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Report2003

Welfare status of dairy cows in barns with automatic milking : Relations between the environment and cow behaviour, physiologic, metabolic and performance parameters

Wiktorsson, Hans-Erik; Pettersson, Gunnar; Olofsson, Jan; Svennersten, Sjaunja; Melin, Martin
Wiktorsson, Hans-Erik (ed.)

Abstract

Abstract The report highlights factors affecting the ability of the cows in AMS to maintain normal feeding, resting and social behaviour, diurnal rhythm and good health, all important cow-related welfare factors to be considered in every management system for dairy cows. The research activities are identified to the following tasks: 1. Studies of behaviour, health, metabolic profile and performance in different cow traffic systems. 2. Behaviour, health and anti-stress profile in dairy cows. 3. Cow activity and continuity in daily rhythm. 4. Light/dark preference when resting during nights. 5. Use of welfare assessment protocol (D23) on the research herd. The research work has been conducted at the AM-barn at Kungsängen Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala. The barn consists of two identical parts on each side of a virtual central line, with a resting area and a feeding area in each part, and with a common waiting area and a milking unit (MU, DeLaval VMSTM) in between. The milking unit operates on quarter milking and recording, and includes a concentrate feeder. There are in total 56 cubicles, 20 roughage feeding troughs, two concentrate feeders, water bowls and weighing bridges, all equipped with cow identification, time and quantity recording. The herd generally includes 45 to 55 lactating cows. The welfare aspects of cow traffic systems: forced traffic, partially forced traffic (by-pass gate) and free traffic, have been studied. It was shown that the number of cows and the time spent in the waiting queue in front of the MU increased when more restrictions were introduced in the traffic system. The effect of more restrictions was more pronounced for the low-ranked cows than for the high-ranked ones. At forced cow traffic the average number of feeding visits was too low (3.9 visits/cow and day) to be optimal. A proportionally greater number of cows had to be fetched on the free traffic system because they frequently exceeded the upper limit for stipulated milking interval of 14 hours since last milking, which also resulted in greater variation in milking intervals. While both the forced and the free traffic systems proved to be sub-optimal, the forced traffic with pre-selection resulted in satisfactory feeding visits (6.5 – 7.1 visits/cow and day) and a low percentage of cows having to be fetched for milking. A study of the reactions of high and low-ranked cows to denial at the by-pass gate when trying to reach the feeding area revealed that the choice to go to the nearby waiting area depended on the time since last feed intake and the number of cows already in the waiting area. After denial the low-ranked cows spent more time in the waiting area, while high-ranked, high parity cows spent more time in the resting area. Setting the upper time limit for entering into the feeding area through the by-pass gate at 4 h instead of 8 h (and the same for milking permission), increased the average milking frequency among older cows in early lactation from 2.2 times to 3.2 times during 24 h. Heifers showed a less favourable response, which indicates difficulties coping with the short time limit of 4 hours. The ability of individual cows to adjust to a different degree of guiding calls for management systems with the possibility of individual settings. It is common practice to have full illumination 24h a day in barns with AMS. It is however questionable whether cows prefer darkness during night hours, and if that will affect the daily rhythms of the herd. By screening between the two central rows of cubicles and towards the feeding area and milking unit, one half of the resting area had full lighting (app. 200 lux) while the other part had dim lighting (5 – 7 lux) from 23:00h to 5:00h. After 3 weeks the lighting in the two areas was reversed. The cows did not change their resting periods and the two areas were on average equally visited, but a few cows showed preferences for full lighting or dim lighting. No difference in ranking order could be observed and the total number of milkings was not affected. A study of the oxytocin and cortisol levels in blood, and cow behaviour was implemented on high and low ranking cows (6 cows on each ranking order) at milking and resting. Contrary to the hypothesis, it was observed that the low-ranked cows had higher levels of oxytocin, both during milking and resting. These cows had also the lowest levels of circulating blood levels of cortisol, indicating that they cope well in the environment although their ability to act voluntarily and in a synchronised way is small. The behaviour studies showed that the low-ranked cows had a more effective eating pattern with less time spent in the eating area and fewer visits made to the feed troughs. However, sufficient amounts of feed were consumed

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Publisher: Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Box 7024, SLU, S-75007 Uppsla, Sweden