Olmos Antillon, Gabriela
- Royal Veterinary College
- Teagasc
Abstract
This study compared estrous behavior of dairy cows kept in cubicle housing and fed a total mixed ration diet (HOUSED treatment) with that of cows kept at pasture with concentrate supplementation (PASTURE treatment). Behavior was compared both in the 48 h around standing estrus and during the standing estrus period. The 23 spring-calving Holstein-Friesians in each treatment were observed directly three times per day for nine weeks. The occurrence of nine selected behaviors associated with estrus was recorded during 20 min observation sessions. Twelve standing estrus events from each treatment were selected for analysis of the frequency of these nine behaviours over the 48 h around standing estrus. Milk progesterone profiles were used to confirm the dates of standing estrus events. Attempting to mount other cows, sniffing the anogenital region of other cows, resting the chin on other cows, receiving chin rests and head-to-head butts all showed significant changes in frequency in the 48 h around standing estrus in both treatments, reaching a peak during standing estrus (P
Keywords
Dairy cows; Estrous behavior; Estrus detection; Housing; Visual observation
Published in
Theriogenology
2012, volume: 77, number: 2, pages: 382-388
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Animal and Dairy Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2011.08.010
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/87859