The Effects of Early Caressing on Later Tractability of Calves

Abstract

The behaviour of calves which had been caressed for the first 35 days by men, in order to improve the future ease of handling at an individual level, was investi- gated. The early caressing temporarily reduced avoidance behaviour of calves in handl- ing situations similar to the caressing procedure but the avoidance behaviour gradually strengthened from 2-5 months later after the caressing had ceased. There was little effect of early caressing on avoidance behaviour in handling entirely different from the caressing procedure and on later social behaviour, such as aggressive behaviour, licking behaviour and cohesive behaviour. It is concluded that temporary early caressing has hardly any lasting influence on later behaviour, and therefore it hardly improves tractabi- lity in an individual and does not reduce group tractability