Year: 2025
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Good animal welfare means that cattle are not only healthy and productive, but also that they can express important behavioral adaptations, and that negative experiences are minimized while opportunities for positive ones are provided. Environmental enrichments allow cattle to express species-specific and life-stage-appropriate adaptive behaviors in captivity. To be effective, environmental enrichments must be used and wanted by the animals and result in measurable benefits to welfare. These benefits may be transient (i.e., positive emotions while using the enrichments) or long-term, such as improved coping skills or stress resilience, resulting in cumulative positive welfare balance. Scientific studies have identified both experimental and practical options for relevant environmental enrichment for dairy cattle of different life stages.
Author: Jennifer Van Os
Institution: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Language: English
Subfield: Small Animals
Field: Veterinary
Domain: Health Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408882124