Research Project
Influence of human-animal relation on udder health of dairy cows
Projekttext
Mastitis is a disease with many factors. So there is not only one solution to solve the problem of mastitis. One hypothesis regards the human-animal-relationship as one factor influencing udder health. So it can be assumed that a calm interaction leads to behavioural balanced cows followed by more stable health parameters.
Project aim: To investigate the importance of human-animal-relationship as a mastitis factor.
Methodology:
The project is carried out on 50 farms and consists three parts:
- Observation of vocalisation and tactile interaction during milking
- Observation of the approach reaction of the cows to an unfamiliar person (avoidance distance)
- Questionnaire of stockperson's attitude
Responsible
- Silvia Ivemeyer
- Peter Klocke
- Ute Knierim
Involved organisations, project partners
- Ute Knierim, University of Organic Agricultural Sciences, Kassel-Witzenhausen, Germany
- Susanne Waiblinger, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria
- Christoph Winckler, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- Silvia Ivemeyer, Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL), Frick, Schweiz