Dairy goats use outdoor runs of high quality more regardless of the quality of indoor housing

Stachowicz, Joanna; Gygax, Lorenz; Hillmann, Edna; Wechsler, Beat; Keil, Nina M.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2018.08.012

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Benefits of an outdoor run can only be achieved if the animals use it. The provision of enrichment items (Bøe et al, 2012), space, and structural elements were shown to positively influence outdoor run use in goats (Stachowicz et al, 2018). In temperate climate zones, goats might benefit from the outdoor run specifically during the winter feeding period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…However, the observation periods were comparable in the sense that all goats were brought inside for milking and feeding and began to go out again afterward. Moreover, this period of day was generally the one with the highest outdoor run use (Stachowicz et al, 2018). Outdoor run use in terms of the "proportion of herd in run" and "frequency of entries to run" (see below) was calculated for these 2 h (Table 2).…”

Section: Data For Analyzing the Effects Of Humidity Solar Radiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A possible reason could be the reduced availability of dry floor surface, especially after a rain period. Goats were shown to use an outdoor run often for lying (Bøe et al, 2012;Stachowicz et al, 2018) and to clearly prefer lying on dry surfaces (Bøe et al, 2007). As we cannot exclude that, in the hour before the rain began on days with rain, the floor surface of the outdoor run was already wet due to a previous rain event, the reduced availability of dry floor surface could also be the reason why the outdoor run was used less during this hour.…”

Section: Rainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, an outdoor run provides visual cover by creating a physical separation between outdoors and indoors and may therefore serve as an area for retreat (Haskell et al, 2013). Finally, the outdoor run can offer the stimuli of the outside environment and can be equipped with various items, such as climbing opportunities, brushes, hayracks (Stachowicz et al, 2018), or branches (Bøe et al, 2012), to occupy the goats. It was demonstrated that goats used all the items provided when they were in the outdoor run (Bøe et al, 2012;Stachowicz et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, the outdoor run can offer the stimuli of the outside environment and can be equipped with various items, such as climbing opportunities, brushes, hayracks (Stachowicz et al, 2018), or branches (Bøe et al, 2012), to occupy the goats. It was demonstrated that goats used all the items provided when they were in the outdoor run (Bøe et al, 2012;Stachowicz et al, 2018). In this way, an outdoor run may promote speciesrelevant behaviors (Newberry, 1995;van de Weerd and Day, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Under temperate weather conditions, dairy goats use an outdoor run more with increasing warmth and avoid light wind or rain

Stachowicz

Lanter

Gygax

et al. 2019

Journal of Dairy Science

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Access to an outdoor run might provide some benefits for the social and activity behavior of dairy goats. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of weather parameters on outdoor run use by dairy goats under temperate weather conditions. Data were collected from February to April and in October, 2014, on 14 commercial dairy goat farms in Switzerland and Germany for 14 d per farm. Temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, and rain amount were measured continuously using a weather station. The outcome variables, average proportion of the herd in the outdoor run (proportion of herd in run) and average frequency of goats entering the outdoor run per hour in relation to group size (frequency of entries to run), were assessed by video data. Temperature, humidity, and solar radiation were combined to create the parameter "warmth" by means of a principal component analysis, whereas wind speed and rain (rain events and rain amount) were used in their original form as explanatory variables. Additionally, the effect of the comprehensive climate index on outdoor run use was investigated. Data were analyzed using linear mixed effects models. Increasing "warmth" increased, whereas increasing wind speed reduced, the proportion of herd in run. With increasing comprehensive climate index, the proportion of herd in run and the frequency of entries to run increased. On days without rain, the proportion of herd in run and the frequency of entries to run were markedly higher than during comparable daytime hours with rain. In the hour before the rain started and after it had stopped, more goats were in the outdoor run than during rain hours, but still fewer than during comparable daytime hours on days without rain. Furthermore, the proportion of herd in run and the frequency of entries to run decreased to a very low level when the rain amount exceeded 1 mm/h. To conclude, in the measured ranges of temperature (−0.8 to +16.5°C), humidity (34.8 to 99.2%), solar radiation (25.9 to 519.8 W/m 2), and wind speed (0 to 4 m/s), warmer conditions increased the outdoor run use, whereas the goats clearly avoided light wind and rain. Therefore, in the outdoor runs, protection against rain and wind could promote their use under temperate weather conditions. Furthermore, ensuring optimized access to solar radiation by considering the exposure of the outdoor run might be of advantage, as direct sun exposure induces warmer conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Data For Analyzing the Effects Of Humidity Solar Radiationmentioning

confidence: 99%