Parity differences in the behavior of transition dairy cows

Abstract

During the transition period, around the time of calving, cows experience a suite of stressful events, including regrouping, diet changes, parturition, and the onset of lactation. These changes may be more difficult for primiparous cows that have not had these experiences previously. The objective of this study was to compare feeding, social, exploratory, and lying behaviors of primiparous and multiparous cows during the transition period. Thirty-eight healthy primiparous and 62 healthy multiparous dairy cows were housed in mixed-parity groups of 20 with access to 12 electronic feed bins from 3wk before to 3wk after calving. Primiparous cows had lower dry matter intake, spent more time feeding, ate more slowly, visited the feeder more frequently, and explored their feeding environment more compared with multiparous cows. Primiparous cows also lay down more frequently, but for shorter periods, such that total lying time did not differ between these parity classes. Primiparous cows were also replaced at the feeder more often than multiparous cows. These results show how the behavior of primiparous and multiparous cows differs during the transition period, and support the idea that primiparous cows may benefit from different management during this period.