For many years, efforts to increase efficiency and boost milk production have primarily focused on measurable traits. They include genetics, feed values, physical herd health, size and scale of the dairy, equipment design and environmental conditions.
But there is another vital link, one that Temple Grandin, a leading animal behaviorist and facilities designer, calls "The Tender Loving Care Effect." It's real, and it can add-or subtract-from your bottom line.
"Twenty years ago I thought you could solve all the problems with state-of-the-art equipment and good facilities design," Grandin says. "But a ram-and-jam manager can defeat even the best engineering. I see this all the time, and unfortunately it's more prevalent today than 10 years ago. Managers who focus on pounds of milk per man-hour, and ignore the importance of tender loving care are saving a dime and throwing a $10 bill out the window."
The reason, Grandin says, is that happy cows give more milk. And it's
particularly important that the first milking experience be a good one.
During a tour of Jim Docheff's Diamond D Dairy near Mead, Colo., Grandin
discussed some important principles of animal behavior and how they can
affect milk production.
There is value in "tameness." Cattle with a high flight zone tend to run away when you enter a pen. Those with a low flight zone like human contact and will let you touch them. Producing cattle with low flight zones begins at birth and affects performance for many years.
"Animals that are tame and feel relaxed and comfortable around people are more productive," Grandin says. "Extensive research in Australia on pigs proves that sows who are afraid of people produce 6% fewer piglets. Fear reduces productivity whether it's pigs per litter or pounds of milk.
"I've seen the principle at work on a dairy that is divided into a regular production herd and a research herd. The research herd gets a lot of extra pampering, very gentle handling and their flight zones are lower. You can pet these animals when they are lying down. When they are milked, they are relaxed, and their production is higher than the regular herd.
Jim Docheff has seen this effect in his own herd. Docheff has a custom
calf feeder raise his calves, and recently changed feeders. "Everything
is better," he says. "With the previous feeder, when you walked
up to the feed bunk the calves would scatter. Now they almost maul me when
I go in their pens. They are really tame, they get a lot of human contact
and they are much easier to integrate into the herd. I don't have to use a
squeeze chute when they are moved here, and they adapt to lock-up
stanchions easily."
The concept of "fear memory" is associated with a powerful event, rather than day-to-day experience. By its very nature, a fear memory is difficult for the cow to erase.
"Animal behavior research has documented that a really severe fear memory does not go through the cortex of the brain," Grandin explains. "Instead, it lodges in the lower brain. The only way a cow can get rid of a fear memory is by active suppression from the cortex.
"That's why a first experience-like a first milking-must be a good one. If that first experience in the milking parlor includes hot shots, whips or angry handlers, the cow could be afraid of the parlor for the rest of her life. And she is not going to let her milk down."
Grandin stresses that the fear memory is much more powerful if created
during a first-time event. If something bad happens during the tenth
milking, for example, the cow would not blame it on the parlor. The fear
memory would be attached to something else.
The contrasts/novelty response evolved from when cattle lived in the wild. They were a prey species, so they had to be very alert and apprehensive about any change or contrast in the environment. A failure to respond quickly gave the edge to the predator. While not as heightened in domestic livestock, the sense is still there. That's why they can spook when moving from dirt to concrete (contrast), or when a shadow suddenly appears in front of them (novelty).
"When you see this response, you have to observe the animals carefully to figure out what is wrong," Grandin says. "It could be nothing more than a hat hanging on a wall or a piece of plastic flapping in the breeze. On the other hand, it's valuable to train cattle to accept some novelty. When a milker goes on vacation, for example, the cattle need to get used to the novelty of a new person. They don't like novelty jammed in their face, but they can be trained that some variation is normal and there is not reason to be scared."
Docheff is familiar with this response, and in one case took steps to remedy a nagging problem caused by contrast.
"My cows just did not like the gutters that ran the length of the
milking barn," he says. "The grates really bothered them and
they just didn't want to walk on them. So I tore them out and filled in
the gutter with concrete. Everyone thought I was crazy, that I would just
create a mess in the barn. But if the cows are calm, they don't make a
mess. Filling those gutters made my life a lot easier, and milk production
is better.
Management responsibility is Grandin's pet peeve, and she doesn't mince words. "In the 20 years I've been involved with animal handling, I have found the single most important thing that determines how livestock are handled is top management.
"Some of these bean-counter managers need to spend the day in the milking pit and find out what it's like to be an overloaded employee. They would be shocked, and they couldn't possibly keep up. If you don't treat your employees right, you can't expect them to treat the cattle right.
"In April I was on a dairy and management pushed so hard that many of the cows weren't even completely milked. Everything was based on time-only a certain number of cows were allowed in the barn and only for a certain number of minutes.
"This wild search for efficiency was actually costing them money, because everything was focused on pounds of milk today, and nobody even thought about the cost of mastitis tomorrow.
"When I consult, I won't waste my time anymore training employees.
I tell the managers to get out there, I teach the managers proper handling
practices, then I say, 'Now you train the employee.' "
The first milking experience, according to Grandin, is critical. It can form permanent memories for the life of the animal, so those memories need to be good ones. As herd animals, cattle don't like being alone; and they are very sensitive to tone of voice and demeanor.
Docheff takes the time to do it right.
"When one of my animals is ready to be milked for the first time, I'm always out there myself, and I use a second handler, too," Docheff says. "We work the fresh heifer in between two experienced cows, then we get right behind her and guide her in.
"Then we get right to her. I don't want her to be in there very long the first time. When the milker is clipped on, one of us keeps a hand on her flank so she knows we are there, and if I get one that wants to dance around I'll talk to her and rub her until she calms down. Next, when it's time to leave, we make sure she goes right out with the other cows so she isn't left standing alone. We do that for the first three milkings-I want the early experiences to be completely stress free.
"A good first experience affects everything on the dairy,"
Docheff concludes. "It makes my life a lot easier, the cow's general
health will be better, mastitis is reduced and milk production is better."
Behavior problems have causes. According to Grandin, three things determine how an animal behaves: 1) Genetics; 2) The amount of contact with people; and 3) The quality of that contact. Of course, there are unruly exceptions, but Grandin subscribes to the theory that you can tell a handler's personality by watching his cattle.
"Many people think an unruly cow is vicious," she says. "That is not true. That cow is scared. Panic and fright cause that behavior. Now when a bull attacks you-that's aggression, not fear. But dairy cows that get wild in the parlor are scared."
When Docheff finds he has an unruly animal he takes steps early to change that behavior.
"If one of the heifers looks like she's going to be a problem, I'll move her into a pen with mature cows," he says. "And my milkers are very conscious of that. We'll keep her in the middle of a group when it's milking time, and we never let her hang back alone. It's important to manage the early experiences-for a lot of reasons. If my milkers have to fight four or five heifers in a string, they aren't going to be here very long."
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