Behaviour and cleanliness of replacement dairy heifers housed in group pens with combined feeding–resting stalls

Abstract

This study was carried out in two commercial Norwegian dairy herds where the replacement heifers were kept in groups of 10 in pens with 6 conventional free-stalls and 5 combined stalls at the feed bunk. The stall cleanliness was better in the free-stalls than in the combined stalls (P < .01). Time spent lying was not affected by number of animals in the group (P = .20), but feeding synchrony (P = .05) and lying synchrony (<.001) were higher when there were six animals in the group. The heifers showed a clear preference for lying in the standard free-stalls and this was not affected by number of animals in the pen (P = .83). The results of this initial study indicate that a pen system with combined lying/feeding stalls and free-stalls offers a satisfactory lying comfort, apparently minimal competition over lying space and acceptable animal cleanliness.