Effects of cow-calf separation on visible eye white and behaviour in dairy cows-A brief report

The present experiment aimed at investigating the generality of the percentage of visible eye-white as a dynamic indicator of frustration and satisfaction. In this experiment, we used separation of 11 multiparous dairy cows from their 4 days old calf as a frustrating stimulus, and reunion with the calf as a rewarding stimulus. We hypothesized that the eye-white percentage of the cow would increase when the calf was taken away from her, and decrease when cow and calf were reunited. The eye-white percentage was larger when cows were separated from their calf compared to when they were reunited with the calf. The hypothesis was therefore not falsified. The present results strengthen the assumption that this behaviour element may be a general dynamic indicator of emotions in dairy cattle.