Volume 99, Issue 1, January 2016, Pages 551–561
- * UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada, V0M 1A0
- † Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1
- ‡ Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N111
- § Department of Animal Science, Universite Laval, Quebec, Quebec, Canada, G1V 0A6
- # Department of Animal Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824
- ‖ Department of Animal Science, McGill University, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada, H9X 3V9
- Received 22 April 2015, Accepted 8 September 2015, Available online 5 November 2015
Abstract
Lying
down and resting are important for optimal cow health, welfare, and
production. In comparison with free stall farms with a milking parlor,
farms with automated milking systems (AMS) may place less constraint on
how long cows can lie down. However, few studies report lying times on
AMS farms. The aims of this study were to describe the variation in
lying times of dairy cows in AMS farms and to understand how much of the
variation in individual lying times is related to cow-level factors,
including lameness, the presence of hock and knee lesions, and body
condition score (BCS). We visited 36 farms in Canada (Quebec: n = 10;
Ontario: n = 10; British Columbia: n = 4; and Alberta: n = 5), and the
United States (Michigan: n = 7). Gait scores, presence of hock and knee
lesions, and BCS were recorded for 40 Holstein cows from each herd.
Parity and days in milk were retrieved from farm records. Lying time was
recorded across 4 d using accelerometers (n = 1,377). Multivariable
analysis was performed. Of scored cows, 15.1% were lame (i.e., obviously
limping; 203 of 1,348 cows). Knee lesions were found in 27.1% (340 of
1,256 cows) and hock lesions were found in 30.8% (421 of 1,366 cows) of
the animals. Daily lying time varied among cows. Cows spent a median
duration of 11.4 h/d lying down (25th–75th percentile = 9.7–12.9 h),
with a lying bout frequency of 9.5 bouts/d (25th–75th
percentile = 7.5–12 bouts/d) and a median bout duration of 71 min
(25th–75th percentile = 58–87 min/bout). Lameness was associated with
cows lying down for 0.6 h/d longer in fewer, longer bouts. Increased
lying time was also associated with increased parity, later stage of
lactation and higher BCS. Older cows (parity ≥3) spent about 0.5 h/d
more lying down compared with parity 1 cows, and cows with BCS ≥3.5 lay
down on average 1 h/d longer than cows with BCS ≤2.25. Hock lesions were
associated with shorter lying times in univariable models, but no
associations were found in the multivariable models. We concluded that
only a small proportion of the variation between cows in lying time is
explained by lameness, leg lesions, and BCS.
Key words
- automated milking system;
- hock lesions;
- injury;
- knee lesion
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