Van Os Jennifer M C, Cook Nigel B, Ledesma Dominic, Cradock Robert, Abraham Olufunmilola, Brauer Markus
Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.
Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.
J Dairy Sci. 2025 Aug;108(8):8491-8507. doi: 10.3168/jds.2025-26311. Epub 2025 Jun 11.
Appropriate handling of dairy cows improves animal welfare and milk production and reduces the risk of injury to cows and people. However, safely interacting with cows requires training to understand their natural behavior. Our objective was to develop, in collaboration with Wisconsin dairy farming stakeholders, an innovative tool for dairy farm staff to practice appropriate cow handling. We created and evaluated a prototype of Mooving Cows, a digital touchscreen game in which players practice moving cows in simulated dairy farm environments. The learning objectives were to understand how human actions affect safety and cow behavior, stress, and productivity. We conducted focus groups with dairy farm staff (3 groups in Spanish, n = 16; 2 groups in English, n = 4) and 3 English focus groups with decision-makers (n = 10) such as farm owners and managers, bilingual consultants, and veterinarians. First, the focus group participants completed questionnaires about their experiences with and perceptions of cow handling and professional training and then they played the game prototype individually. On average, participants indicated they felt fairly comfortable using mobile applications (scale: 1 = very comfortable, 5 = very uncomfortable; farm staff: 1.9 ± 1.2, mean ± SD, range = 1 to 5; decision-makers: 1.8 ± 1.0, range = 1 to 4). After playing the game prototype, participants engaged in recorded, facilitated discussions about their qualitative impressions of the game. The research team reviewed the transcriptions to identify action items for improving the final version of the game, then conducted an inductive codebook thematic analysis to summarize themes relating to the participants' impressions of the game. We incorporated participants' feedback into version 1.0 of the game and compiled their ideas for future versions of the game. Overall, participants indicated the game was entertaining and would be useful for job training, particularly for new hires with little cow-handling experience. The results from the qualitative evaluation of the game prototype by dairy farming stakeholders suggest that the game could be a relevant way for farm staff, especially new hires, to remain current with national standards and expectations for continuing education.
妥善管理奶牛可提高动物福利和牛奶产量，并降低奶牛和人员受伤的风险。然而，与奶牛安全互动需要经过培训，以了解它们的自然行为。我们的目标是与威斯康星州的奶牛养殖利益相关者合作，开发一种创新工具，供奶牛场工作人员练习正确的奶牛管理方法。我们创建并评估了一款名为“移动奶牛”的数字触摸屏游戏原型，玩家在模拟奶牛场环境中练习驱赶奶牛。学习目标是了解人类行为如何影响安全性、奶牛行为、应激反应和生产力。我们与奶牛场工作人员进行了焦点小组讨论（3组西班牙语，n = 16；2组英语，n = 4），并与农场主和经理、双语顾问及兽医等决策者进行了3组英语焦点小组讨论（n = 10）。首先，焦点小组参与者填写了关于他们在奶牛管理方面的经验和看法以及专业培训的问卷，然后他们各自玩游戏原型。平均而言，参与者表示他们对使用移动应用程序感觉相当自在（评分标准：1 = 非常自在，5 = 非常不自在；农场工作人员：1.9 ± 1.2，平均值 ± 标准差，范围为1至5；决策者：1.8 ± 1.0，范围为1至4）。玩过游戏原型后，参与者参与了关于他们对游戏定性印象的有记录的、有引导的讨论。研究团队审查了文字记录，以确定改进游戏最终版本的行动项目，然后进行归纳编码本主题分析，以总结与参与者对游戏印象相关的主题。我们将参与者的反馈纳入游戏1.0版本，并整理了他们对游戏未来版本的想法。总体而言，参与者表示该游戏很有趣，对工作培训很有用，特别是对于几乎没有奶牛管理经验的新员工。奶牛养殖利益相关者对游戏原型的定性评估结果表明，该游戏可能是农场工作人员，尤其是新员工，了解继续教育国家标准和期望的一种相关方式。
