Table 1.
Definitions of social licking measures recorded using live observations of heifers (n = 6 groups) housed indoors in a free-stall barn or outdoors on pasture.
| Variables | Description |
|---|---|
| Groomer | The animal that licks the body of another animal |
| Recipient | The animal that has its body licked |
| Body part licked | Head, neck, front part of the body (i.e. all body parts from thoracic vertebrae to chest) or back part of the body (from lumbar, sacral and coccygeal vertebrae to abdomen) as described by Val-Laillet et al. [11] |
| Solicited social licking | Animal has head lowered, chin stretched under the head of another animal, sometimes accompanied by head butts a |
| Forced termination | Groomer stops licking the recipient after receiving a physical interaction from the recipient or another animal (butt or push) |
| Duration | Length (in time) of a licking event that was initiated when the tongue touches the body surface of the other animal and ended when the tongue stops touching it. When breaks were <30 s events were compiled into the same bout as suggested by Val-Laillet et al. [11] |