Human-Animal Bond Flashcards
Skills of Good Stockspeople
General knowledge of their animals, experience, observation and reporting skills, independence and teamwork, general farming and maintenance skills, self discipline.
Positive and Negative Tactile Interaction
Positive includes pats, scratches and strokes. Negative includes slaps, prods and kicks.
Positive and Negative Visual Interaction
Positive includes seeing other positive contacts and negative includes sudden large movements and threats.
Positive and Negative Auditory Interaction
Positive includes quiet, even sounds and negative includes loud, sudden noises.
Positive and Negative Olfactory Interaction
Positive includes normal human odours and negative includes strong, unusual smells.
Definition of Fear
A form of emotional reaction to a stimulus that the animal works to dominate, escape from or avoid.
Fear Behaviours
Withdrawal, avoidance, immobility, crouching, hiding, aggression and displacement.
Measurement of Fear
Is indirect and may be behavioural or physiological. Physiological parameters that may be tested include plasma corticosteroid levels, heart rate and body temperature. Behavioural responses may be initial response, fight or flight, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and fear behaviours.
Acute and Chronic Stress
If the animal feels continually threatened this is acute stress. This increases metabolic rate and increases corticosteroid ot provide more glucose.
Chronic stress occurs if feeling threatened over an extended period of time and causes reduced metabolic efficiency, decreased growth, immunity and reproduction and unable to cope with stress due to compromised welfare.
Effects of Fear
Decreased reproductive performance, growth, egg production, feed conversion, milk yield and milk let down.
Increased feed costs, handling time, milk retention, milking time and number of matings per conception.
Increased fear of human contact leads to decreased productivity, welfare, ease of handling and safety.
