Understanding cow reactivity and maternal behaviour and their associations with calf growth, survival and behaviour

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Selection of domesticated species over thousands of years has been (and remains) influenced by their reactions to humans; consequently, human-animal interactions have strongly influenced domesticated animal selection. Domestication implies side-effects of selection, including behavioural changes (with a genetic basis), such as reduced fear, increased sociability and reduced anti-predator responses. Therefore, when selecting for a specific behavioural characteristic (e.g., reduced fear response to humans: reactivity), other important characteristics can be affected, including maternal behaviour traits (e.g., calf care, bonding and protection). Thus, it is crucial to understand the association of various domesticated animal behavioural traits (human handling reactivity and maternal behaviours) and how they are related to animal fitness (e.g., reproductive success and offspring growth and survival), to identify better artificial selection strategies under domesticated conditions. The long-term goal of my research program is to elucidate, across time and various human-related contexts, relationships between various maternal behaviour traits and cow fear responses to human handling (reactivity), and their impacts on cow reproductive success, calf fitness, and reactivity. The overall hypotheses are: 1) Cow maternal behaviour and reactivity are associated and affect reproductive success, as well as her calf's fitness and reactivity; and 2) Cow fear responses toward humans can be modified by learning processes. My research program will generate fundamental new knowledge on animal behaviour science, using beef cattle as a model. In addition, it will provide outcomes that can be directly used to improve animal husbandry, selective breeding, animal welfare, and and human safety in the agricultural sector. The principal aim is to better understand how an important behavioural characteristic, that has highly influenced selection of domestic animals (i.e., fear responses toward humans), is related to behavioural characteristics that are important to survival of the species (i.e., maternal bonding and maternal protective behaviour) as well their influences on offspring development and reactivity. Understanding stability across time and contexts of those phenotypic characteristics and how they are related to calf development and fitness will inform strategies to enhance domestic animal selection. In association with high-quality training, the proposed research will prepare HQP to be very competitive for future careers in academia or agri-industries. This research can also inform improvement of beef cow welfare in relation to human-animal interactions in production systems, by influencing practices related to the cow (including handling, selection, and decisions to retain or cull).