Dr. Proudfoot presented this information for DAIReXNET on November 5, 2015. To see the full recorded webinar, please visit http://www.extension.org/pages/15830/archived-dairy-cattle-webinars

1. The Importance of Good
Handling Skills for Dairy Cows
Katy Proudfoot, PhD
The Ohio State University

2. The plan
• Why good handling skills are important
• From the cow’s perspective
• What to look for on-farm
• When to intervene

3. Negative
Behavior
High fear
Low
production
Handlers behavior and animal welfare
Poor welfare
Hemsworth et al. (2000)

4. Positive
Behavior
Low fear
High
production
Handler behavior and animal welfare
Good welfare
Hemsworth et al. (2000)

5. Handler behavior and animal welfare
POSITIVE behavior
Gentle touching
Gentle stroking
Soft talking
Slow movements
NEGATIVE behavior
Slapping
Pushing
Hitting with object
Using prod
Tail-twists
Loud yelling
Abrupt movements

6. From the cow’s perspective

7. Flight zones
‘Flight zone’

8. What does flight zone tell you?
VS

9. Pajor, et al. 2003Appl Anim Behav Sci, 80:93
What causes fear and aversion?
Give cows the choice
between two handling
techniques, and see
which they AVOID
Shout!Nothing
“Y-maze”

10. What do they choose?
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
Hit/shout
Hit
Shout
Shout
Cattle
prod
Patting
Feeding
#cowsthatchoseeachside

11. What do they choose?
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
Hit/shout
Hit
Shout
Shout
Cattle
prod
Patting
Feeding
#cowsthatchoseeachside

12. What do they choose?
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
Hit/shout
Hit
Shout
Shout
Cattle
prod
Patting
Feeding
#cowsthatchoseeachside
Shouting is as
aversive as an
electric shock

13. Negative handler behavior
1. Handlers either behaved positively or
negatively with cows
2. Brought cows into parlor
3. Each handler came into parlor
4. Measured physiological stress response of
cows

14. • Cows showed stress response when negative
handlers entered the parlor
• Cows can recognize people, and can
remember who treats them negatively
Negative handler behavior
Rushen, et al. 1999. J. Dairy Sci. 82:720

15. How do cows recognize people?

16. How do cows recognize people?
Cows trained to push a
lever and get food from
one person (‘rewarder’)
Tested to see who cows
would choose if:
Faces were visible
Faces were covered

17. How do cows recognize people?
0
20
40
60
80
100
Face visible Face covered
%Choices
Rewarder Non-reward

18. Cows use faces and other features
0
20
40
60
80
100
Face visible Face covered
%Choices
Rewarder Non-reward

19. Negative handler behavior
Hemsworth. 2000. Journal of Animal Science. 78:2821
Australian researchers visited 66 dairy
farms and measured the amount of
negative handling that cows experienced

20. Negative handler behavior
Negative handler behavior correlated with:
 Cow fearfulness (measured by flight zone)
 Low milk yield
 Poor conception rates
Hemsworth. 2000. J Anim Sci. 78:2821

21. When producers were given a course on animal
handling:
 They were less likely to use negative handling
 They believed that cows were easier to handle
 Cows produced more milk and had higher
conception rates
Benefits of handling training
Hemsworth. 2000. J Anim Sci. 78:2821

22. Low-stress handling
There are handling techniques that
handlers can learn so they do not need to
shout, hit, kick or prod the cows to get
them to move

23. Determining if a farm could benefit
from training
LOOK AND LISTEN

24. Look and listen to the cows
• Do they have large flight zones?
• Do they look ‘on-edge’ or vigilant?
• Do they quickly move away from you and
other people?
• Do they slip/fall?
• Do they ‘bunch’?
• Do they vocalize?

25. Look and listen to the handlers
• Do they hit/punch the cows?
• Are they using a prod when it is not
necessary?
• Are they yelling/cursing?
• Are they banging objects together
to make loud noise?
• Do they drag calves?
• Do they seem like they don’t care
about the animals?

26. If YES to any of those questions
• Handlers and their cows would benefit from
handling training
• Training should teach skills, but should also
impact attitude
• Moving cows using flight zone and
point of balance
• Avoiding negative behavior
• Using herd behavior to move cows
• Using positive reinforcement
Why should I care?

27. Measuring flight zone
• Chose a sample of cows to measure
• Slowly start to walk up to cows at the
feedbunk or in the pen (1 step/sec)
• If cows are moving away when you are >~5 to
10ft away, they are likely fearful

28. Negative
Behavior
High fear
Low
production
Handler behavior and animal welfare
Poor welfare
Hemsworth et al. (2000)
Negative
attitude

29. Improving attitude
• Improving skills can improve attitude and job
satisfaction
• Owners should be aware of employees that do
not care about the animals, or are not
satisfied with their jobs

30. Action should be taken when…
• The employees could benefit from training
• If you see something that you are not
comfortable with
• If employee attitude is a problem

31. See abuse, stop abuse

32. Handling training available
• Merck DairyCare365TM
https://www.dairycare365.com/solution/dairy-
care365-training-series
• Validus/Kansas State Animal Care Training
https://www.animalcaretraining.org/PackageDetail.a
spx?type=DAIRY
• ProHand Dairy Cows
Coming soon…
• National Dairy FARM Program
http://www.nationaldairyfarm.com/resources

33. Questions?