Evaluation of on-farm methods for testing the human-animal relationship in dairy herds with cubicle loose housing systems - test-retest and inter-observer reliability and consistency to familiarity of test person

The human-animal relationship is an important factor when considering animal welfare at herd level. In the present study, two behavioural tests for the on-farm assessment of the human-animal relationship at herd level of dairy cows housed in loose housing cubicle systems were evaluated with respect to inter-observer reliability, test-retest reliability, effect of familiarity of test person as well as inter-correlation of the two tests. In a voluntary animal approach (VAA) test, the number of cows and the latencies to approach and touch a stationary test person was measured. In an avoidance (AV) test, the cows' avoidance reactions to an approaching test person were categorised. A first study was carried out in 12 commercial Danish and Austrian dairy farms. On each farm, both behaviour tests were carried out on the same day and repeated within 4-5 days. For each test, cows were tested by both an unfamiliar and a familiar test person (the stock-person) and two observers simultaneously registered the animals' test responses. The inter-observer reliability of both behavioural tests was found to be high (VAA: 2.5-m approach r = 0.98 (P < 0.001) and touch r = 0.97 (P < 0.001); AV: Kappa coefficient(weighted) = 0.886 (prevalence index for flight distance greater than or equal to 2 m is 0.636)). The cows at herd level showed shortest latency for touching an unfamiliar test person on the first test day (P = 0.006). Further, the AV test had a high test-retest reliability (Kappa coefficient(weighted) = 0.503 (prevalence index for flight distance greater than or equal to 2 m is -0.660)) and results indicated no effect of familiarity of test person (Kappa coefficient(weighted) = 0.463 (prevalence index for flight distance greater than or equal to 2 m is -0.677)). In a second study, the correlation between the two behavioural tests (similar measures) was evaluated.