Cow comfort in tie-stalls: increased depth of shavings or straw bedding increases lying time.
Over half of US dairy operations use tie-stalls, but these farming systems have received relatively little research attention in terms of stall design and management. The current study tested the effects of the amount of 2 bedding materials, straw and shavings, on dairy cattle lying behavior. The effects of 4 levels of shavings, 3, 9, 15, and 24 kg/stall (experiment 1, n = 12), and high and low levels of straw in 2 separate experiments: 1, 3, 5, and 7 kg/stall (experiment 2, n = 12) and 0.5, 1, 2, and 3 kg/stall (experiment 3, n = 12) were assessed. Treatments were compared using a crossover design with lactating cows housed in tie-stalls fitted with mattresses. Treatments were applied for 1 wk. Total lying time, number of lying bouts, and the length of each lying bout was recorded with data loggers. In experiment 1, cows spent 3 min more lying down for each additional kilogram of shavings (11.0, 11.7, 11.6, and 12.1 +/- 0.24 h/d for 3, 9, 15, and 24 kg/stall shavings, respectively). In experiment 2, cows increased lying time by 12 min for every additional kilogram of straw (11.2, 12.0, 11.8, and 12.4 +/- 0.24 h/d for 1, 3, 5, and 7 kg/stall of straw, respectively). There were no differences in lying behavior among the lower levels of straw tested in experiment 3 (11.7 +/- 0.32 h/d). These results indicated that additional bedding above a scant amount improves cow comfort, as measured by lying time, likely because a well-bedded surface is more compressible.
Tucker
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Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis 95616, USA. cbtucker@ucdavis.edu
Weary
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von Keyserlingk
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Beauchemin
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D000827:Animal Welfare / Q000592:standards*; D000818:Animals; D001512:Bedding and Linens / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary*; D001835:Body Weight; D002417:Cattle / Q000502:physiology*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003612:Dairying / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings / Q000592:standards*; D006799:Housing, Animal / Q000592:standards*; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D011897:Random Allocation; D013997:Time Factors