Lameness, one of the most important disorders in the dairy industry, is related to postpartum diseases and has an effect on dairy cow welfare, leading to changes in cows' daily behavioral variables. This study quantified the effect of lameness on the daily time budget of dairy cows in the transition period. In total, 784 multiparous dairy cows from 8 commercial Dutch dairy farms were visually scored on their locomotion (score of 1-5) and body condition (score of 1-5). Each cow was scored in the early and late dry period as well as in wk 4 and 8 postpartum. Cows with locomotion scores 1 and 2 were grouped together as nonlame, cows with score 3 were considered moderately lame, and cows with scores 4 and 5 were grouped together as severely lame. Cows were equipped with 2 types of sensors that measured behavioral parameters. The leg sensor provided number of steps, number of stand-ups (moving from lying to standing), lying time, number of lying bouts, and lying bout length. The neck sensor provided eating time, number of eating bouts, eating bout length, rumination time, number of rumination bouts, and rumination bout length. Sensor data for each behavioral parameter were averaged between 2 d before and 2 d after locomotion scoring. The percentage of nonlame cows decreased from 63% in the early dry period to 46% at 8 wk in lactation; this decrease was more severe for cows with higher parity. Cows that calved in autumn had the highest odds for lameness. Body condition score loss of >0.75 point in early lactation was associated with lameness in wk 4 postpartum. Moderately lame cows had a reduction of daily eating time of around 20 min, whereas severely lame cows had a reduction of almost 40 min. Similarly, moderately and severely lame dry cows showed a reduction of 200 steps/d, and severely lame cows in lactation showed a reduction of 600 steps/d. Daily lying time increased by 26 min and lying bout length increased by 8 min in severely lame cows compared with nonlame cows. These results indicate a high prevalence of lameness on Dutch dairy farms, with an increase in higher locomotion scores from the dry period into early lactation. Time budgets for multiparous dairy cows differed between the dry period and the lactating period, with a higher locomotion score (increased lameness) having an effect on cows' complete behavioral profile. Body condition score loss in early lactation was associated with poor locomotion postpartum, whereas lameness resulted in less eating time in the dry period and early lactation, creating a harmful cycle.

No abstract

The Welfare Quality® assessment protocol (WQ) is the most extensive way to measure animal welfare. This study was set up to determine if resource-based welfare indicators, that are easier and faster to measure, could replace the more time consuming, animal-based measurements of the WQ. The WQ was applied on 60 dairy farms in the Netherlands, with good, moderate and poor welfare. The WQ protocol classified most farms (87%) as ‘acceptable’. Several of the animal-based measures of WQ correlated well with measures in the environment. Using these correlations, an alternative welfare assessment protocol (new Welfare Monitor) was designed, which takes approximately 1.5 h for a farm with 100 dairy cows. Because the opinion of farmers about welfare assessment is important if one wants to improve conditions for the cows at a farm, another objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the new Welfare Monitor for the farmer. Over two years, the farms were visited, and advice was given to improve the conditions at the farm. After the first welfare assessment and advice, farmers improved the conditions for their cows substantially. Farms where the category score had increased made more improvements on average than those that did not upgrade.

Cows from 8 commercial Dutch dairy farms were equipped with 2 sensors to study their complete time budgets of eating, rumination, lying, standing and walking times as derived from a neck and a leg sensor. Daily sensor data of 1074 cows with 3201 lactations was used from 1 month prepartum until 10 months postpartum. Farms provided data over a 5 year period. The final models (lactational time budget and 24h time budget) showed significant effects of parity, farm and calving season. When primiparous cows were introduced in the lactational herd, they showed a decrease in lying time of 215 min (95% CI: 187–242) and an increase in standing time of 159 min (95% CI: 138–179), walking time of 23 min (95% CI: 20–26) and rumination time of 69 min (95% CI: 57–82). Eating time in primiparous cows increased from 1 month prepartum until 9 months in lactation with 88 min (95% CI: 76–101) and then remained stable until the end of lactation. Parity 2 and parity 3+ cows decreased in eating time by 30 min (95% CI: 20–40) and 26 min (95% CI: 18–33), respectively, from 1 month before to 1 month after calving. Until month 6, eating time increased 11 min (95% CI: 1–22) for parity 2, and 24 min (95% CI: 16–32) for parity 3+. From 1 month before calving to 1 month after calving, they showed an increase in ruminating of 17 min (95% CI: 6–28) and 28 min (95% CI: 21–35), an increase in standing time of 117 min (95% CI: 100–135) and 133 min (95% CI: 121–146), while lying time decreased with 113 min (95% CI: 91–136) and 130 min (95% CI: 114–146), for parity 2 and 3+, respectively. After month 1 in milk to the end of lactation, lying time increased 67 min (95% CI: 49–85) for parity 2, and 77 min (95% CI: 53–100) for parity 3+. Lactational time budget patterns are comparable between all 8 farms, but cows on conventional milking system (CMS) farms with pasture access appear to show higher standing and walking time, and spent less time lying compared to cows on automatic milking system (AMS) farms without pasture access. Every behavioral parameter presented a 24h pattern. Cows eat, stand and walk during the day and lie down and ruminate during the night. Daily patterns in time budgets on all farms are comparable except for walking time. During the day, cows on CMS farms with pasture access spent more time walking than cows on AMS farms without pasture access. The average 24h pattern between parities is comparable, but primiparous cows spent more time walking during daytime compared to older cows. These results indicate a specific behavioral pattern per parameter from the last month prepartum until 10 months postpartum with different patterns between parities but comparable patterns across farms. Furthermore, cows appear to have a circadian rhythm with varying time budgets in the transition period and during lactation.