Talking to Cows: Reactions to Different Auditory Stimuli During Gentle Human-Animal Interactions

Lange, Annika; Bauer, Lisa; Futschik, Andreas; Waiblinger, Susanne; Lürzel, Stephanie

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579346

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Heart rate and heart rate variability measures provide dynamic information on activation of the autonomic response. In general, studies show a reduced heart rate and an increase in measures of parasympathetic activation (e.g., high frequency, or greater root mean square of successive differences) during or after interacting positively with a human [sheep (54); dog (78, 79)], partly dependent on the body region of grooming [horse (96); cow (52)] or the type of interactions (97).…”

Section: Physiological Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of a Positive Human–Animal Relationship for Animal Welfare

et al. 2020

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Section: Physiological Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of a Positive Human–Animal Relationship for Animal Welfare

et al. 2020

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“…For example, specific forms of human contact appear to elicit positive emotional responses in animals. Stroking the ventral region of the neck of dairy cattle has been shown to reduce the heart rate and results in relaxed body postures and increased approach to humans in cattle [40][41][42][43], while stroking combined with speaking to dairy cattle has been shown to increase high-frequency heart rate variability [44]. Similar effects have been found in foals, adult horses, and lambs [45].…”

Section: Benefits To the Animalmentioning

confidence: 80%

Costs and Benefits of Improving Farm Animal Welfare

et al. 2021

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It costs money to improve the welfare of farm animals. For people with animals under their care, there are many factors to consider regarding changes in practice to improve welfare, and the optimal course of action is not always obvious. Decision support systems for animal welfare, such as economic cost–benefit analyses, are lacking. This review attempts to provide clarity around the costs and benefits of improving farm animal welfare, thereby enabling the people with animals under their care to make informed decisions. Many of the costs are obvious. For example, training of stockpeople, reconfiguration of pens, and administration of pain relief can improve welfare, and all incur costs. Other costs are less obvious. For instance, there may be substantial risks to market protection, consumer acceptance, and social licence to farm associated with not ensuring good animal welfare. The benefits of improving farm animal welfare are also difficult to evaluate from a purely economic perspective. Although it is widely recognised that animals with poor welfare are unlikely to produce at optimal levels, there may be benefits of improving animal welfare that extend beyond production gains. These include benefits to the animal, positive effects on the workforce, competitive advantage for businesses, mitigation of risk, and positive social consequences. We summarise these considerations into a decision tool that can assist people with farm animals under their care, and we highlight the need for further empirical evidence to improve decision-making in animal welfare.

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“…With 95% agreement between pairs of observers (Proctor and Carder, 2014) and a correlation coefficient of at least rs = 0.92 (Schmied et al, 2008a), inter-observer reliability of assessing ear positions has been shown to be high. Repeatability within observers ranged between Cohen's K = 0.61 (Lange et al, 2020a) and K = 0.78 (Lange et al, 2020b).…”

Section: Ear Positionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

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Current animal welfare protocols focus on demonstrating the absence (or at least low levels) of indicators of poor welfare, potentially creating a mismatch between what is expected by society (an assurance of good animal welfare) and what is actually being delivered (an assurance of the absence of welfare problems). This paper explores how far we have come, and what work still needs to be done, if we are to develop a protocol for use on commercial dairy farms where the aim is to demonstrate the presence of positive welfare. Following conceptual considerations around a perceived “ideal” protocol, we propose that a future protocol should be constructed (i) of animal-based measures, (ii) of indicators of affective state, and (iii) be structured according to indicators of short-term emotion, medium-term moods and long-term cumulative assessment of negative and positive experiences of an animal's life until now (in contrast to the current focus on indicators that represent different domains/criteria of welfare). These three conditions imposed the overall structure within which we selected our indicators. The paper includes a critical review of the literature on potential indicators of positive affective states in cattle. Based on evidence about the validity and reliability of the different indicators, we select ear position, play, allogrooming, brush use and QBA as candidate indicators that we suggest could form a prototype positive welfare protocol. We emphasise that this prototype protocol has not been tested in practice and so it is perhaps not the protocol itself that is the main outcome of this paper, but the process of trying to develop it. In a final section of this paper, we reflect on some of the lessons learnt from this exercise and speculate on future perspectives. For example, while we consider we have moved towards a prototype positive welfare protocol for short-term affective states, future research energy should be directed towards valid indicators for the medium and long-term.

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Talking to Cows: Reactions to Different Auditory Stimuli During Gentle Human-Animal Interactions

Cited by 15 publications

References 93 publications

The Power of a Positive Human–Animal Relationship for Animal Welfare

The Power of a Positive Human–Animal Relationship for Animal Welfare

Costs and Benefits of Improving Farm Animal Welfare

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

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