Dairy Cows Produce Less Milk and Modify Their Behaviour during the Transition between Tie-Stall to Free-Stall

Abstract

Simple SummaryThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of moving cows from the barn with stanchion-stall housing to free-stall housing on their behaviour and production. Cows lay down up to ten hours after removing. The cows in their second lactation and open cows tended to lie sooner after removing than cows in their first lactation and pregnant cows. The times of total lying and rumination were increasing from the first day to the tenth day after removing. Cows produced 23.3% less milk at the first day following the transfer than at the last day prior to moving (23.76 ± 7.20 kg vs. 30.97 ± 7.26 kg, p < 0.001). Loss of milk was gradually reduced and on the 14th day, cows achieved maximum production. The difference was found in milk losses due to the shift between cows in first and second lactation.AbstractTransfer of cattle to an unknown barn may result in a reduction in its welfare. Housing and management practices can result in signs of stress that include a long-term suppression of milk efficiency. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of moving cows from the stanchion-stall housing to free-stall housing on their behaviour and production. The Holstein cows were moved into the new facility with free-stall housing from the old barn with stanchion-stall housing. Cows lay down up to ten hours (596.3 ± 282.7 min) after removing. The cows in their second lactation and open cows tended to lie sooner after removing than cows in their first lactation and pregnant cows. The times of total lying and rumination were increasing from the first day to the tenth day after removing (23.76 ± 7.20 kg vs. 30.97 ± 7.26 kg, p < 0.001). Cows produced 23.3% less milk at the first day following the transfer than at the last day prior to moving (p < 0.001). Loss of milk was gradually reduced and maximum production was achieved on the 14th day. The difference was found in milk losses due to the shift between cows on the first and second lactation (p < 0.01). The results of this study suggest that removing from the tie-stall barn with a pipeline milking system into the barn with free-stall housing and a milking parlour caused a decline in the cows’ milk production. However, when the cows are moved to a better environment, they rapidly adapt to the change.

Effect of Feeding Cows with Unsaturated Fatty Acid Sources on Milk Production, Milk Composition, Milk Fatty Acid Profile, and Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Ice Cream

“…For this study, animals were confined in a pen and selected from different productive herds. Broucek et al, [23] reported that transferring lactating dairy cows to unknown pens with unknown animals might result in signs of stress that include a long-term suppression of milk efficiency and overall production performance.…”

From Science to Practice: A Review of Laterality Research on Ungulate Livestock

“…The effect of maturation on laterality in ungulate livestock therefore seems to be more complex and requires further study. Some studies in adult cattle have reported increased right laterality during lying in older cattle [132,147] and an increased preference for using the right eye in fights [144]. These findings are in contrast to findings in primates, where laterality was found to decrease in older age [194] and thereby provide interesting new insights into how laterality changes throughout the lifespan.…”

“…These results suggest that chronic presentation of an emotionally relevant stimulus may influence somatic functions and consequently improve both productive and reproductive performance. Other studies also suggest that a left bias during lying may be associated with pregnancy in cows [75,77,79,132,147], which is most likely due to the position of the fetus [78]. In horses, performance in different types of tasks such as dressage and racing was found to be associated with laterality.…”

The Equipment Used in the SF6 Technique to Estimate Methane Emissions Has No Major Effect on Dairy Cow Behavior

“…Behavioral changes do not always occur in an adaptive and beneficial way (2). In some cases, they may indicate health problems, emotional disturbance, and stress (4) and may influence animal productivity (5).…”