Table 1.

Ethogram adapted from References [9,32].

Behaviour (1)		Definition
Inactive ear posture (2)	Ear hanging	The ear loosely hangs downwards (referring to the ground). There is no visible muscle tension, leading often to a slightly bouncing movement when the position is assumed.
Active ear postures (2) (3)	Back up	The ear is held behind and above the latero-lateral axis.
	Back centre	The ear is held behind at the same height as the latero-lateral axis.
	Back down	The ear is held behind and below the latero-lateral axis.
	Centre up	The ear is held perpendicular to the head and above the latero-lateral axis.
	Centre	The ear is held perpendicular to the head along the latero-lateral axis.
	Centre down	The ear is held perpendicular to the head and below the latero-lateral axis.
	Forward up	The ear is held in front of and above the latero-lateral axis.
	Forward centre	The ear is held in front of and at the same height as the latero-lateral axis.
	Forward down	The ear is held in front of and below the latero-lateral axis.
	Ear flicking	The ear is quickly (within max. 0.5 s) moved back and forth at least once. The behaviour is coded until one of the other ear postures is clearly visible again. The residual movement after the active movement is still part of ear flicking.
Head/neck postures	Held without touching	The head is actively held up and does not touch the stroker.
	Held with touching	The head is actively held up and touches the stroker.
	Rest head without touching	The heifer does not actively carry the head’s weight. The heifer’s head is in contact with the ground, barn equipment, another animal or with the heifer’s leg(s). The heifer’s head is not in contact with the stroker.
	Rest head with touching	The heifer does not actively carry the head’s weight. The heifer’s head is lying on the ground, barn equipment, another animal or the heifer’s leg(s) while being in contact with the stroker, or it is lying on the stroker’s leg.
	Head shaking/tossing	Successive quick movements of the head. The movements can be rotational or up and down.
	Neck stretching	Positioning neck and head actively in an outstretched line, either up, down, or forward.
Eyes (4)	Open	The iris is at least partly visible.
	Closed	The iris is not visible at all for longer than 0.5 s.
	Not visible	Neither eye is visible.
Miscellaneous	Rubbing the stroker	The heifer touches the stroker and moves the touching body part while in contact with the experimenter. The behaviour ends when the contact between the heifer and the person is interrupted for at least 3 s.
	Rubbing	The heifer moves the head/neck region while in contact with the ground or barn equipment. The behaviour ends when the contact between the heifer’s head/neck region and the ground/equipment has ended.
	Nose close	The heifer moves her muzzle towards the stroker within a range of 5 cm. The behaviour ends when the heifer’s nose does not point towards the stroker anymore, leaves the range of 5 cm or if another behaviour of the “miscellaneous” category starts.
	Licking the stroker	The heifer’s tongue touches the stroker at least once. The behaviour ends when the heifer’s tongue does not touch the stroker again within 3 s.
	Ruminating	The heifer’s jaw moves regularly sideways with a frequency of about one movement per second. This movement is recorded as rumination if it occurs in a series of at least five movements (which may start before and end after the observation). Rumination ends when the jaw movement is paused for more than 10 s.
Calculated measures	Contact	The time in which the heifer’s head and neck area was in contact with the stroker. Sum of durations of “rest head with touching”, “held with touching”, “nose close”, “rubbing experimenter” and “licking experimenter”, not including contact established by stroking.
	Resting head	Sum of durations of “rest head with touching” and “rest head without touching”.
	Ear low	The sum of the durations of the ear hanging or held below the latero-lateral axis (“hanging” + “back down” + “centre down” + “forward down”).
	Changes of ear positions	Sum of the frequencies of different ear positions per trial minus 1.

⁽¹⁾ All behaviours were coded as durations, except changes of ear positions (count data). ⁽²⁾ The left ear was recorded; if it was not visible, the right ear was recorded. ⁽³⁾ The latero-lateral axis refers to an imaginary line between the bases of the ears. “Behind” means the ear is pointing towards the back of the head, “in front” refers to the rostral end of the head, “above” describes the ear pointing towards the dorsal and “below” towards the ventral part of the head. If the observed ear was moved by the experimenter, the position before the movement was recorded until the next unambiguous ear posture was assumed. ⁽⁴⁾ The left eye was recorded; if it was not visible, the right eye was recorded.