Determination of Positive Emotions in Kurdish Cows Using Peripheral Temperatures

Abstract

Animal welfare science has been focused on how animal express their emotion. The emotion can be either positive or negative. The connections between positive emotion and peripheral temperatures are relatively neglected. Therefore, the current study was designed to measure nasal and ear pinna temperatures as a method to determine positive emotional state in Kurdish cow produced by gentle stroking of the animal body. Twelve Kurdish cows, aged 3-7 years, were used in this study. The cows were stroked in preferred regions (shoulder, neck and withers) to induce positive emotional state. The stroking manner was similar to allogrooming. The temperature data were collected from both nose and ear pinna of the animals in three different stages including pre-stroking, stroking and post-stroking. Each stage lasted five minutes. Focal animal sampling method was used to collect the data. Results showed that the three stages of nasal temperature were significantly different (P<0.001), and significant difference was also seen between the stages of ear pinna temperatures (P<0.05). In addition, strong correlation coefficient (r= 0.91) was found between nasal and ear pinna temperatures. Both nasal and ear pinna temperatures decreased over time. It was concluded that peripheral temperatures in Kurdish cows is a good welfare indicator and provide a useful measure for positive emotional state.