Effect of music on voluntary approach of dairy cows to an automatic milking system

Abstract

The main objective of this experiment was to assess the effect of music on the voluntary approach of cows to an automatic milking system (AMS). A group of 19 mid- and late-lactating Holstein cows with 2 months prior experience of twice-daily milking in the AMS was used in this study. The cows were housed in a free stall barn with slatted floors and fed a complete mixed ration using an indoor feed bunk. They were also offered 1.5 kg per cow of grain pellets in the AMS during milking. Music was played during the milking period for 69 days prior to observation with amplifiers located within the milking compartments, approximately 1.2 m above the head of the milking cows and also on the long side of the barn. The sounds were activated at the start of each milking period and terminated after the last milking cow left the AMS. Behavioural observations were carried out during the afternoon milking for 20 days randomly fluctuating between days with music and days without music. The number of cows in the holding area was instantaneously recorded at 5 min before and 5 min after the onset of the milking period. On days with music, the number of cows in the holding area increased from 22.3 ± 15.1% to 45.0 ± 18.0% ( P < 0.01). On control days without music, this difference was less pronounced, increasing from 27.1 ± 13.7% to 35.1 ± 15.4% ( P = 0.150). Changes in the composition of behavioural states from 5 min before to 5 min after the onset of the milking period were significant on days with music ( P < 0.001) but not on control days ( P = 0.412). The results show a stimulatory effect of music, influencing behavioural readiness of cows to access the milking compartments of the AMS.