Dairy farmers’ attitudes and empathy and cattle’s reactions to humans in cow-calf contact systems compared to early separation

A good relationship between stockpeople and non-human animals (NHA) has positive effects on the welfare of different species such as cattle through the sequential relationship of human attitudes, human behaviour and, subsequently, NHA behaviour and welfare. Cow-calf contact (CCC) rearing of dairy calves can enable welfare benefits and is increasingly gaining farmers’ interest, often motivated by the possibility to offer cattle the opportunity for more natural behaviours. Thus, CCC farmers’ attitudes towards cattle and their relationship with them may differ from those who practise early separation (ES) of calf and cow. Moreover, CCC rearing bears the risk for reduced human-calf contact when bucket feeding ceases.
Thus, we studied the human-cattle-relationship on 25 dairy farms that practised CCC and 25 that practised ES of cow and calf, i.e. within 24 h after birth. Farmers’ (n = 57 each for CCC and ES) attitudes towards cows and handling them, being predictors for their handling behaviour and a proxy for the relationship with cattle, as well as farmers’ empathy with NHA were assessed using questionnaires. The avoidance distance (AD) of calves, heifers, and cows, reflecting the cattle’s relationship to humans, was assessed.
Principal component analysis revealed 14 attitude and one empathy component. Potential differences between CCC and ES farmers’ attitudes and empathy were evaluated by linear mixed models. Linear regression models were fitted to investigate potential differences between rearing systems in the percentage of heifers or cows that could be touched, the median AD, and the percentage with an AD ≥ 50 cm. For calves’ AD, a linear mixed model was used to account for different test locations. Cow-calf contact farmers agreed more on cows’ needs, liked positive contact with cows more and tended to agree less on impatient behaviour during moving than ES farmers. Empathy correlated with almost all attitude components. There was no difference in the AD of CCC and ES calves and cows, but CCC heifers had higher ADs than ES heifers. Several attitude components were predictors for the cattle’s AD.
The results indicate more positive attitudes among CCC farmers, no general effect of CCC on the AD, and associations between attitudes and AD.