Effects of social dominance, water trough location and shade availability on drinking behaviour of cows on pasture

Coimbra, Paula Araujo Dias; Filho, Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado; Hötzel, María José

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2012.04.009

Cited by 73 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…pushing) exhibited by multiparous cows. In some situations, dominance becomes an impediment for low-level cows seeking unrestricted access to resources, and it also increases the number of agonistic interactions in the herd (Coimbra et al, 2012). The general determining factors in the social hierarchy of cows are age and weight (Sárová et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diurnal behaviors and herd characteristics of dairy cows housed in a compost-bedded pack barn system under hot and humid conditions

Pilatti

Vieira

Rankrape

et al. 2019

animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With international demand for production systems aimed at thermal comfort and animal welfare, milk producers have become increasingly interested in compost barns. However, doubts about the behavioral aspects of cows in tropical and subtropical climates remain, because the compost barn system offers a larger bed area per animal at a lower stocking rate. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the diurnal behaviors, hygiene and lameness of crossbred dairy cows are influenced by different number of lactations when housed in a compost-bedded pack barn system under hot and humid conditions. Crossbred cows (Holstein and Jersey), which were divided into two treatments based on number of lactations (primiparous and multiparous cows), were evaluated during lactation (n=12). The study was conducted from September 2015 to February 2016 in a compost barn in the southwest region of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Daytime behavior was observed between milking schedules using focal observations with 0/1 sampling. Cow hygiene and lameness were evaluated using subjective scores ranging from 1 to 4 and 1 to 5, respectively. Animal behavior and welfare was analyzed using Bayesian inference with a mixed effects model. The probabilities of dyspnea and pushing behaviors were higher (P<0.05) in multiparous cows, and the probability increased during the hottest hours of the day. For both multiparous and primiparous cows, the agonistic behaviors of pushing, butting and chasing peaked during the afternoon. Eating behaviors had the highest likelihood values (0.8 at 0800 h). The cows preferred to remain lying down in the morning, while rest and standing rumination were preferred in the afternoon. Primiparous cows were cleaner than multiparous cows, and the hygiene score for this group was significantly lower (P<0.05). The hygiene and lameness scores for all animals were low, and the highest scores were 1 and 2. In conclusion, multiparous cows exhibited more frequent agonistic behaviors during the hottest hours of the day. Regarding hygiene and lameness scores, multiparous cows exhibited a higher degree of dirtiness compared with the primiparous cows.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diurnal behaviors and herd characteristics of dairy cows housed in a compost-bedded pack barn system under hot and humid conditions

Pilatti

Vieira

Rankrape

et al. 2019

animal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although animals in this experiment were categorized on rank according to their ability to access the feed bunk, Val-Laillet et al (2008) reported individual measurements of success to displace another cow were not highly correlated with the 3 resources tested: feed alley, stalls, and rotating brush. In a study evaluating social hierarchy on cow use of shade and water, social hierarchy did not influence drinking behavior when the water trough was inside the paddock; however, when the water trough was located in the alley, the number 9 of drinking events and the time spent drinking were greater for dominant cows in comparison to subordinate cows (Coimbra et al, 2012). Social hierarchy did not influence the number of visits or the time spent in the shade, irrespective of the location of the water trough (Coimbra et al, 2012).…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

“…In a study evaluating social hierarchy on cow use of shade and water, social hierarchy did not influence drinking behavior when the water trough was inside the paddock; however, when the water trough was located in the alley, the number 9 of drinking events and the time spent drinking were greater for dominant cows in comparison to subordinate cows (Coimbra et al, 2012). Social hierarchy did not influence the number of visits or the time spent in the shade, irrespective of the location of the water trough (Coimbra et al, 2012). The average feeding time of lower-ranked cows was significantly longer than dominant cows (Hasegawa et al, 1997).…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

Effect of stocking density on social, feeding, and lying behavior of prepartum dairy animals

Lobeck-Luchterhand

Silva

Chebel

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of prepartum stocking density on social, lying, and feeding behavior of dairy animals and to investigate the relationship between social rank and stocking density. In total, 756 Jersey animals were enrolled in the study approximately 4 wk before expected calving date. This study used 8 experimental units (4 replicates × 2 pens/treatment per replicate), and at each replicate, one pen each of nulliparous and parous (primiparous and multiparous) animals per treatment was enrolled. The 2 treatments were 80% stocking density (80D, 38 animals per pen; each pen with 48 headlocks and 44 stalls) and 100% stocking density (100D, 48 animals per pen). Parous animals were housed separately from nulliparous animals. Animals at 254±3d of gestation were balanced for parity (parous vs. nulliparous) and projected 305-d mature-equivalent milk yield (only parous animals) and randomly assigned to either 80D or 100D. Displacements from the feed bunk were measured for 3h after fresh feed delivery on d 2, 5, and 7 of each week. Feeding behavior was measured for 24-h periods (using 10-min video scan sampling) on d 2, 5, and 7 on wk 1 of every replicate and d 2 and 5 for the following 4 wk. A displacement index (proportion of successful displacements from the feed bunk relative to all displacements the animal was involved in) was calculated for each animal and used to categorize animals into ranking categories of high, middle, and low. Seventy nulliparous and 64 parous focal animals in the 80D treatment and 89 nulliparous and 74 parous focal animals in the 100D were used to describe lying behavior (measured with data loggers). Animals housed at 80D had fewer daily displacements from the feed bunk than those housed at 100D (15.2±1.0 vs. 21.3±1.0 per day). Daily feeding times differed between nulliparous and parous animals at the 2 stocking densities. Nulliparous 80D animals spent 12.4±5.0 fewer minutes per day feeding than nulliparous 100D animals, whereas 100D parous animals tended to spend 7.6±4.5 fewer minutes per day feeding than 80D parous animals. The 2 treatments were not different in the number of lying bouts or lying-bout duration; lying time was longer for 100D on d -33, -29, and -26 and shorter on d -7, -5, and 0 than 80D. The interaction between treatment, parity, and social rank was associated with lying and feeding times. In summary, animals in the 80D treatment had a lower number of displacements from the feed bunk and spent more time lying down near parturition than 100D animals, and 80D nulliparous animals had reduced daily feeding time compared with 100D nulliparous animals. Although these results showed some potential behavior benefits of a prepartum stocking density of 80% compared with 100%, observed changes were small. However, greater stocking density cannot be recommended; more research is needed to evaluate the effects of stocking densities greater than 100% and with other breeds of cattle besides Jersey.

show abstract

“…During periods of elevated ambient temperature when cows increase water intake and decrease feed intake (Kadzere et al, 2002), aggressive interactions are high (Coimbra et al, 2012), resulting in more competition at and close to the water source (Vizzotto et al, 2015). Especially during heat stress, water is an important resource for dairy cows, and competition can result in dominant animals preventing subordinate animals from access (Coimbra et al, 2012). Drinkers are also typically provided at high stocking rates, likely leading to more displacement events (DeVries et al, 2004).…”

Section: Technical Notementioning

confidence: 99%

Technical note: Using an electronic drinker to monitor competition in dairy cows

McDonald

Keyserlingk

Weary

2019

Journal of Dairy Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of this study was to determine whether data from an electronic drinking system that tracks individual animal attendance with ear tag transponders could be used to detect social competition between dairy cows at the drinker. Specifically, we sought to identify the interval between one cow leaving the drinker and another cow taking her place that most accurately identified competitive replacements (when physical

show abstract

Effects of social dominance, water trough location and shade availability on drinking behaviour of cows on pasture

Cited by 73 publications

References 21 publications

Diurnal behaviors and herd characteristics of dairy cows housed in a compost-bedded pack barn system under hot and humid conditions

Diurnal behaviors and herd characteristics of dairy cows housed in a compost-bedded pack barn system under hot and humid conditions

Effect of stocking density on social, feeding, and lying behavior of prepartum dairy animals

Technical note: Using an electronic drinker to monitor competition in dairy cows

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About