Behavioural responses of domestic pigs and cattle to humans and novel stimuli

Hemsworth, P.H.; Price, Edward O.; Borgwardt, Reid

doi:10.1016/0168-1591(96)01067-2

Cited by 143 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Published reports demonstrate that gentle behaviour leads to less fear response in animals to the farmer (Hemsworth et al, 1996) and results in a lower meat pH, owing to lower negative response to handling during transfer to the slaughterhouse (Lensink et al, 2001a). Our results suggest the same trend; the bulls were probably more afraid of handling when the farmer did not behave gently with them.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Positive attitudes of farmers and pen-group conservation reduce adverse reactions of bulls during transfer for slaughter

Mounier

Colson

Roux³

et al. 2008

Animal

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Transfer to slaughter may be very stressful for cattle and negatively affect their ultimate carcass pH. A potential link between farmers' attitudes, farmers' behaviour, responses of animals to handling and carcass pH in beef bull production was questioned. Whether carcass pH depends on experiences in handling and social mixing was analysed. We conducted a survey on commercial farms where we questioned farmers on their work and beliefs about bulls. Farmers' behaviour with bulls during a test and bulls' behaviour during loading in the truck for transport to the slaughterhouse were observed. The ultimate carcass pH was measured. Farmers tended to behave more gently with their bulls when they had positive attitudes towards gentle contacts with bulls (P 5 0.07). The loading of bulls in the truck tended to be more difficult when the farmer was more ready to approach his bulls (P 5 0.07). Carcass pH was higher for bulls that had not been transferred from a breeding to a finishing unit (P 5 0.03). It tended to be higher when the farmer did not display a gentle behaviour (P 5 0.09). The link between farmers' attitudes and farmers' behaviour and the lower meat pH resulting from a gentle farmers' behaviour during finishing are consistent with previous findings in pig, veal or dairy productions. However, the present links were weaker than in the other productions, probably due to the low frequency of close contacts between farmers and beef bulls. When loading bulls into a truck, handlers use the tendency of animals to avoid people, hence overly positive behaviour with the animals during finishing may result in more difficulties at loading. In that case, use of alternative driving aids should be recommended. Our results on carcass pH suggest some habituation to transport among bulls transferred between breeding and finishing, even though the two experiences are several months apart. In view of our results, it seems that contacts with bulls, when they are needed, should be gentle.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Positive attitudes of farmers and pen-group conservation reduce adverse reactions of bulls during transfer for slaughter

Mounier

Colson

Roux³

et al. 2008

Animal

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“…In this study, piglets from two groupswhich received negative stimuli or positive stimuli prior to the test -were unable to discriminate between humans in forced approach tests based on their previous handling experience. In another study conducted by the same group (Hemsworth et al 1996), the researchers found results on the generalization of cattle and swine stimuli, regarding regular or irregular exposure of humans or a new object. Thus, based on the results of these studies, it is possible to conclude that there is a generalization of animal stimuli in relation to humans, regardless the type of stimulus (positive or negative) received in daily handling for the animal species studied.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Gently handled foals generalize responses to humans

Schmidek¹,

Oliveira²,

Trindade³

et al. 2018

JABB

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Equines perform tasks along humans, and there are evidences and controversies that they are able to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar humans. This study assessed whether foals can discriminate between humans in terms of familiarity and human experience in equine handling. Daily, in the first two weeks of life, 30 foals went through a short section of gentle handling. After about four months, a human forced approach test was carried out by 4 evaluators varying in the familiarity aspect and experience with equine handling. Data was submitted to the McNemar test (P<0.05). In 66.7% of the assessments, the foals accepted the human approach, and among the positive cases, 60.0% were characterized by seeking contact with the evaluators. Among the foals that accepted the human approach, 97.5% also accepted tactile stimulation. No differences were found regarding the familiarity of the evaluators (P>0.05) or their experience in equine handling (P>0.05). The individual variation was evident, which indicates that we must work with personalized training techniques, in which the behavior of each individual is the main factor to be considered. Our results show that the adoption of good handling practices with foals favored their relationship with humans, and it is possible to assume that such practices can improve animal welfare, as well as the safety of the humans that will have contact with them in the future.

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“…It has been shown that food is perceived as being more rewarding compared with handling alone (Boivin et al, 1992a;de Passillé et al, 1996;Jago et al, 1999). Hemsworth et al (1996) found that handling alone did not increase the approach behaviour of cattle, whereas Boissy and Bouissou (1988) found regular handling without feeding reduced avoidance behaviour and improved handling ability in calves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effect of previous handling experiences on responses of dairy calves to routine husbandry procedures

Stewart

Shepherd

Webster

et al. 2013

Animal

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The nature of human-animal interactions is an important factor contributing to animal welfare and productivity. Reducing stress during routine husbandry procedures is likely to improve animal welfare. We examined how the type of early handling of calves affected responses to two common husbandry procedures, ear-tagging and disbudding. Forty Holstein-Friesian calves (n 5 20/treatment) were exposed to one of two handling treatments daily from 1 to 5 weeks of age: (1) positive (n 5 20), involving gentle handling (soft voices, slow movements, patting), and (2) negative (n 5 20), involving rough handling (rough voices, rapid movements, pushing). Heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR) and behaviour (activity, tail flicking) were measured before and after ear-tagging and disbudding (2 days apart). Cortisol was measured at 220 (baseline), 20 and 40 min relative to disbudding time. There were no significant treatment differences in HR, RR or behaviour in response to either procedure. However, the following changes occurred across both treatment groups. HR increased after disbudding (by 14.7 6 4.0 and 18.6 6 3.8 bpm, positive and negative, respectively; mean 6 s.e.m.) and ear-tagging (by 8.7 6 3.1 and 10.3 6 3.0 bpm, positive and negative, respectively). After disbudding, there was an increase in RR (by 8.2 6 3.4 and 9.3 6 3.4 breaths/min, positive and negative, respectively), overall activity (by 9.4 6 1.2 and 9.9 6 1.3 frequency/min, positive and negative, respectively) and tail flicking (by 13.2 6 2.8 and 11.2 6 3.0 frequency/min, positive and negative, respectively), and cortisol increased from baseline at 20 min post procedure (by 10.3 6 1.1 and 12.3 6 1.1 nmol/l positive and negative, respectively). Although we recorded significant changes in calf responses during ear-tagging and disbudding, the type of prior handling had no effect on responses. The effects of handling may have been overridden by the degree of pain and/or stress associated with the procedures. Further research is warranted to understand the welfare impact and interaction between previous handling and responses to husbandry procedures.

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Behavioural responses of domestic pigs and cattle to humans and novel stimuli

Cited by 143 publications

References 31 publications

Positive attitudes of farmers and pen-group conservation reduce adverse reactions of bulls during transfer for slaughter

Positive attitudes of farmers and pen-group conservation reduce adverse reactions of bulls during transfer for slaughter

Gently handled foals generalize responses to humans

Effect of previous handling experiences on responses of dairy calves to routine husbandry procedures

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