Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108.
Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108.
J Dairy Sci. 2020 Sep;103(9):8507-8517. doi: 10.3168/jds.2019-17727. Epub 2020 Jul 1.
The objective of this study was to explore views on dairy calf housing options among American youth and adults. Youth views were of interest because they are future consumers, yet their influence on livestock production practices is often overlooked. Participants 5 to 17 yr of age (n = 463) and 18 yr or older (n = 1,310) completed an in-person survey at the Minnesota State Fair (St. Paul, MN) in summer 2018. The survey was administered via Qualtrics survey software (Qualtrics, Provo, UT) using iPads (Apple, Cupertino, CA) and, in addition to collecting demographics, presented 3 images of calf housing options (individual, pair, or group) and asked participants to select their preferred option and indicate their reasoning for selection (youth), or acceptance for each option and reasoning for selection (adult). The PROC SURVEYFREQ of SAS (9.4; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) was used for descriptive analysis. Rao-Scott chi-square tests (PROC SURVEYFREQ, SAS 9.4) were used to investigate relationships between demographics and housing preference or acceptance. Content analysis identified recurring themes to describe qualitative reasoning underlying dairy calf housing preference or acceptance. The median age of youth participants was 11 yr, 61% were female, 82% were urban residents, and 63% did not have prior experience handling agricultural animals, but 83% had visited a farm in the past. Median age range of adult participants was 45 to 54 yr, 65% were female, 82% urban residents, 41% completed a bachelor's degree, and 81% did not have prior experience handling agricultural animals, but 63% had visited a farm in the past. Overall, group housing was overwhelmingly preferred by youth participants (80.1%), followed by pair (14.3%) and individual housing (5.6%). Youth who chose group housing most commonly cited reasons related to increased socialization (71.4%) and space allowance (58.5%). Housing preference of youth was not associated with age, gender, or prior visits to a farm. However, rural youth more frequently preferred individual housing compared with urban youth (13.6 ± 4.5% SE vs. 5.1 ± 1.3%, respectively). Similarly, adult participants were most accepting of group housing for dairy calves (75.8% of participants), with reasons focused on calves' ability to socialize and access to increased space allowance. Adult males, rural residents, and individuals with previous livestock handling experience more frequently accepted individual calf housing compared with females, urban residents, and individuals without previous livestock handling experience. These findings suggest that housing systems that enable greater degrees of behavioral freedom for calves may be more socially sustainable for the dairy sector.
本研究旨在探讨美国青少年和成年人对奶牛犊牛饲养方式的看法。青少年的观点很有意思，因为他们是未来的消费者，但他们对畜牧业生产实践的影响往往被忽视。2018 年夏天，年龄在 5 至 17 岁（n=463）和 18 岁及以上（n=1310）的参与者在明尼苏达州博览会上进行了实地调查。该调查通过 Qualtrics 调查软件（Provo，UT 的 Qualtrics）使用 iPad（苹果，库比蒂诺，CA）进行管理，除了收集人口统计学数据外，还展示了 3 种犊牛饲养方式的图片（单独、成对或成组），并要求参与者选择他们喜欢的方式，并说明选择的理由（青少年），或对每种方式的接受程度和选择的理由（成年人）。使用 SAS（北卡罗来纳州卡里的 SAS 研究所）的 PROC SURVEYFREQ 进行描述性分析。使用 Rao-Scott 卡方检验（PROC SURVEYFREQ，SAS 9.4）调查人口统计学与住房偏好或接受之间的关系。内容分析确定了重复出现的主题，以描述与奶牛犊牛饲养偏好或接受相关的定性推理。青少年参与者的平均年龄为 11 岁，61%为女性，82%为城市居民，63%没有处理过农业动物的经验，但 83%去过农场。成年参与者的平均年龄范围为 45 至 54 岁，65%为女性，82%为城市居民，41%完成了学士学位，81%没有处理过农业动物的经验，但 63%去过农场。总的来说，组养是青少年参与者（80.1%）最青睐的，其次是成对（14.3%）和单独饲养（5.6%）。选择群体饲养的青少年最常提到与增加社交（71.4%）和空间允许（58.5%）有关的原因。青少年的住房偏好与年龄、性别或以前是否参观过农场无关。然而，农村青少年比城市青少年更倾向于单独住房（分别为 13.6±4.5% SE 和 5.1±1.3%）。同样，成年参与者最能接受奶牛犊牛的群体饲养（75.8%的参与者），原因集中在牛犊的社交能力和获得更多空间的能力上。与女性、城市居民和没有以前牲畜处理经验的个体相比，成年男性、农村居民和有以前牲畜处理经验的个体更频繁地接受单独的犊牛饲养。这些发现表明，为犊牛提供更大程度行为自由的饲养系统可能对奶制品行业更具社会可持续性。
