A scoping review of cognitive enrichment for young cattle and its implications for welfare and agricultural practices
Authors: Georgiana Amarioarei and Rachel Vliet and Marjorie Cellier and Nadège Aigueperse and Abdoulaye Baniré Diallo and Elsa Vasseur
Date: 2025-06-01
Status: Published
Cognitive enrichment satisfies the behavioral needs of animals by engaging their natural instincts, providing mental stimulation, and enhancing cognitive skills. It distinguishes itself from other types of enrichment by introducing cognitively challenging tasks to the environment and promoting cognitive stimulation. For young cattle, this form of enrichment is necessary for supporting healthy development, adaptability and overall well-being. This scoping review seeks to critically assess the current state of literature on the effects of cognitive enrichment on young domestic bovine within an agricultural environment. This is substantial for understanding benefits to individual animals in addition to possible implications for the efficiency and sustainability of farming practices. The scoping review specifically focuses on identifying gaps in knowledge related to methodology, terminology, practical implementation, and future directions of cognitive enrichment practices. A comprehensive search of databases Scopus and Web of Science was conducted using PRISMA guidelines to identify records published between 1970 and 2024. Studies were included if they met the criteria examining cognitive enrichment or related interventions for calves and heifers. After a multistep screening process, a total of 32 studies reduced from 13,195 were included in the final analysis. Results of the analysis showed inconsistent definitions of age classification of bovine developmental stages and missing fundamental cognitive enrichment terminology. These results highlight the difficulties in tracking and defining the emergence of cognitive enrichment for young bovines due to lack of standardization. Consequently, non-standardized methodologies impose limitations on cross-study comparisons and hinder the development of evidence-based recommendations for practical implementation. Secondly, methodological elements such as measures and practicality of tests were categorically organized to investigate the potential welfare implications of cognitive enrichment and were found to hold meaningful contributions towards the topic. As a whole, cognitive enrichment holds significant promise as a tool for enhancing the welfare and cognitive development of young bovine.