Performing Department
Animal Science
Non Technical Summary
For many trades and professions, there is a well-defined path for learning the essential skills that ensure worker safety.This is not the case for animal caretakers, as there is no industry standard that defines skill level for them. This sector of the workforce relies on self-reported years of experience (i.e. growing up on a farm) when describing their job qualifications. Years ago, when most people were more familiar with animal husbandry, this may have been realistic. With the migration away from family farms, it can be an unrealistic and even deadly assumption that familiarity with agriculture is enough. U.S Bureau of Labor reports indicate fatal injuries are steadily increasing for animal workers (U.S. BOLS, 2024). Handler skill level can significantly impact overall welfare during an animal's lifetime, and currently, an objective measure of handler skill level does not exist.We hypothesize a positive correlation exists between handler skill level, safety, and animal behavior.Our objectives are:To develop and test a skill assessment tool for scoring handler skill levelTo investigate the relationship between self-reported handler experience, expert-scored skill level, and animal behaviorTo investigate the relationship between self-reported years of experience, handler stress, and animal behavior during controlled cattle handling eventsA skill assessment tool could substantially reduce the risk for injury to both humans and animals. This project will contribute to the long-range improvement in and sustainability of U.S. agriculture and food systems by improving animal welfare through the provision of skilled care and handling.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
1) To develop and test a skill assessment tool for scoring handler skill level2) To investigate the relationship between self-reported handler experience, expert-scored skill level, and animal behavior3) To investigate the relationship between self-reported years of experience, handler stress, and animal behavior during controlled cattle handling events
Project Methods
Human participants (N = 108) will be recruited from students, staff, and faculty affiliated with the University of Nebraska system, and will include cattle producers from the communities where extension and research centers are located, when possible. Enrollment in this study is voluntary, and all participants must have a baseline of animal experience to ensure the safety and well-being of animals and humans. Potential participants will go through a screening process, and will be asked to describe their cattle handling skills as low (n = 36), medium (n = 36), and high (n = 36) in an effort to maintain a balanced study population.Once enrolled, participants will be scheduled for a trial day. Upon arrival on the scheduled day, eligible participants will be fitted with a wearable EDA monitor, to be worn until completion of a post-trial survey. The pre-trial survey will include basic demographic information and self-reported experience (in years), whether the individual grew up on a farm, species involvement, and highest level of education. Prior to handling events, participants will receive an instructional handout detailing the tasks they will perform; and a researcher will demonstrate the tasks. Participants will walk the pattern twice while wearing an EDA monitoring device in order to establish individual baseline patterns at rest and during activity (without cattle). Participants will complete three handling trials on a single day. Following the completion of their trials, participants will complete a post-trial survey to evaluate perceptions of their performance and self-reported stress during each trial and animal responses during each trial.Cattle will be selected for participation in the study from the teaching and research herd housed in the Animal Science complex. Cattle will be randomized into trials from a pooled herd, where they will remain until or unless selected for a trial, to mitigate separation stress. Trials will include the handling of three cattle (to support natural herding behavior); cattle will be randomly assigned to handler and order within each handling trial. Cattle will spend 72 h under trial; 48 h prior to each trial date, a wearable HR monitor will be applied, and each animal will wear a HR monitor until 24 h post handling trial. To minimize handling stress, a 10 min maximum will be imposed on each trial. Though one animal might have several trials, different herd mates will be present during respective trials. In this manner, an element of novelty may be retained.Individual CHS obtained from the AHSS will consist of 10 skills with four associated scores for each skill. Scores will be assigned by marking a line between two points, indicating the level of skill by marking a point on a continuous line. The distribution of all numeric scores for each skill (and for each sub-category) will be tested for normality and fit to a curve. Human- physiological (EDA) data, pre- and post-trial survey results, handler proficiency scores, and animal outcomes will be merged into a single data set for analysis. Correlations and ANOVA tests will be used to make comparisons between human-handler physiological data, self-reported experience, self-reported performance during trials, handler proficiency scores, and animal outcomes. Each of these data points support a different component of describing animal handler competency/proficiency. The CHS help trainers provide specificity in training. This allows trainers to meet handlers where they are, subsequently allowing trainers to engage a steeper learning curve with their handlers. These results, compared with pre- and post-trial survey results will allow the research team to assess gaps and risks associated with using self-reported skill level as a primary measure of proficiency.