Social relationships in domestic cattle under modern management techniques

Abstract

For domestic animals, modem management technics lead to a way of life very different from the natural one. Generally, animals adapt without great difficulty. Nevertheless in several cases, precise studies have shown that certain problems arise particularly due to social relationships. Reduction of available space per animal, crowding, competition induced by localization of food resources, introduction of strangers into groups, and other disturbances lead to increase in intraspecific aggressiveness and exacerbation of dominance relationships. As a result production is reduced (in growth rate, in milk yield…). The study of the behaviour of domestic animals, and especially of their social relationships, is an essential prerequisite to the development of rational management technics which take into account the demands of the various species. In domestic cattle, the detailed study of the mechanism of interindividual relationships (dominance, affiliative relationships) allows us to propose solutions to specific management problems. © 1980 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.