DAILY ACTIVITY OF POLISH HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN COWS DEPENDING ON VARIABLE HOUSING CONDITIONS DURING LACTATION
Journal Title: Folia Pomeranae Universitatis Technologiae Stetinensis Agricultura Alimentaria Piscaria et Zootechnica - Year 2017, Vol 44, Issue 338
Abstract
The aim of the study was to analyse the activity of Polish Holstein-Friesian cows depending on variable housing conditions during lactation, associated with short-term (30-day) reduction in the living area. The study used two groups of cows (25 animals per group) housed in sections with or without an outdoor area and subjected to temporary (30-day) crowding as well as one group of cows subjected to decreasing stocking density. All animals were fitted with pedometers on the hind legs, which recorded data on activity (steps/hour), resting frequency (times per day), resting bout duration (minutes), and total resting time (minutes). Activity analysis of the groups performed before the change in stocking density showed that in the group of cows without outdoor access, fourth lactation cows (175.59 steps/h) and primiparous cows were the most active (147.09 steps/h). Primiparous cows rested most frequently (14.14) and showed longest total resting time (588.73 min). In the group with outdoor access, significantly highest activity was shown by primiparous cows (132.18 steps/h) and lowest activity by fourth lactation cows (108.92 steps/h). Fourth lactation cows were also characterized by lowest resting frequency (8.41) and lowest total resting time (525.16 min), as well as longest resting bout (74.91 min). Following the first increase in stocking density, the group of cows without outdoor access showed very high activity (133.65 steps/h), and the cows with outdoor access reduced their activity. The next increase in stocking density caused the confined cows to increase their activity, which was associated with increasing stress, while the group of cows with outdoor access did not respond with higher activity but the duration of resting bout increased (61.16 min) and its frequency decreased. As a result, total resting time was shorter than in the group without outdoor access. In the group without outdoor access, rests were less frequent but longer (59.91 min), which could be due to the difficulty finding a place to rest. In all the study groups, total resting time decreased to an unprecedented time of less than 490 min.
Authors and Affiliations
Piotr MRÓZ, Mateusz PANKOWSKI
Keywords
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- EP ID EP410420
- DOI 10.21005/AAPZ2017.44.4.13
- Views 108
- Downloads 0
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