Personality and production: Nervous cows produce less milk

Abstract

Summary: We investigated the relationship between variation in animal personality and production traits in dairy cows. Behaviors were scored during milking, in response to novel object and social separation. We demonstrate that cows that step more during milking, or that respond stronger to social separation have lower milk production. These results are of interest to researchers in animal personality, animal production and welfare, and may have implications for improvement of milk production and welfare of dairy cows. ABSTRACTThe objective of this study was to investigate relationships between animal personality (i.e. consistency in behavioral responses, also called temperament) and milk production in dairy cows. There has recently been a growing research interest in animal personality, which in production animals can have important impact on welfare and production potential. Despite this, the relationship between personality and milk production in dairy cows remains unclear.Here we investigate links between behavioral responses during milking and in personality tests (responses to novel object and social isolation) with milk production in two breeds of dairy cattle, Swedish red and white cattle (SRB) and Holstein. The milk production parameters investigated were ECM (Energy Corrected Milk in kg) for the cows' first lactation, and ECM for their current lactation. Overall, cows that stepped more during milking, or spent more time facing the herd during social isolation produced less milk in their first lactation. Cows that vocalized more during isolation had a lower current milk production.Variation in other behavioral responses showed limited relationships with milk production.Taken together, our results support a relationship between behavioral responses and milk production, where cows showing signs of nervousness produce less milk. However, observed relationships are dependent on the milk measure utilized, behavior and breed investigated, supporting that the relationship between behavior and production traits is not straight forward.

The Psychology of Cows

“…Additionally, a higher vocalization rate during social separation was associated with lower milk production. The results suggested an overall trend that higher levels of nervousness in cows was associated with decreased milk production, but factors such as breed, behavioral indicators of nervousness, and the production measure all influenced the results, suggesting the relationship is not straightforward (Hedlund & Løvlie, 2015).…”

“…Moreover, they have been conducted primarily within the narrow framework of traits associated with increased agricultural production of cow products. These include weight gain, reproduction, or milk production (e.g., Hedlund & Løvlie, 2015;Van Reenan et al, 2002). These factors have both shaped and limited the available range of direct data on cow personality traits.…”

“…It is important to note that high reactivity is an adaptive evolutionary trait in ungulates. However, because it has been associated with lower rates of milk production (Hedlund & Løvlie, 2015) and lower rates of weight gain (Müller & von Keyserlingk, 2006), it is often construed as a predominantly negative trait from an agricultural framework. This difference in the way reactivity is viewed is an illustration of how evolutionarily adaptive traits that allow animals to thrive in their natural environment are often those traits that animal users view as undesirable in an artificial environment, and how artificial breeding and handling is often at odds with the animal's basic nature.…”

“…Hedlund and Løvlie (2015) investigated the association between behavioral responses to milking, responses to measures of personality (reactions to novel objects and to social isolation), and milk production during the first lactation among Swedish Red and White, as well as Holstein, dairy cows. Cows who stepped (a behavior indicative of nervousness, fear or discomfort) the most during milking and cows who spent more time facing the herd during social isolation produced less milk during their first lactation.…”

Use of a food neophobia test to characterize personality traits of dairy calves

“…Similar findings have been found in dairy calves, where more exploratory calves in a novel environment (measured as greater sniffing and licking) showed improved feed intake and performance around weaning 5 . Other behavioural characteristics appear to have implications for production; cows that were more fearful of humans (measured as avoidance of an unfamiliar human) 6,7 or were more reactive to milking (measured as more steps and kicks during milking) 8 produced less milk. Individual differences in behavioural responses during restraint and toward a human are also linked to physiological differences in metabolic responses to glucose and insulin challenge tests in beef cattle 9 .…”