Loose-housed Dairy Cows Research Articles

Effects of Housing and Management Factors on Selected Indicators of the Welfare Quality® Protocol in Loose-Housed Dairy Cows.

Simple SummaryHousing conditions and management practices affect animal welfare levels in livestock production. The objective of this study was to investigate potential effects of housing and management factors on animal welfare in dairy cattle by comparing different farms with each other in a benchmarking approach. For this purpose, 63 dairy cattle farms in Northern Germany were assessed using an animal welfare indicator system (Welfare Quality® protocol). Farms were categorized into a high and a low welfare group for each of the selected animal welfare indicators (body condition score, integument alterations, lameness, milk somatic cell count, and social behaviour). Both groups were compared regarding housing conditions and management practices in a statistical analysis. Clear differences between the groups were found for lameness concerning the routine use of foot-baths, milk somatic cell count concerning the milking frequency, and social behaviour concerning the cow-to-stall ratio. Comparing farms with high and low animal welfare status regarding housing and management factors provide useful information for the practice. Dairy cattle farmers could use these findings to improve animal welfare on their farms.The objective of this study was to examine the effects of housing and management factors on animal welfare indicators in dairy cows using a benchmarking approach. In total, 63 conventional dairy cattle farms with zero-grazing in Northern Germany were assessed using selected animal welfare indicators (body condition score, integument alterations, lameness, milk somatic cell count, and social behaviour) of the Welfare Quality® protocol. Additionally, housing characteristics such as designs of barns, cubicles, and floors were documented during farm visits and farmers were interviewed concerning their common management routines. Farms were categorized into a high welfare or low welfare group by calculating upper and lower tertiles for each of the animal welfare indicators separately. Both groups were compared regarding housing conditions and management practices using univariable and multivariable logistic regressions. Several associations between housing and management factors and animal welfare indicators were demonstrated in univariable analysis (p < 0.20). Significant effects within multivariable logistic regression analysis were determined for lameness (routine use of foot-baths), milk somatic cell count (milking frequency) and social behaviour (cow-to-stall ratio) (p < 0.05). Comparing farms with higher and lower animal welfare status can provide useful information about effective options to improve animal welfare.

Instance Segmentation with Mask R-CNN Applied to Loose-Housed Dairy Cows in a Multi-Camera Setting.

Simple SummaryAs sociability in cattle is a matter of good animal husbandry, this study provides technical groundwork for a camera based system to automatically analyse dairy cattle herd activity. Eight surveillance cameras were recording a group of thirty-six lactating Holstein Friesian dairy cows. A Mask R-CNN model was trained to determine pixel level segmentation masks for the cows in the video material. The animals were successfully segmented reaching high ‘averaged precision scores’ for bounding boxes (0.91) and segmentation masks (0.85) for a given IOU threshold of 0.5. As providing training data for deep learning models is time consuming and tedious, this article also deals with the question “How many images do I have to annotate?” and analyses the performance of the model depending on the size of the used training data set.With increasing herd sizes came an enhanced requirement for automated systems to support the farmers in the monitoring of the health and welfare status of their livestock. Cattle are a highly sociable species, and the herd structure has important impact on the animal welfare. As the behaviour of the animals and their social interactions can be influenced by the presence of a human observer, a camera based system that automatically detects the animals would be beneficial to analyse dairy cattle herd activity. In the present study, eight surveillance cameras were mounted above the barn area of a group of thirty-six lactating Holstein Friesian dairy cows at the Chamber of Agriculture in Futterkamp in Northern Germany. With Mask R-CNN, a state-of-the-art model of convolutional neural networks was trained to determine pixel level segmentation masks for the cows in the video material. The model was pre-trained on the Microsoft common objects in the context data set, and transfer learning was carried out on annotated image material from the recordings as training data set. In addition, the relationship between the size of the used training data set and the performance on the model after transfer learning was analysed. The trained model achieved averaged precision (Intersection over union, IOU = 0.5) 91% and 85% for the detection of bounding boxes and segmentation masks of the cows, respectively, thereby laying a solid technical basis for an automated analysis of herd activity and the use of resources in loose-housing.

Development and validation of a novel pedometer algorithm to quantify extended characteristics of the locomotor behavior of dairy cows

Behavior is one of the most important indicators for assessing cattle health and well-being. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a novel algorithm to monitor locomotor behavior of loose-housed dairy cows based on the output of the RumiWatch pedometer (ITIN+HOCH GmbH, Fütterungstechnik, Liestal, Switzerland). Data of locomotion were acquired by simultaneous pedometer measurements at a sampling rate of 10 Hz and video recordings for manual observation later. The study consisted of 3 independent experiments. Experiment 1 was carried out to develop and validate the algorithm for lying behavior, experiment 2 for walking and standing behavior, and experiment 3 for stride duration and stride length. The final version was validated, using the raw data, collected from cows not included in the development of the algorithm. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated between accelerometer variables and respective data derived from the video recordings (gold standard). Dichotomous data were expressed as the proportion of correctly detected events, and the overall difference for continuous data was expressed as the relative measurement error. The proportions for correctly detected events or bouts were 1 for stand ups, lie downs, standing bouts, and lying bouts and 0.99 for walking bouts. The relative measurement error and Spearman correlation coefficient for lying time were 0.09% and 1; for standing time, 4.7% and 0.96; for walking time, 17.12% and 0.96; for number of strides, 6.23% and 0.98; for stride duration, 6.65% and 0.75; and for stride length, 11.92% and 0.81, respectively. The strong to very high correlations of the variables between visual observation and converted pedometer data indicate that the novel RumiWatch algorithm may markedly improve automated livestock management systems for efficient health monitoring of dairy cows.

Identifying risk factors for poor hind limb cleanliness in Danish loose-housed dairy cows

The objective of this study was to identify possible risk factors for poor cow hind limb cleanliness in Danish loose-housed, lactating dairy cows. The study was conducted as a cross-sectional study of 1315 cows in 42 commercial Danish dairy herds with primarily Danish Holstein cows. The effect of four cow-level factors (parity, days in milk, daily lying time and lameness) and eight herd-level factors (herd size, milk production, milking system, floor type, access to pasture grazing, floor scraping frequency, hoof bathing frequency and hoof washing frequency) on the risk of having dirtier hind limbs were analysed using ordinal logistic regression fitting a proportional odds model. Cow hind limb cleanliness was scored using an ordinal score from 1 to 4: 1 being clean and 4 being covered in dirt. The odds ratios (ORs) estimated from the proportional odds model depict the effect of a risk factor on the odds of having a higher rather than a lower cleanliness score. First parity cows had an increased risk of being dirtier compared with third parity or older cows (OR = 1.70). Compared with late lactation, early and mid lactation were associated with an increased risk of being dirtier (OR = 2.07 and 1.33, respectively). Decreasing the daily time lying by 30 min was associated with an increased risk of being dirtier (OR = 1.05). Furthermore, an increased risk of being dirtier was found in herds with no pasture access (OR = 3.75).

Can stroking during milking decrease avoidance distances of cows towards humans?

AbstractThis study investigated whether short-time stroking of loose-housed dairy cows in the daily farm routine could improve the cow-human relationship and consequently decrease avoidance distances, and whether this effect was persistent. Thirty-one cows (from two different breeds: Holstein Friesian and German Red Pied) received either a treatment (STROKING; n = 15) or no treatment (CONTROL; n = 16). In the STROKING group, each animal was stroked during morning and evening milking by an unfamiliar individual (experimenter) for 3 min over a 5-day period (Treatment 1) and again, 4 weeks later, over a 3.5-day period (Treatment 2). CONTROL animals could observe the experimenter during milking. Before and after treatment, the experimenter recorded the avoidance distances of cows (distance of first withdrawal when approached from the front) at the feeding place (AVOIDfeed) and in the barn (AVOIDbarn). Prior to Treatment 1, CONTROL and STROKING animals did not differ in AVOIDfeed or in AVOIDbarn. After Treatment 1, AVOIDfeed was significantly lower in STROKING animals compared to CONTROL animals. With regard to AVOIDbarn, no significant difference was found between STROKING animals and CONTROL animals after Treatment 1. After 4 weeks, before Treatment 2, CONTROL and STROKING animals did not differ significantly anymore in AVOIDfeed. After Treatment 2, AVOIDfeed was again significantly lower in STROKING animals than in CONTROL animals. Also, in the barn, (AVOIDbarn), STROKING animals avoided the experimenter less than CONTROL animals after Treatment 2. In terms of within-group evolution of avoidance distances, AVOIDfeed of CONTROL animals did not decrease in the course of the two treatments. Only after Treatment 2 were avoidance distances at the feeding place of STROKING animals significantly lower than initial avoidance distances. AVOIDbarn of CONTROL animals decreased after Treatment 1 but did not decrease significantly after Treatment 2. AVOIDbarn of STROKING animals decreased significantly after Treatment 1 and again after Treatment 2. It is suggested that short-time stroking during milking can affect the responses of cows to humans positively, although our results question the amount of contact necessary: even more contact might be required for lasting effects.

Relative importance of factors influencing the prevalence of lameness in Austrian cubicle loose-housed dairy cows

The development of lameness is influenced by a number of different factors (housing, management, human–animal relationship and animal-related parameters). The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the complex interactions of these aspects and to search for the relative importance of single factors. In 80 dairy herds of Austrian Simmental cows housed in cubicle loose housing in Upper and Lower Austria, risk factors for lameness, selected from the four factor groups housing, management, human–animal relationship and animal-related variables, were investigated during one farm visit in the autumn and winter months. To assess their relative importance, a multivariable analysis (regression trees) was calculated. The most important risk factor for lameness was the lying surface: straw bedding of at least 2 cm thickness or cow-comfort mats were associated with a lower percentage of lame cows. In case of insufficient quality of the lying surface, the next important parameter identified was the position of the neck rail: a neck rail diagonal greater than 1.94 m was associated with a lower percentage of lame cows. By contrast, on farms with high-quality lying surfaces, lameness prevalence was lower when at least parts of the alleys were constructed with solid floor and not slatted. Further variables associated with a low prevalence of lameness were a longer time span between calving and separation of the calf from the dam, the existence of an outside run, a lower percentage of fat cows, a greater space allowance, more cubicles than animals and a lower kerb height. In addition, further management factors such as the way in which heifers are integrated into the herd or management decisions taking into account the cows’ welfare were related to less lameness. Human–animal relationship variables such as, for example, the behaviour and attitude of the stockpeople were explaining variables. In sum, important risk factors were found in all factor groups. Therefore it is necessary to optimise all those different aspects mentioned above to reduce the risk of lameness.

Reliability and inter-test relationship of tests for on-farm assessment of dairy cows’ relationship to humans

Animals’ relationship to humans, i.e., their perception of humans, is an important parameter to be included into on-farm welfare assessment schemes. The objectives of this study were to evaluate inter-observer reliability and between-experimenter repeatability of three previously used and two new tests feasible for on-farm assessment of animals’ relationship to humans in loose-housed dairy cows. Additionally, inter-test relationships were analysed to obtain first information on the potential validity of the two new tests. Two experimenters performed five tests (avoidance distance test at the feeding place [AvoidF] and in the barn [AvoidB], approach test to a stationary human in the barn [Appr], passing and touching lying animals [LyingPT], walking through the herd and trying to touch animals [WalkT]) on 16 commercial dairy farms in a balanced order. The person actually not testing the cows observed and recorded the test results from a distance (observer). Inter-observer reliability was investigated by relating results of observer and experimenter. Between-experimenter repeatability, comprising inter-observer reliability as well as consistency of reactions of animals to humans, was evaluated by correlating the test results of both experimenters. Observer or experimenter biases were evaluated by testing for significant differences. High inter-observer reliability was found for all tests under consideration: correlation coefficients exceeded 0.9, percentage agreement for LyingPT was 100%, and negligible observer biases were found. Between-experimenter repeatability of the two avoidance distance tests (AvoidF and AvoidB) was high to very high ( r = 0.7 to >0.9), both at an individual as well as at herd level. Evaluated at herd level, LyingPT was also highly repeatable ( r = 0.7), whereas WalkT and Appr showed only moderate (0.4 to <0.7) between-experimenter repeatability. With regard to inter-test relationships (used for a preliminary investigation of convergent validity of the new tests), the avoidance distance test in the barn (AvoidB) highly correlated with AvoidF and WalkT ( r = 0.7–0.9) and moderately (0.5) with LyingPT. The approach test (Appr) did not correlate significantly with any of the other tests ( r = 0.0–0.4). Principal component analysis results showed that all but the measure of Appr loaded highly |≥0.7| on one component. In sum, regarding reliability and convergent validity, both avoidance distance tests can be recommended as tests for assessing the cows’ relationship to humans. In addition, the high interrelationship between WalkT and the avoidance distance test in the barn (AvoidB) makes WalkT a promising test for further development despite the absence of sufficient between-experimenter repeatability in the present study.

Effects of social isolation and restraint on adrenocortical responses and hypoalgesia in loose-housed dairy cows1

Effects of social isolation or restraint, applied outside the home pen, on adrenocortical and nociceptive responses were examined in 28 loose-housed dairy cows. Treatments lasted 15 min and consisted of social isolation in novel surroundings or restraint by the head in a test pen. A control treatment was applied in the test pen as well. Each cow was exposed to all treatments in a balanced order, with 3 to 4 d between treatments. Compared with the control treatment, social isolation in novel surroundings led to increased plasma concentration of cortisol (P < 0.001) as well as to indications of hypoalgesia [posttreatment lack of decrease in latency to respond toward nociceptive laser stimulation, a tendency for decreased frequency of kicking in the pauses between laser stimulations (P = 0.06), and an increased proportion of leg moving (least possible active response) after treatment (P = 0.04)]. Indications of hypoalgesia were also observed after restraint (reduced kicking in response to laser stimulation, P = 0.04); however, the indications were to a lesser extent than after social isolation, and restraint treatment did not lead to increased plasma concentration of cortisol. For control and restraint treatment, an initial increase (P < 0.02) in plasma concentration of cortisol was found, suggesting effects of pretreatment factors such as handling. No correlations between adrenocortical and nociceptive responses toward social isolation were found. The results confirm earlier reports stating that nociceptive changes induced by environmental challenges can be shown in dairy cows, even when they are kept in groups and removed from the home pen during the study of stress responses. However, testing outside the home pen seemed to affect the nociceptive and adrenocortical responses, thereby suggesting that care should be taken to avoid effects of pretreatment situational factors.

Stepping and kicking behaviour during milking in relation to response in human–animal interaction test and clinical health in loose housed dairy cows

Associations between kicking and stepping behaviour during milking and response to humans, getting up behaviour as well as clinical health status in loose housed dairy cows were investigated. During a 12-month period behavioural and clinical data from 10 commercial Danish dairy herds were collected including in total 1196 individual cows. Hierarchical log-linear models for contingency tables were applied for an analysis of conditional associations among the included parameters. Results showed a general herd effect on occurrence of stepping and kicking behaviour during milking ( P<0.001). In general, stepping during milking was associated positively to daily milk yield ( P<0.05). However, low yielding cows showing avoidance behaviour at the clinical examination were also more likely to step during milking. Furthermore, stepping during milking was positively associated to avoidance in a human approach test ( P<0.001) as well as occurrence of ticks ( P<0.05), and cows with tick lesions that further avoided human approach were most likely to step during milking. Cows with teat lesions were more likely to kick during milking ( P<0.001), especially if they did not avoid human approach. The analysis showed no relation between lameness and kicking or stepping behaviour during milking.

Effects of increasing concentrate energy supply on the performance of loose-housed dairy cows fed grass silage-based diets

The effects of increased concentrate level on milk production was assessed during two consecutive indoor feeding seasons according to a continuous randomised block design using 44 (season 1) and 47 (season 2) Finnish Ayrshire cows. Treatments allocated according to a 2×2 factorial design consisted of two concentrate levels and two protein feeding systems. Low and high concentrate feeding regimens were applied to multiparous cows as 9 and 14 kg/day during days 1–150 of lactation and 8 and 11.5 kg for days 151–224, respectively. Primiparous cows received proportionately 0.80 of that fed to multiparous cows. In order to identify the effects of concentrate energy alone, concentrates were formulated so that increases in concentrate feeding resulted in either a constant supply of concentrate crude protein (CP) (mean 1.4 kg/day) or constant intake of rapeseed meal (RSM) (mean 1.7 kg DM/day). Consequently, concentrate CP content decreased with the increasing level of concentrate. Concentrate was offered through computerised self-feeders and silage was fed ad libitum. Increasing energy intake at a constant CP level seemed to have a more negative effect on silage dry matter (DM) intake compared with feeding a constant supply of RSM. Increases in concentrate DM intake resulted in mean substitution rates of 0.48 and 0.25 for CP and RSM diets, respectively. However, the positive effect of concentrate supplementation on milk yield was independent of protein feeding strategies. Milk production increased ( P<0.05) from 24.4 to 26.4 kg energy corrected milk (ECM) when energy level was increased, and on average 0.58 kg milk per kg increase in concentrate DM intake. The response to increased concentrate energy corresponded well with the responses reported earlier with a fixed concentrate composition. It is concluded that it was not possible to compensate a high amount of concentrate with low CP content with low amounts of concentrate with high CP content. However, feed utilization (ECM kg/kg DM) was more efficient for diets containing low amounts of concentrate. The ratio of milk nitrogen/feed nitrogen was highest when a high amount of concentrate with low CP content was used.

A Method of Assessing Welfare in Loose Housed Dairy Cows at Farm Level, Focusing on Animal Observations

The aim of the present paper is to describe the framework of a new method for assessing dairy cows' welfare at farm level. In contrast with TGIs, the method is based on observations of animals and leads to several scores according to the needs of the animals. We started with five general needs. These were the five freedoms: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury or disease; freedom to express normal behaviour; and freedom from fear and distress. These were further subdivided into 16 basic needs. A list of the 49 indices, or welfare-indicators, most commonly measured in animals (behaviours, injuries etc.) was produced and the patterns each index can have were described. Each pattern was rated on a value-scale with regard to any need. On this basis frequencies within a herd reflecting a very low, low, high or very high level of welfare were determined, allowing us to attribute a score to a given herd for any pattern. We then proposed to pool the scores obtained by a herd for all patterns of a given index into a single score for that index. To this end, we defined logical rules that limited compensation between scores. Step by step, the information can be pooled to obtain a single score for indices that are closely related, for basic needs, and finally for each of the five freedoms. Ways to validate such a method are discussed. The method can be used in a survey to detect relations between environmental conditions and animal welfare. It can also be used in connection with dairy farm labelling.

Effects of repeated jugular puncture on plasma cortisol concentrations in loose-housed dairy cows.

In three experiments, the effects of venipuncture on plasma cortisol concentrations were studied in loose-housed dairy cows. In Exp. 1, two blood samples were collected 18 min apart on three alternate days from 20 dairy cows for studying their adrenocortical response to a single venipuncture. To further evaluate the effect of cows anticipating venipuncture, in Exp. 2, 15 dairy cows were sequentially venipunctured once daily on 12 successive days in a randomized order in groups of five, starting 15 min apart. In Exp. 3, 10 primiparous cows were used on three alternate days to study habituation to serial sampling (i.e., collection of five blood samples by venipuncture, 15 min apart). In cows accustomed to handling, jugular puncture did not affect cortisol concentrations in plasma collected 18 min later. Average daily cortisol concentrations varied between 2.07 +/- .38 and 3.81 +/- .56 ng/mL in the first (t = 0) and between 1.43 +/- .15 and 2.61 +/- .72 ng/mL in the second (t = 18) blood samples. Likewise, when cows were sampled sequentially once a day, the order of sampling between and within groups did not influence (P > .05) plasma cortisol concentrations. In contrast, primiparous dairy cows that were less used to being handled showed an average increase in cortisol concentrations when five samples were collected by venipuncture 15 min apart. During successive sampling sessions, however, the cows did not decrease or increase plasma cortisol concentrations in response to repeated serial sampling at the group level (P > .05). Between individuals, the maximum effect of repeated venipuncture on cortisol concentrations (4.5 to 22.6 ng/mL), the time at which the effect reached its maximum (30 to 60 min), and the consistency of the response pattern over successive series varied largely. The results of this study show that in cows that were accustomed to handling and to being restrained, baseline cortisol concentrations can be measured in single blood samples that are collected by jugular puncture within 1 min after first approaching the cow. When successive blood samples need to be collected within 15 to 20 min, jugular puncture may induce an increase in cortisol concentration, which seems to depend on the handling experience of the animals and on individual differences.

Effects of number and location of water bowls and social rank on drinking behaviour and performance of loose-housed dairy cows

The experimental animals comprised 32 multiparous de-horned dairy cows of the Swedish Red and White Breed, in mid-lactation (22.5 kg), assigned to 2 equal groups. The rank order in both groups was determined. One or 2 drinking bowls (flow rate 12 l min −1) for 16 cows were compared, as well as having 2 bowls (flow rate 3 l min −1) placed either close together or separately at each end of the barn. Each of the 4 treatments was applied to the 2 groups during 4 successive periods. Each period lasted 3 weeks, with registration in the third week. A total of 18 days were recorded. Amounts of water consumed and drinking frequency at 30 min, 1 h, 2 h and 3 after opening of the feeding gates, total daily intake and drinking frequency, number in drinking order, milk yield and live weight were recorded for each cow. The cows managed to completely avoid adverse treatment effects on milk production by changing their drinking behaviour. Mean daily drinking water intake per cow was 43.2 l and the drinking frequency was 6.6 times per day. Two 12-l bowls were not significantly better than one, as the cows seldom used both bowls. The 2 bowls were only 0.9 m apart. Separating the 2 bowls decreased crowding. The high flow-rate (12 l min −1) also decreased crowding because of shorter drinking times. High-ranked cows drank less. The correlation coefficient between milk yield and water consumption was 0.81 ( P < 0.001). When barn temperature increased 1°C, water consumption increased 1.1 l ( P < 0.001, R 2 = 0.21). The study was conducted in a closed, insulated loose-housing system with cubicles. Mean barn temperature was 9.8°C (7.3–16.5).

Consequences of space restriction on the behaviour of loose-housed dairy cows

Consequences of space restriction on the behaviour of loose-housed dairy cows