Training dairy heifers with positive reinforcement: effects on anticipatory behavior.

Dairy cattle are often restrained for veterinary procedures, but restraint can cause fear responses that can make the procedure challenging for both the animal and the human handler. Positive reinforcement training (PRT) is used in other species to reduce fear responses and there is now evidence that this can also facilitate handling in cattle. The objectives of this study were to test the effect of PRT on anticipatory and play behavior in dairy heifers. We used 20 heifers (5 ± 0.6 mo old) that had been habituated to the chute area and had previous experience with low-stress handling. Heifers were randomly assigned to 2 treatments: control (n=10) and PRT (n=10). PRT heifers were subjected to a training protocol that included low-stress handling as well as target training with food reinforcement. Control heifers were moved to the chute using low-stress handling only. We predicted that heifers trained with PRT would show more anticipatory and play behaviors than control heifers in the period before gaining access to a chute. As predicted, PRT heifers performed more behavioral transitions (7.6 ± 0.77 versus 4.4 ± 0.57 transitions for control heifers; F1,9=21.99, P<0.01), and specifically performed more locomotory play such as jumping (2.1 ± 0.30 vs. 0.4 ± 0.19 jumps; F1,9=57.18, P<0.01) and running (2.0 ± 0.40 s vs. 0.5 ± 0.16 s; F1,9=20.73, P<0.01). These results indicate that PRT results in heifers having more positive emotional states in anticipation of handling, and supports the use of training to improve the welfare of dairy cattle.