Cattle communicate their welfare state through behaviour, and stockpeople trained to read behavioural indicators can detect and respond to welfare problems more effectively.
Behavioural welfare assessment in cattle enables welfare problems to be detected before they become health emergencies. A cow spending time isolated from the herd, with drooped ears and hunched posture, is displaying welfare distress that experienced stockpeople can identify and act on. Training stockpeople in behavioural indicators is a high-return welfare intervention - early detection enables early treatment. The human-animal relationship is particularly important: cattle that are comfortable with human presence experience less stress during all necessary handling, creating a virtuous cycle of better welfare.