The cows to be ‘handled’ (treatment
group [TG],
n
= 8) were released into an adjacent pen after the first blood sample
was taken, and were subjected to handling procedures by two operators for approx-
imately 8 min. This handling included haltering, driving them back and forth and
walking them back into the first pen, where they were head-locked again. Twenty
minutes after the start of these procedures, a second blood sample was taken from
the TG cows. Overall, this process reflected handling procedures at our research
farm where dairy cows are assembled, driven, head-locked and blood-sampled..