Exploring the Use of a Qualitative Behavioural Assessment Approach to Assess Emotional State of Calves in Rodeos

Abstract

There are longstanding disagreements between the rodeo industry stakeholders and animal welfare advocates about the wellbeing of the animals used in events. The current study aims to determine whether qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA) is effective in identifying the emotional state of calves in so-called calf-roping events. Still images of calves captured from videos of calf-roping were shown to two groups: practitioners (n = 7) and students (n = 16). For each image, they scored (on a scale of 1–10) 12 descriptive terms—e.g., stressed, energetic, confused, frightened—based on how strongly they thought the animal was experiencing that emotion. Scores were analysed using Factor Analysis and Ordinal Logistic Regression models, while inter-rater reliability was assessed using Intra-Class Correlation Coefficients. The same imagery (video and images) were analysed for behaviours associated with the calves’ ears, neck, legs and tail to develop a behavioural ethogram, which was analysed with Binary Logistic Regression and Anova wrapping. The students were also surveyed to assess their empathy towards animals. The chase phase attracted significantly higher scores for stressed (µ = 5.0, p < 0.001), agitated (µ = 5.1, p < 0.001), anxious (µ = 5.0, p < 0.001) and frightened (µ = 5.0, p < 0.001), and the behavioural ethogram revealed that calves commonly galloped (p < 0.001) and held their tails rigidly during this phase (p = 0.010). In contrast, the recovery phase was characterised by significantly higher scores for calm (µ = 3.0, p < 0.001), contented (µ = 2.7, p < 0.001) and relieved (µ = 1.6, p < 0.001), and calves moved slower (p < 0.001) with more neutral ear positions (ears axial p = 0.008, ears forward p = 0.010). A clear pre- and post-rope effect was evident, showing that QBA indicated that calves were anxious while being chased and were relieved when they had been released. The survey data revealed that students who had more empathy for animals in pain and for those used in experiments were more empathetic towards calves during the chase phase. They felt that calves being chased were agitated, anxious, stressed, frightened and confused. These results confirm that QBA has the potential as a tool for assessing the welfare of animals used in rodeos.

Use of qualitative behavioural assessment to investigate affective states of housed dairy cows under different environmental conditions

“…Results of the current study could have been strengthened through use of a combination of positive welfare indicators. For example, correlates of enhanced affective states have been demonstrated between QBA results and ear position in calves and lambs (98,99) and QBA and positive social behaviour in dairy cows (46). Divergences may also highlight where studies making reference to changes in affective states require further replication or validation.…”

Developing a welfare assessment protocol for Australian lot-fed cattle

“…Scoring animal demeanour could be considered fundamentally similar to this, capturing what a good stockperson does when they survey their livestock in a formal, numerical manner (Fleming et al, 2016). The application of including demeanour to feedlots is novel; however, the full QBA approach has been validated in cattle under numerous contexts (see; Rousing and Wemelsfelder, 2006;Brscic et al, 2010;Stockman et al, 2013;de Boyer des Roches et al, 2018;Vindevoghel et al, 2019;Rizzuto et al, 2020), with the modified-QBA (demeanour) approach recently reported useful and valid for welfare assessment within the Australian live export industry (Willis et al, 2021a;Willis et al, 2021b). At feedlots, demeanour may provide evidence of positive affective state, and an early indicator of issues, such as thermal stress, ill-health, and unstable social housing, allowing earlier mitigation than otherwise would be possible.…”

Towards a Positive Welfare Protocol for Cattle: A Critical Review of Indicators and Suggestion of How We Might Proceed

“…Three different aspects of the tail are thought to be important in various species; tail position, tail movement and laterality of tail movement. For cattle a raised or tucked tail may indicate fear (Goma et al, 2018;Rizzuto et al, 2020), but as far as we know there is no study investigating the association between tail position and positive emotions in cattle. There are some indications that tail movement, e.g., wagging, may be associated with pleasurable activities (brushing and feeding; de Oliveira and Keeling, 2018).…”