of Catalonia (Spain) that lives endemically in the eastern extreme of the Pyrenees, a mountainous area. These animals were adapted to extensive management systems and their contact with humans was minimal until weaning. After weaning, eighty-four entire males from two consecutive years were reared in feedlot pens during the fattening period, weighed and graded for a temperament score once monthly. Behavioral records were analyzed under a repeated measures model, testing the influence of several systematic sources of variation. Three systematic effects reached statistical significance (P < 0.05): weight of the calf at the beginning of the fattening period, initial temperament score, and restraint session within the initial temperament score. Calves with moderate and high temperament scores at the beginning of the fattening period tended to moderate their temperament (P < 0.05), whereas calm calves did not show a significant trend. Our results suggest that behavioral agitation is decreasing over time in excitable calves, obtaining an acceptable level of tameness for these animals. The effect of the initial weight could be related with calf age, suggesting that older calves were less adaptable to intensive fattening systems.beef cattle / calf behavior / cattle handling / human-animal relation / calf welfare Résumé -Analyse du développement du tempérament pendant la période d'engraissement chez le jeune bovin semi-sauvage du massif des Albères. Le but de cette étude était d'évaluer l'évolution du tempérament des jeunes mâles de la race Albères pendant leur période d'engraissement. La race Albères est une race bovine semi-sauvage native de la Catalogne (Espagne). C'est une population endémique localisée à l'extrémité est des Pyrénées. Ces animaux ont été adaptés au système d'élevage extensif et leur contact avec les humains a été minimal jusqu'au sevrage. Après le sevrage, 84 mâles entiers, au cours de deux années consécutives, ont été élevés en feedlot pendant la période d'engraissement. Leur poids et leur tempérament (note de 1 à 5, du plus calme au plus nerveux) ont été évalués une fois par mois. Les comportements observés ont été analysés avec un modèle de mesures répétées, en examinant l'influence de plusieurs sources de variation. Ils ont été influencés (P < 0, 05) au cours de l'étude par trois facteurs : le poids du veau au début de la période d'engraissement, la note initiale de tempérament, et la note de tempérament pendant la session de contrainte (feedlot). Les animaux avec des notes de tempérament moyennes ou élevées au début de la période d'engraissement ont eu tendance à modérer leur tempérament (P < 0, 05) ; avec les animaux calmes aucune tendance significative n'a été montrée. Nos résultats suggèrent que l'agitation des animaux les plus nerveux diminue avec le temps, ce qui permet d'obtenir un niveau de domestication acce...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Analysis of temperament development during the fattening period in the semi-feral bovine calves of theAlberesMassif

et al. 2006

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“…In an agricultural context, however, human contact and handling appear to be beneficial to these animals, resulting in less fearful behaviour and positive physiological changes (Jackson and Hackett, 2007, Markowitz et al, 1998, Rushen et al, 1999, and the possibility exists that similar changes could be brought about in petting zoos, which often contain domesticated farm animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The visitor effect in petting zoo-housed animals: Aversive or enriching?

Farrand

Hosey

Buchanan‐Smith

2014

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Two studies were carried out on the effect of visitors on mixed-breed goats, llama, and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs housed in a petting zoo display within a safari park. In the first study we investigated the effect of the presence and density of visitors on the animals' behaviour and in the second, the effect of animal grooming by the visitors. We hypothesised that the animals' behaviour would be negatively affected by presence of visitors compared to periods of their absence, but this hypothesis was not fully supported by the data. Goat and llama behaviour was unaffected by the presence of the public, while the pigs showed decreased inactivity and social behaviour, both affiliative and aggressive, when visitors were present.All three study species exhibited increased levels of non-aggressive interaction with the public when visitor density was higher but the level of avoidance or aggression towards visitors was not dependent on density. The goats were less often in physical contact with other goats and less likely to be within proximity of a non-conspecific when visitor numbers were high, whereas the pigs showed decreased feeding, a behaviour that constituted a majority of their activity budget. Species differences were observed in the proportion of samples the study groups interacted in a non-aggressive manner with visitors, goats being most likely and llama the least likely to engage in this behaviour. In the second study visitors were provided with a grooming tool and asked to groom the animals, but no significant behavioural change was observed in either goats or pigs as a result. Visitors groomed goats, but not pigs, more than they interacted with them in non-grooming interactions, and goats, but not pigs, responded less to grooming as visitor density increased.Although significant behavioural changes in all three study species were associated with either visitor presence or density, the low levels of avoidance of visitors, visitor-directed aggression, or animaldirected aggression, suggest the welfare of the study animals was not profoundly impacted by visitorrelated stimuli. Furthermore, there was no evidence that grooming by the public was enriching for the animals. The species differences reported here do suggest, however, that Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs and 3 llama are more sensitive to visitor pressure than goats and particular attention to their welfare may be necessary when they are housed in petting zoo displays.

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“…Studies involving positive or neutral interactions between humans and animals indicate that early social contact with humans may influence the subsequent behaviour towards humans in pigs (Hemsworth et al, 1986b), and other farm animals such as sheep (Markowitz et al, 1998), goats (Boivin and Braastad, 1996) and cattle (Krohn et al, 2001). For instance, compared with piglets socialised later, piglets socialised with humans during the first 3 weeks of life showed less fear towards humans when tested at 18 weeks of age, suggesting that piglets' first week of life may represent a sensitive period of socialisation (Hemsworth and Barnett, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Piglets’ weaning behavioural response is influenced by quality of human–animal interactions during suckling

Sommavilla

Hötzel

Costa

2011

Animal

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The aim of this study was to compare the short-term post-weaning behaviour of piglets treated either neutrally or aversively during the suckling period. A total of 24 lactating sows and their litters were housed in different rooms according to treatment. A female experimenter (P1) was in charge of feeding and cleaning from days 10 to 27 after birth. For the aversive treatment (Aver), P1 was noisy, moved harshly and unpredictably and shouted frequently during routine cleaning of facilities and animal handling. For the neutral treatment (Neut), P1 used a soft tone of voice and was careful during the same routine. At weaning, the avoidance response of piglets to an approaching experimenter in a novel place was assessed in four piglets from each litter. Scores ranged from 1 (experimenter could touch piglet) to 4 (piglet escaped as soon as person moved). The test was repeated twice, with a 1-h interval, with P1, who wore blue trousers and white T-shirt, and a second handler unfamiliar to the piglets (P2, who wore blue coveralls). Thereafter, litters from the same treatment were mixed and housed in separate rooms, balanced for gender and live weight (n 5 12 groups of 4 piglets/treatment). Behaviour time budgets were registered by scan sampling every 2-min, for 4 h per day, for 4 days. Piglets were weighed at birth, at weaning and on day 5. Effects of treatment and handler on responses to the avoidance test were analysed with non-parametric tests and effects of treatment with a mixed model for repeated measures. Avoidance score was higher for Aver than Neut piglets when tested with P1 (P 5 0.04) but not with P2 (P 5 0.8). When piglets' responses to the different handlers were compared within each treatment, no significant differences were found. Frequencies of resting were lower (P , 0.001), whereas escape attempts (P , 0.03), agonistic interactions (P , 0.02) and frequency of presence at feeder (P , 0.001) were higher in the Aver than in the Neut groups. Feed and water intake and weight gain did not differ between treatments. We conclude that 4-week-old piglets can discriminate a handler according to the nature of treatment received during suckling. In addition, piglets treated aversively seem to have more difficulty adapting to weaning than those treated neutrally during the suckling period.

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Early handling increases lamb affinity for humans

Cited by 85 publications

References 45 publications

Analysis of temperament development during the fattening period in the semi-feral bovine calves of theAlberesMassif

Analysis of temperament development during the fattening period in the semi-feral bovine calves of theAlberesMassif

The visitor effect in petting zoo-housed animals: Aversive or enriching?

Piglets’ weaning behavioural response is influenced by quality of human–animal interactions during suckling

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