Influences on the avoidance and approach behaviour of dairy cows towards humans on 35 farms

The human-animal relationship is an important issue when assessing animal welfare on farms, but generally accepted and used methods for its practical assessment on dairy farms have been lacking until now. The aim of this study was to validate different farm test of cows reactions towards humans concerning the ability to reflect the quality of the human-animal relationship and investigate the relative importance of other factors influencing the relationship. On 35 dairy farms with loose housing, avoidance distance of cows in the stable, avoidance reactions in the feeding rack and approach behaviour towards an unfamiliar person as well as approach to a novel object were tested. The behaviour of stockpeople towards cows, their management of cows, social interactions of the herd and animal, herd and housing variables were recorded. Avoidance distances in the stable were highly correlated with intensity/quality and continuity of contact (herd median of avoidance distance, ADME: r(s) = -0.66; percentage of cows with avoidance distance 0, ADO: r(s) = 0.55; both P < 0.001) as well as with the frequency of friendly interactions by the milker (ADME: r(s) = -0.66; ADO: r(s) = 0.59; both P < 0.001). Stepwise regression identified the main influence of human-animal interaction variables on avoidance reactions towards man. Herd size, breed and age showed much lower or no relationship to cow behaviour. Further, low avoidance of the human was related to a high frequency of social licking in both correlation and regression analyses (P < 0.05-0.01). Approach reactions to a human showed lower and less consistent correlations but related well with approach to a ball. Avoidance distance of cows towards an unfamiliar person in the stable reflect well the human-animal relationship on the farm and can be used as a basis for its on-farm assessment. In contrast, the test in the feeding rack and the approach test relate more to other factors, for example, social behaviour of the herd, or individual motivation to approach, and thus, these reactions are less suitable measures. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.