Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the time budgets of 20 lactating primiparous Italian Holstein cows and to determine the relationships between lying and standing behaviour, milk production and Body Condition Score in the first stage of lactation. Parturition period ranged from 15 September to 31 March and in the first seven lactation days all cows were equipped with individual 3-axes acceleration and angular displacement loggers, throughout 150 days for lying and standing behaviour measuring. Body Condition Scores (BCS) were estimated weekly, while milk production (in both morning and evening milking) and humidity and temperature air data were collected daily. Average individual milk yield was 27.3 ± 6.24 kg/d and milking time was 4.95 ± 1.94 min. Individual BCS was on average 3.46 ± 0.30 and standing daily time was 13.5 ± 2.26 h/d. Primiparous cows with BCS at parturition <3.25 quite regained BCS after 20 weeks of lactation, but produced on average 2.3 kg/d (p < .001) less than the other cows. Primiparous cows with standing time <14 h/d in the first 21 days of lactation showed higher BCS than the others cows (+0.11 on average, p < .001), but did not produce more milk (+0.1 kg/d, p = .25) on average and showed smaller Linear Score (logarithm transformation of milk somatic cell count) than other cows. Primiparous cows with standing time <14 h/d had higher number of lying bouts and less minutes between two lying bouts, probably due to a higher cow activity to feeding. Multiple regression on milk production showed a low effect of standing time, but primiparous cows lost 0.34 kg/d (p < .05) for each standing hour. HIGHLIGHTS Primiparous cows with standing time <14 h/d in the first 21 days of lactation showed higher BCS than the others cows Primiparous cows with standing time <14 h/d showed smaller somatic cell count Primiparous cows lost 0.34 kg/d for each standing hour
Highlights
Behaviour is commonly used as a sensitive indicator of animal welfare and comfort (Cook et al 2005)
Lying behaviour in free-stall barns is affected by design and management factors (DeVries and von Keyserlingk 2005; Fregonesi et al 2007), social relationships between animals (Galindo and Broom 2000), health status of cows (Gomez and Cook 2010), temperature and humidity index (THI) (Herbut and Angrecka 2018) and is related to level of milk production (Calamari et al 2009)
The monitoring period started from the first days after calving and lasted approximately 280 days for milk production and Body Condition Scores (BCS), and 150 days (22 weeks) for behaviour monitoring
Summary
Behaviour is commonly used as a sensitive indicator of animal welfare and comfort (Cook et al 2005). Lying and standing behavioural patterns of dairy cows are useful to identify reproductive and health status of animals (Tolkamp et al 2010) and are related to level of milk production (Bewley et al 2010). Lying behaviour in free-stall barns is affected by design and management factors (DeVries and von Keyserlingk 2005; Fregonesi et al 2007), social relationships between animals (Galindo and Broom 2000), health status of cows (Gomez and Cook 2010), temperature and humidity index (THI) (Herbut and Angrecka 2018) and is related to level of milk production (Calamari et al 2009). Lying behaviour is influenced by the stage of lactation: according to Vasseur et al (2012) and Ito
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