Crowding of dairy cows in a cubicle barn during the hot summer months

The eff ect of air temperature and time of day on distribution of Czech Fleckvieh cows within the barn was studied on a dairy farm located in the south of Moravia, CR, (49°12'31.875"N, 16°23'43.146"E). The cows were loose-housed in a barn with stalls. The fl oor surface was made of separated manure. The observation was carried out in one of the four sections (100 cows) of the barn (total 400 cows). The observed section was visually divided into two parts -le L (situated centrally) and right R (situated peripherally). Video camera images (the total of 5304 images were evaluated) revealed the distribution of cows within the barn and the presence of cows in parts A or B. The air temperature was monitored by temperature sensors. At lower temperatures (up to 19.00 °C), the distribution of cows within the barn was even, at higher temperatures, the cows had a distinct tendency to crowd in L side of the barn (up to 100% of them). The cows were scattered evenly around the barn up to 10.00 in the morning and a er 19:01 in the evening. During the day between 10.00 and 19.01, the cows tended to group in L part (up to 100% of them). They never grouped in R part. It was found out that changes in distribution of cows within the barn were associated with both air temperature and time of day. The changes in mean air temperature during the day were defi ned as y = 0.000002x 4 − 0.0005x 3 + 0.0412x 2 − 0.8876x + 18.515 (where y = air temperature and x time of day in hours) with R 2 = 0.957.

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 90%

The Effect of Air Temperature and Time of Day on Distribution of Czech Fleckvieh Cows Within the Barn

Javorová¹,

Velecká²,

Falta³

et al. 2014

“…Berman et al (1985) claim that the thermal load of animal could be affected by factors like housing system, location of animal and social rank. When the temperature and humidity are both high the influence on feed intake, reproduction and milk production is negative (Erbez et al, 2012). According to Vokřálová et al (2007) the thermoneutral zone for cattle is between −5 °C and +24 °C.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Temperature Cumulation on Milk Yield of Czech Fleckvieh-Simmental Cattle

Navrátil¹,

Falta²,

Chládek³

2017

The aim of this study was to asses the effect of temperature cumulation on milk yield of Czech Fleckvieh-Simmental cattle. Experiment for this study was executed on private farm in Czech Republic with permanently open-sided barn, in which were cows stabled (49°12′36.7″N 16°23′42.1″E). Cows were stabled in free stall box system. Experiment lasted three months (May-July) of 2016. In total 114 cows were include in this study. They were divided according to yield to three groups: more than 25 kg of milk per day, 20.1-24.9 kg of milk per day and less than 20 kg of milk per day. The data loggers placed inside the stable collected data about temperature every 30 minutes. Data about milk yield were obtained from software in milk parlour. After data were collected, the sum of effective temperatures (SET) was calculated. The SET was calculated for temperatures surpassing 21 °C. Data shows that all groups were affected by rising SET. The group with yield above 25 kg of milk per day was the most affected by the high SET (r = −0.4931) in contrary with the group with less than 20 kg of milk per day (r = −0.1380). Our result suggest, that the SET might be better marker for evaluation of the impact of heat stress than temperature itself. The results of this paper also shows, that the high-yield cows are affected by cumulation of temperature more.

“…Throughout the year, the side walls of the barn are permanently open. In this barn, ERBEZ et al (2012) and VEČEŘA et al (2011) also did their research.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 81%

The Effect of the Season on the Behavior and Milk Yield of the Czech Fleckvieh Cows

Černý¹,

Večeřa²,

Falta³

et al. 2016

The aim of this study was to evaluate the seasonal behavior and milk yield of dairy cows of Czech Fleckvieh cattle. The subject of the monitoring was one section (housed in one quarter of barn) with 103 free cubicle beds with an average of 95 lactating dairy cows of Czech Fleckvieh cattle. In the seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) temperature (°C), relative humidity (%) and temperaturehumidity index (THI) were monitored. Furthermore, behavioral signs were also observed (a total of 4,940 observations): dairy cows were either lying down (3,432 observations) or standing up (1,508 observations). In the conditions that dairy cows were standing up in the cubicle, up to 585 observations were proved. If dairy cows were standing up outside of the cubicle (923 observations), they were either lying on the left side (1,924 observations) or right side (1,508). Significant seasonal influence was found out (p < 0.05) on the number of dairy cows standing up (a maximum of 410 observations in the spring, a minimum of 342 observations in the summer) and then the number of cows lying both on the left (a maximum of 519 observations in the autumn and a minimum of 444 observations in the spring) and on the right side (a maximum of 415 observations in the winter, a minimum of 320 observations in the autumn). The seasonal influence was no significant (p > 0.05) in the remaining behavioral signs. With regard to milk yield, a significant seasonal influence was proved. The highest milk yield was reached with dairy cows in spring (29.27 kg of milk) and the lowest in the autumn (24.58 kg of milk). No significant differences of milk yield were detected between behavioral signs (p > 0.05). The maximum difference of milk yield was found out up to 1.39 kg between dairy cows lying down on the left side (28.35 kg) and the dairy cows standing up in a cubicle (26.96 kg) in the winter but even this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05).