(Continued from Pago A3O)
person.
If an animal is less fearful to
ward a certain person, then it is
mo ie easily handled by that per
son; it also is even less likely to
kick.
On the other hand, rough hand
ling of cows causes fearfulness,
stress and less productivity.
This points up some important
questions'.
Do dairy animals remember and
distinguish between individuals?
Do they discriminate between
those who treat them gently and
those who are harsh, scare them
by shouting or sudden move
ments, or beat them?
Do dairy cows leant fear of cer
tain people, of certain color of
their clothing (for example, veter
inary lab coats), or of certain en
vironments?
This can have serious implica
tions on the dairy farm when the
principal milking person wants a
vacation. How do the cows react
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to that relief person?
In this Danish study, 14 Hol
stein cows in mid-lactation were
handled by two people, one was
gentle and the other shouted and
prodded (no rough mistreatment
was applied).
The results showed clearly that
cows distinguish between differ
ent people who have handled them
before. Cow behavior during
milking varied greatly according
to the handler who as present.
However, color of clothing is
one cue that cows used to discrim
inate between people, indicating
the importance of the visual sens
es for discrimination by cows.
When both handlers wore the
same color clothing, the distinc
tion between handlers disappear
ed, although a mix of visual, olfac
tory and auditory cues was used in
people discrimination.
A significant variation also was
found among different cows in
their ability to distinguish between
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handlers, which indicates indivi
dual differences in cows with re
gard to learning ability.
Cows that were best at discrim
inating between the two handlers
were most affected by fearfulness
and restlessness during milking,
had a faster heart rate and resulted
in significantly less milk produc
tion. The latter was due probably
to inhibition of the oxytocin let
down effect, leading to reduced or
delayed milk ejection.
The same results recently were
found in studies with dairy goats
and Brown Swiss cows.
We have known for some time
that a barking dog nearby cows
being milked disturbs them; their
fear of the dog releases the stress
hormone adrenaline, which then
blocks the oxytocin effect on milk
letdown in the udder.
Now we know that cows are
much more sophisticated in their
distinction between familiar and
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unfamiliar people, their ways of
handling, as well as other factors
of the environment, which will re
sult in significant differences in
milk production.
Holstein Offers
Convention News
BRATTLEBORO, VL Or
der up to 500 pedigrees at a time
online from Holstein Association
USA.
Recent updates to www.holst
einusa.com have made ordering
pedigrees online easier. In addi
tion, the new release of EASY 3.2
is available for download, as arc
the May genetic update products.
If you are following the gover
nance proposal that will be voted
These findings reinforce our
strong belief that high productivi
ty and profitability on the dairy
farm goes hand in hand with con
cepts of animal welfare.
on in Boise, check out the
“NEWS” button on the Associa
tion’s website. Not only does it
have the most current issue of the
Holstein News with the Call to
Convention, it also has the past
four issues that cover the govern
ance proposal from the beginning.
Look for more exciting up
dates on www.holsteinusa.com
with day-to-day coverage of the
annual meeting in June.
Aiitfat fatter Sta»
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