title: Associations between lying behavior and lameness in Canadian Holstein-Friesian cows housed in freestall barns.
abstract: Lying behavior is an important measure of comfort and well-being in dairy cattle, and changes in lying behavior are potential indicators and predictors of lameness. Our objectives were to determine individual and herd-level risk factors associated with measures of lying behavior, and to evaluate whether automated measures of lying behavior can be used to detect lameness. A purposive sample of 40 Holstein cows was selected from each of 141 dairy farms in Alberta, Ontario, and Québec. Lying behavior of 5,135 cows between 10 and 120 d in milk was automatically and continuously recorded using accelerometers over 4 d. Data on factors hypothesized to influence lying behavior were collected, including information on individual cows, management practices, and facility design. Associations between predictor variables and measures of lying behavior were assessed using generalized linear mixed models, including farm and province as random and fixed effects, respectively. Logistic regression models were used to determine whether lying behavior was associated with lameness. At the cow-level, daily lying time increased with increasing days in milk, but this effect interacted with parity; primiparous cows had more frequent but shorter lying bouts in early lactation, changing to mature-cow patterns of lying behavior (fewer and longer lying bouts) in late lactation. In barns with stall curbs >22 cm high, the use of sand or >2 cm of bedding was associated with an increased average daily lying time of 1.44 and 0.06 h/d, respectively. Feed alleys ≥ 350 cm wide or stalls ≥ 114 cm wide were associated with increased daily lying time of 0.39 and 0.33 h/d, respectively, whereas rubber flooring in the feed alley was associated with 0.47 h/d lower average lying time. Lame cows had longer lying times, with fewer, longer, and more variable duration of bouts compared with nonlame cows. In that regard, cows with lying time ≥ 14 h/d, ≤ 5 lying bouts per day, bout duration ≥ 110 min/bout, or standard deviations of bout duration over 4 d ≥ 70 min had 3.7, 1.7, 2.5, and 3.0 higher odds of being lame, respectively. Factors related to comfort of lying and standing surfaces significantly affected lying behavior. Finally, we inferred that automated measures of lying behavior could contribute to lameness detection, especially when interpreted in the context of other factors known to affect lying behavior, including those associated with the individual cow (e.g., parity and stage of lactation) or environment (e.g., stall surface).
authors.affiliation: Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1. Electronic address: lmsolano@ucalgary.ca.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Solano
authors.affiliation: Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1.
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Barkema
authors.affiliation: Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Pajor
authors.affiliation: Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: LeBlanc
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1.
authors.forename: C G R
authors.initials: CGR
authors.lastname: Nash
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, N1G 2W1.
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Haley
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Université Laval, Québec, Québec, Canada, G1V 0A6.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pellerin
authors.affiliation: Dairy Education and Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada, V0M 1A0.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rushen
authors.affiliation: Dairy Education and Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada, V0M 1A0.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: de Passillé
authors.affiliation: MacDonald College, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H9X 3V9.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vasseur
authors.affiliation: Department of Production Animal Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N1.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Orsel
mesh_terms: D000416:Alberta; D000818:Animals; D001512:Bedding and Linens; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003612:Dairying; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005260:Female; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D005684:Gait; D006799:Housing, Animal; D007774:Lactation; D007794:Lameness, Animal / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008892:Milk / Q000378:metabolism; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009864:Ontario; D011187:Posture; D011792:Quebec
keywords: automated measures; dairy cattle; lameness detection; lying time; welfare