Associations Between Activity Patterns During the Dry Period and Calving Events in Dairy Cattle
Open Access
- Author:
- Shabloski, Mikel
- Area of Honors:
- Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Adrian A Barragan, Thesis Supervisor
Robert John Vansaun, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Key words: dry period
activity pattern
farm practices
dairy cattle - Abstract:
- The objective of this study was to assess the associations of dry period management practices and activity patterns (i.e., lying time, number of lying bouts, and lying bout duration) during 14 days prior to calving. Heifers and cows from four dairy farms (700-2,800 milking cows) located in Pennsylvania were enrolled in this trial. Based on on-farm records, cows that were between 20 and 30 days from expected calving date were fitted with a HOBO® accelerometer on the rear right leg. Only animals that had complete activity data for 14 days before the actual calving date were included in the study (heifers, n=66; cows, n=70). A 20-question multiple-choice survey was developed to collect farm management practices information (e.g., feed push-up frequency, bedding material used). The data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS. Heifers and cows that were housed in pens with sand or straw as bedding materials spent more time lying (sand=815.7±12.01 min/d; straw=845.61±21.68 min/d; sawdust/recycled manure=650.30±17.06 min/d), and had more lying bouts (sand=11.18±0.25 bouts/d; straw=12.69±0.51 bouts/d; sawdust/recycled manure=9.45±0.37 bouts/d) and of shorter duration (sand=75.02 min/d, 95% CI:56.79-99.13; straw=66.21 min/d, 95% CI:56.98-76.93, sawdust/recycled manure=98.31 min/d, 95% CI:67.92-142.30) compared to cows that were housed in pens with either sawdust or recycled manure as bedding materials. Furthermore, heifers and cows that were fed two times a day spent nearly 3 hours less lying down (two times feeding= 650.36±22.05 min/d; one time feeding=823.77±13.57 min/d) and tended to have longer lying bouts (two times feeding= 98.33 min/d, 95% CI:65.61-147.37; one time feeding=72.23 min/d, 95% CI:58.30-89.47) compared to cows that were fed one time a day. The results from this study suggest that farm practices during the dry period may affect cow behavior, which can have significant effects on cow health and welfare.