Human-animal relationships at sheep and cattle abattoirs
There are accumulating international data in a number of livestock industries that show that a negative attitude by stockpeople towards interacting with pigs, dairy cattle and poultry is correlated with increased levels of fear and stress in farm animals and in turn reduced animal productivity. While most of this research has been on-farm, one study […]
The relationship between the stockperson’s personality and attitudes and the productivity of dairy cows
This study investigated the relationships amongst personality traits and attitudes of 311 dairy stockpeople and the milk yield they obtained. A questionnaire pack consisting of a big-five measure of personality (which includes the traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stabilityandintellect), a four-factor attitude questionnaire and associated demographic and production questions was posted out to Northern […]
Cattle behaviours and stockperson actions related to impaired animal welfare at Swedish slaughter plants
At a slaughter plant, cattle are sometimes exposed to rough handling which may reduce animal welfare (AW). In an observational study at four Swedish commercial slaughter plants, AW-related behaviours of cattle and actions of abattoir stockpersons handling the same animals were recorded simultaneously. The objective was to estimate the occurrence of different behaviours and actions […]