Exploring the Evacuation of Dairy Cattle at Night in Collaboration with the Fire Brigade: How to Prepare Openings for Swift Rescue in Case of Barn Fire

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influencing factors of successfully rescuing year-round housed cattle in case of a barn fire. Empirical research indicates the reluctance of cattle to leave their familiar barn. Subsequent retreat back to the perceived safety inside, which stands in contrast to the unknown and thus adversary elements outside, for example, the fire brigade, is to be expected. We examined the evacuation of 69 dairy cattle, split into three groups, to an adjacent pasture by night and inspected the animals' acceptance of two differently designed escape routes and the effect of preceding training. Along with the time needed for evacuating all animals, we measured faecal cortisol metabolites and daily milk yield to assess stress in the animals. Our preliminary assumption was that cattle trained for pasture would have a decisive advantage over untrained cattle. However, adapting the exits to the sensory physiology of the cattle resulted in an extensive impact on the animals' readiness to leave the familiar housing, as the evacuation of the cattle non-habituated to the exit was comparatively quick and successful. We consider this study instructional for fire brigades and farmers, encouraging them to develop a customised concept for rescuing their cattle in case of an emergency.

Keywords: emergency management; fire preparedness; husbandry; livestock evacuation; sensory physiology; stockmanship.

Figure 1

Race for NonH-R, covered with opaque weatherproofing tarpaulin. In the background, the exit of NonH is visible (*). The exit of HABIT would be to the left.

Figure 2

Boxplot graphs (bold line: median; cross: mean value; boxes: first and third quartile; whiskers: 5th and 95th percentiles) of time passed, depicted in seconds, between first cow and each following cow leaving the barn per group.

Figure 3

Cows of HABIT leaving the barn with fire engine next to the route to pasture.

Figure 4

Cows of NonH (r.) leaving the barn with a Brown Swiss (*) turning around on the right side. Cows of HABIT leaving the barn in a bulk in the far left (#). Race of NonH-R in the middle with no cow leaving the barn yet (+).

Figure 5

Boxplot graphs (bold line: median; cross: mean value; boxes: first and third quartile; whiskers: 5th and 95th percentiles; circles: outlier values) of baseline FCM concentrations (ng/g) per group.

Figure 6

Boxplot graphs (bold line: median; cross: mean value; boxes: first and third quartile; whisk-ers: 5th and 95th percentiles; circles: outlier values) of individual differences in FCM concentrations (%) between baseline samples and samples on day one (H1), day two (H2) with one outlier of 1345% not depicted, day three (H3), and day six (H6) of habituating HABIT to pasture.

Figure 7

Boxplot graphs (bold line: median; cross: mean value; boxes: first and third quartile; whisk-ers: 5th and 95th percentiles; circles: outlier values) of individual differences in FCM concentrations (%) between baseline samples and samples after evacuation per group.