Abstract
Pasture based systems enable cattle to express their natural behavior and are thus expected to provide better welfare than the majority of confinement systems. The aim of this study was to objectively measure locomotion activity of healthy dairy cattle kept on mountain pastures (n = 44) compared with cows kept in cubicle housing systems (n = 38). Selected cows were equipped with a validated 3D-accelerometer on one hind limb, and locomotion behavior was recorded for 48 hours. The 1-hour summaries of the variables lying time, walking time, standing bouts, walking bouts and number of strides were summed up to 24-hour summaries, and the means of the stride distance and stride duration were weighted by the variable number of strides. Mountain pasture cows had higher locomotor activity levels in comparison to cubicle cows. Mountain pasture cows spent less time lying down (528.1±109.5 min/day vs. 693.3±73.8 min/day; P<0.0001) and more time walking (75.6±25.9 min/day vs. 38.8±15.8 min/day; P <0.0001) than cubicle cows. Lying bout duration was longer in cubicle than in mountain pasture cows (90.9± 15.2 min/bout vs. 74.2 ± 21.1 min/bout; P = 0.0001), whilst the number of walking bouts was higher in mountain pasture cows than cubicle cows (199.1 ± 49.1 vs. 123.8 ± 43.8 bouts per day; P < 0.001). Likewise, the number of strides was higher in mountain pasture cows than cubicle cows (2040.5 ± 825.3 vs. 916.7 ± 408.6; P < 0.001). Mountain pasture cows had shorter stride duration (P < 0.0001) and shorter strides (P = 0.0002) than cubicle cows (1.8 ± 0.1 s/stride vs 2 ± 0.2 s/stride and 126.3 ± 18.1 vs 142.1 ± 17.8 m/stride, respectively). In summary, cows kept on mountain pasture were more active and spent longer than 12 hours / day standing. Lying markedly less than 12 hours per day seems to represent the normal behavior of pastured cows searching for fresh grass. This does not cause any obvious damage to the locomotor system as claws of cattle are well adapted to long periods of movement on mountain pastures.
Highlights
Welfare of intensively farmed animals and whether the housing systems allow individuals to express natural behavior, are of public concern [1, 2]
Due to the increasing use of conventional indoor housing systems and automated milking systems combined with continuously increasing herd size, zero grazing systems are becoming more and more common in many countries of the European Union (EU)
The aims of the current study were to (i) objectively measure the locomotion activity of healthy dairy cows kept on traditional mountain summer pastures, using validated accelerometers; (ii) establish a basic measurement of locomotion behavior of dairy cows kept in a traditional housing system (iii) and to compare the characteristics of locomotion behavior on mountain pasture to those of cows kept on typical modern cubicle housing systems
Summary
Welfare of intensively farmed animals and whether the housing systems allow individuals to express natural behavior, are of public concern [1, 2]. Pasture based husbandry systems enable cattle to express their natural behavior such as grazing, freedom of movement and social interaction and provide better welfare than confinement systems [3–5]. There is a clear trend of a reduction of the proportion of grazing versus indoor feeding time [6]. According to Reijs et al [7], proportions of dairy cows with access to pasture reduced from 52% in 2008 to 35% in 2012. Until 2025, the number of dairy cows in the Netherlands with access to pasture are expected to be reduced by half within ten years [8]
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