The presence of the dam during handling prevents the socialization of young calves to humans

The effect of handling and hand-feeding of calves with or without their dams present on the calves’ subsequent response to humans was investigated using 5 groups of 10 Danish Friesian calves, each of which received a different treatment. The treatments were: calf separated from its dam immediately after birth, housed in a single pen and handled (group SH) or not handled (group S) calf adjacent to cow and handled (group CH) or not handled (C) for the first 4 days after calving. The fifth group was housed together with their dams for the first 4 days of life and then moved to single pens and handled there for the next 4 days (group C-SH). The handling treatment was carried out three times daily for 4 days and consisted of 6 min of hand-feeding with milk from a teat-bucket and patting, stroking and talking to the calf. After separation, all calves were housed in single pens. Human contact was minimised except during the treatment periods.

The approach behaviour of each calf to an unknown person was tested at days 20, 40 and 55 in their home pen. Flight distance was determined at day 55. The test at day 55 was carried out in a large single pen where the calves had been housed for 24 h prior to the test. The latency to interact (in seconds) with the person was significantly shorter (P<0.001) in all three tests for SH (13±5, 29±7 and 44±8, at days 20, 40 and 55, respectively) and C-SH (28±6, 47±17 and 70±17) compared to S (240±25, 238±33 and 173±5), C (240±28, 202±36 and 167±13) and CH (233±36, 271±29 and 128±19). The results of the latter three groups did not differ significantly. Treatment also affected the position and the orientation of the calf in the pen during the tests. Calves in SH and C-SH stood at the front of the pen and faced the person more often than calves in S, C and CH. Again, there were no significant differences between the results of the latter three groups.

The results indicate that the presence of the dam limits the effect of the handling treatment on young calves’ motivation to interact with humans. It is likely that primary socialization occurs with the dam, preventing a secondary socialization developing with humans, until the calf is isolated from the dam.