Abstract
Modern dairy cattle farms are usually equipped with cubicle systems to provide cows with comfortable conditions for lying down and resting. Cows are free to choose any cubicle they want, but in reality, they do not distribute themselves uniformly throughout the barn. There are many factors that affect where a cow lies down, such as hierarchy of a cow, access to resources, cow traffic nearby, etc. In this study, we used real-time location system data from two commercial farms to examine patterns of cubicle occupancy in relation to parity and lactation stage. We summarized cubicle occupancy over several days and compared different areas of the barn. Our findings suggest that, in general, there was a higher occupancy of cubicles close to the feeding areas. High parity cows lay down more frequently in cubicles close to the milking area as opposed to first lactation cows that tend to occupy less busy areas of the barn. The overall conclusion is that cubicle occupancy is not uniform throughout the barn, and patterns related to parity and DIM are seen. This information can be important for future studies on spread of diseases and for management purposes.
Highlights
Cows spend a significant amount of their time lying down
On farm A (Fig. 1), cubicles that were closest to the feeding areas on both sides of the barn were occupied the most, while cubicles in the middle were occupied less frequently
On farm B (Fig. 2), cubicles that were close to the AMS area were occupied the least, whereas cubicles on the right-hand side of the barn were occupied the most
Summary
Studies of the circadian rhythm of lactating cows show that they spend on average 11 h per day lying down (Tucker et al, 2020), but it can vary from 6 up to 16 h/day. The rest of the time lying down the cows drowse (Ruckebusch, 1972) or ruminate (Albright, 1993). The diurnal time budget of cows varies depending on lactation stage and parity, which have an effect on their resting behaviour. Cows in early-stage lactation spend more time in the feeding area and more time feeding than cows in late-stage lactation (Løvendahl and Munksgaard, 2016). The early-stage lactating cows spend less time in the cubicle and less time lying down, compared with cows in late-stage lactation (Løvendahl and Munksgaard, 2016). Multiparous cows on the other hand, spend more time in the area close to the milking parlour (Diosdado et al, 2018)
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