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.
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