Q&A with Dr. Amy Stanton, an assistant professor in the UW-Madison department of dairy science and a dairy cattle wellbeing specialist, on what might bring happiness and efficiency to the linchpins of America’s Dairyland. Stanton’s answers have been edited for space constraints without altering meaning.
When did you begin studying dairy well-being?
I first became interested in animal well-being as an undergraduate at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
Do you specialize in cows or more broadly focus on all animals?
I have a 30 percent appointment in the Department of Dairy Science and 70 percent appointment in the UW-Extension as a dairy wellbeing specialist for the state. While I do occasionally work with other species I primarily focus on dairy cattle.
What are the things you look for when you try to assess well-being? Is this an easy process?
Typically, as scientists, we evaluate their welfare based on the “Five Freedoms” developed by the Brambell Report in 1965. These freedoms are “freedom from hunger or thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury, or disease, freedom to express important normal behavior and freedom from fear and distress.” The best measures of these factors are based on the animal.
Is there a measuring system you use?
The flight zone of animals. This represents how close a person can get to an animal before they become fearful … this can indicate how they are handled on a daily basis. However, this measure is very variable and can be impacted by time of day and the health status of the animals, and can change quickly if something startling has recently occurred, or because of the actions of the observer.
If you had 30 seconds to tell a farmer how to handle their livestock, what would you tell him/her?
If I had to determine the most important aspect of cattle handling, it is the understanding of a flight zone. By understanding how to approach cattle and how they respond to the presence of people, we can make cattle handling less stressful and safer for both the cows and the people.
How do the cows show you what is important to them?
Cows have many ways to show what is important to them through their behavior and their health. One way to measure the value of a resource to cattle is to force them to choose between resources (bedding surface, social contact, feed types). For instance, we could develop a preference test in which they are offered the opportunity to lie down on one of two different bedding types. The amount of time cows lie on each of the bedding surfaces can show us which they find more comfortable.
Do cows smile? How do they show gratification?
Cows don’t smile but they can show they are relaxed. A good indication a cow is relaxed is when they are chewing their cud.
