Effect of weather on activity and lying behaviour in clinically healthy grazing dairy cows during the transition period

Hendriks, S.J.; Phyn, C.V.C.; Turner, Sally-Anne; Mueller, Kerstin-Elisabeth; Kuhn-Sherlock, B.; Donaghy, DJ; Huzzey, J.M.; Roche, J.R.

doi:10.1071/an18569

Cited by 20 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The PW and BrW parameters were included in the multiple regression model per 10-unit increase. Because cows were outdoors and the experimental periods (across 4 yr) were different for the studies, rainfall and air temperature and their interaction were evaluated and included in the model (Hendriks et al, 2019). Variables were checked for multicollinearity; however, no variables were highly correlated or had variance inflation factors greater than 10.…”

Section: Average Changes In Behavior Across Daysmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Farm-specific factors such as time spent waiting to be milked (Beggs et al, 2018), wintering system (Al-Marashdeh et al, 2019), weather (Hendriks et al, 2019), and other management factors need to be considered when comparing behavior measurements from different farms or groups of animals. In the current study, the groups were managed similarly across the studies Means with different superscripts are significantly different at the 5% confidence level within a row.…”

Section: Cow and Farm Factors Affect Lying Behavior And Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lying behavior and activity during the transition period of clinically healthy grazing dairy cows

Hendriks

Phyn

Turner

et al. 2019

Journal of Dairy Science

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Lying behavior and activity may provide useful information for the prediction of an imminent calving and the health of transition dairy cows; however, it is important first to understand what constitutes typical lying behavior and activity because this has not been defined for grazing dairy cows during the transition period. Our objective was to describe changes in lying behavior and activity in grazing dairy cows during the transition period using varying phenotypes typical of commercial dairy herds under grazing systems. Behavior data from IceTag or IceQube (IceRobotics, Edinburgh, Scotland) triaxial accelerometers were collected for 310 cow parities from multiparous, mixedage (mean ± standard deviation; 4.5 ± 1.65 yr), and mixed-breed [Holstein-Friesian (HF), n = 216; and HF × Jersey, n = 94] grazing dairy cows from 4 parent experiments. The IceTags or IceQubes captured lying and activity data during the transition period (−21 to 34 d relative to calving) to allow the calculation of daily lying time (h/d), daily lying bouts (LB; no./d), mean LB duration (min/bout), and the number of steps taken (steps/d). Lying behavior and activity were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA during 3 periods: PRE (−21 to −3 d), POST (3 to 21 d), and the day of calving (d 0). Lying time was lower on d 0 (7.25 h/d) compared with PRE and POST lying times (10.3 and 8.58 h/d, respectively), with more frequent LB on d 0 (12.9 no./d) compared with the PRE and POST daily LB (8.15 vs. 7.74 no./d). Cows took more steps POST (4,424 steps/d) compared with d 0 and PRE (4,105and 2,289 steps/d, respectively). Regression analysis determined that daily lying time decreased substantially from −3 to 0 d (slope = −1.03 ± 0.07 h/d) and from −2 and −1 d for daily LB (slope = 5.09 ± 0.54 no./d), which may be due to the calving event itself but also reflect restlessness. Daily lying time, daily LB, LB duration, and number of steps taken were substantially altered at the time of the calving event in grazing dairy cows. Cows were more active, spent less time lying, and took more steps postcalving compared with precalving, and it appears that this behavior may largely be due to activity associated with twice daily milking. Mean lying behavior and activity measures were more highly variable across individuals than across groups. Information available via activity monitors may contribute to the improvement of individual management of transition dairy cows, and this research provides a benchmark for typical changes in behavior during the transition period in grazing systems.

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Section: Average Changes In Behavior Across Daysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cow and Farm Factors Affect Lying Behavior And Activitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Lying behavior and activity during the transition period of clinically healthy grazing dairy cows

Hendriks

Phyn

Turner

et al. 2019

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…Tullo et al [ 48 ] recently developed a model that predicted lying behavior in dairy cows based on the temperature–humidity index, solar radiation, air velocity and rainfall. Additionally, dairy cattle have been found to decrease daily lying time, number of lying bouts and lying-bout duration with decreased air temperature [ 51 ]. In grazing cattle, shorter lying times have also been reported when cattle experience colder or inclement weather conditions [ 26 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, other authors have found that cattle exposed to cold temperatures and winter weather conditions increased time spent lying down as temperature decreased; however, cattle in these studies had access to bedding [ 8 , 52 ]. Thus, it has been suggested frozen ground conditions underfoot may impact standing and lying time [ 51 ], specifically with a wet or frozen surface contributing a reduction in the time cattle lie down [ 26 , 51 , 53 ]. Additionally, the conflicting results of the above studies may be due to differences in micro-climates associated with wind and temperature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Environmental Conditions on Intake Behavior and Activity by Feedlot Steers Fed Corn or Barley-Based Diets

DelCurto-Wyffels

Dafoe

Parsons

et al. 2021

Animals

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This study evaluated the influence of diet and environmental conditions on intake behavior and activity of feedlot steers. Feedlot rations used were comprised of a main concentrate: (1) corn or (2) barley. A GrowSafe system measured individual animal intake and behavior and HOBO accelerometers measured steer standing time. An Onset weather station collected on site weather data. Steer daily intake displayed a diet by temperature class interaction (p ≤ 0.05). Relative temperature change had no effect on variation in intake (p = 0.60); however, diet influenced variation of intake (p < 0.01), where corn-fed steers had a greater coefficient of variation (CV) than barley-fed steers (21.89 ± 1.46 vs. 18.72 ± 1.46%). Time spent eating (min d−1) and eating rate (g min−1) both displayed a diet by temperature class interaction (p ≤ 0.05). Diet did not affect steer lying activity (p ≥ 0.12), however, time spent lying (min d−1) and frequency of lying bouts (bouts d−1) increased on relatively cold days while the duration of lying bouts (min bout−1; p < 0.01) decreased. Short-term environmental temperature changes interacted with diet influencing feedlot beef cattle intake behavior; however, they did not interact with basal diet in respect to steer activity.

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“…The distance from the climate station to the study site is ~12 km. There is evidence that both wet and cold conditions can reduce lying behaviour of grazing dairy cows (Hendriks et al 2019). Therefore, to better understand the influence of weather on behaviour we categorised experimental days into two divergent weather groups which captured all the conditions present.…”

Section: Adverse Weather Days During Behaviour Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of winter fodder beet or kale allocation on behaviour and blood metabolite status of non-lactating dairy cows

Dalley

Edwards

Masterson

et al. 2022

Journal of NZ Grasslands

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Fodder beet (FB) was at first rapidly adopted by farmers, however, there is uncertainty around the impact of feeding high rates of FB on metabolic diseases and cow behaviour. This study aimed to establish if there was an effect of crop type and feed allocation on blood metabolites and behaviour of dairy cows. In winter 2017, 328 mixed-aged pregnant non-lactating Friesian x Jersey cows were allocated to feeding treatments of either FB or kale, offered at two allocation rates: “target” (to achieve 0.5 BCS gain) or “high” (ad libitum allocation), supplemented with pasture baleage. Blood metabolites were monitored for 20 animals per treatment, 15 of those animals per treatment had an activity sensor fitted for 8 days in late July. Cows fed FB had higher plasma magnesium and lower sodium, phosphate, total protein and urea levels than cows fed kale. The FB cows spent less time lying (9.4 vs 11.1 h/d), walked more (2113 vs 1737 steps/day), had fewer lying bouts per day (6.1 vs 9.3 bouts/day), but had longer bout duration (102 vs 81 min) than kale cows. These results indicate differences between winter crops in susceptibility to metabolic diseases and grazing activity which require further investigation.

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Effect of weather on activity and lying behaviour in clinically healthy grazing dairy cows during the transition period

Cited by 20 publications

References 31 publications

Lying behavior and activity during the transition period of clinically healthy grazing dairy cows

Lying behavior and activity during the transition period of clinically healthy grazing dairy cows

The Influence of Environmental Conditions on Intake Behavior and Activity by Feedlot Steers Fed Corn or Barley-Based Diets

The effect of winter fodder beet or kale allocation on behaviour and blood metabolite status of non-lactating dairy cows

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