Feeding small quantities of grain in the parlour facilitates pre-milking handling of dairy cows: a note

Abstract

Food rewards are increasingly recognised as a method of training animals to submit to management procedures that might otherwise require aversive handling. The aim of the current study was to determine if feeding small amounts of concentrate in the parlour could improve entrance behaviour. Cows within one milking group received 0, 0.3 or 0.6 kg ( n=17 in each treatment) of concentrate per milking in the parlour using a computer controlled feeding system. Cows were observed before and after the treatment began, recording order of entry, latency (s) to fully enter the parlour, if the cow needed to be pushed into the parlour and if the cow defecated or urinated while in the milking parlour. Cows receiving feed moved up in the milking order by (mean±S.E.) 7.6±2.3 positions once the treatment period began. The latency for these cows to entered the parlour reduced by 1.7 s±0.5 s during the treatment, and these cows were 59%±6% less likely to require being pushed. This latter effect carried over to the control cows that were not fed in the parlour: these cows were 37%±7% less likely to be pushed during the treatment period. There was no effect of feeding on the proportion of animals that defecated or urinated while in the milking parlour. Although feeding had a positive effect on entry into the parlour, the amount of food provided had no effect. Thus, the results of this study indicate that even small quantities of concentrate can act to motivate parlour entry, reducing the need for pushing and other interventions that may have negative effects on the cows.