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Influence of Sample Size and Experimenter on Reliability of Measures of Avoidance Distance in Dairy Cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

S Waiblinger  and
C Menke
S Waiblinger*
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria
C Menke
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Husbandry and Animal Welfare, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: Susanne.Waiblinger@vu-wien.ac.at
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Abstract

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In the present study we evaluated the influence of different sample sizes and different experimenters on the reliability of measures of avoidance distance (AD) at farm level. On 29 dairy farms the AD of 55-100% of the cows was assessed by two different experimenters (E1 and E2). For both experimenters the herd median of AD (ADME) and the percentage of animals that could be touched (Touch%) were calculated. The reliability between experimenters was assessed by Spearman rank correlation coefficients. To assess the influence of sample size on reliability of AD, the tested animals were randomly divided into two halves (H1 and H2), and ADME and Touch% were calculated for both halves and correlated with each other, with total ADME and total Touch%, and with the behaviour of the milkers. All measures of AD were highly correlated between experimenters (ADME rs = 0.86; Touch% rs = 0.81). On farms with a higher value for ADME, however, some discrepancy was found between experimenters in ADME and Touch%. Smaller sample size reduced the number of significant correlations with milkers’ behaviour. AD of H1 and H2 correlated only moderately (rs = 0.38-0.43). In sum, smaller sample size reduced reliability and validity. Between-observer reliability of AD was relatively high, but there may be some observer influence. Further investigations are necessary to optimise the measures.

Keywords

animal welfareavoidance distancecattlehuman-animal relationshipon-farm welfare assessment
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 12 , Issue 4: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , November 2003 , pp. 585 - 589
Copyright
© 2003 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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