BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Behaviour of New Zealand pasture-based cows offered access to free stalls fitted with sand or water beds, compared with cows at pasture

Hedley, MJ; Margerison, JK; Lau, J; Horne, DJ; Hanly, JA; Powell, N; Shilton, AN

Abstract

New Zealand dairy cows have typically been grazed on pasture all year round, however intensification of milk production systems has led to increased nitrogen loss into the environment. Limiting the amount of time that cows have access to pasture, particularly during inclement weather, by the use of feed pads or cow housing for parts of the season or day, can reduce nitrogen loss into waterways. Unfortunately, many New Zealand dairy farmers and the majority of cows have little or no experience of cow housing. This experiment was completed to assess the acceptance and use of differing free stall bed types by adult dairy cows, with no previous experience of housing, and to compare this with cows kept at pasture. A total of 36 adult non-lactating Holstein Friesian and Jersey cross bred dairy cattle between five and 13 years of age were used. They were selected at random and allocated according to age and live weight to one of three groups of 12 cows, such that the groups were balanced for animal age and live weight. During the bed comparison periods all groups of cows were grazed for a restricted period of four hours per day between 1100 and 1500 hours, stood on concrete for two hours simulated milking periods from 0900 to 1100 hours and from 1500 to 1700 hours, and housed or grazed for 16 hours from 1700 to 0900 hours. At night Group 1 and Group 2 were housed on free stalls (1.1 m x 2.4 m), while Group 3 was kept at pasture. Housed cows were offered ad libitum access o 10 ± 1 kg of dry matter per cow of grass silage in a feed trough while housed. Cows with access to water beds had significantly lower nightly and total lying time (P <0.001) than when the cows were offered access to sand beds and compared with cows kept on pasture. In contrast, the total lying time did not differ significantly (P >0.05), between cows kept overnight at pasture compared with cows that had access to sand beds. During the grazing period, the cows offered water beds each night spent significantly less time grazing (P <0.001) and more time lying (P <0.001) than cows offered sand beds or kept on pasture. The time cows spent eating was significantly lower (P <0.001) for cows housed at night and daily (P <0.001), over 24 hours. Cows with no experience of housing readily and quickly adapted to lying in free stalls. However, the type of free stall bed and lying surface that farmers select is of great importance to the productivity, health and welfare of dairy cattle, due to its direct effect on bed occupancy and the amount of time cows spend lying and standing.

Citation

Hedley, M., Margerison, J., Lau, J., Horne, D., Hanly, J., Powell, N., & Shilton, A. (2013). BRIEF COMMUNICATION: Behaviour of New Zealand pasture-based cows offered access to free stalls fitted with sand or water beds, compared with cows at pasture. Proceedings New Zealand Society of Animal Production, 73, 186-188

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jan 7, 2013
• Publication Date: 2013-01
• Deposit Date: Apr 8, 2025
• Print ISSN: 0370-2731
• Publisher: New Zealand Society of Animal Production
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 73
• Pages: 186-188
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/47550925
• Publisher URL: https://sciquest.org.nz/browse/publications/article/142602
• Other Repo URL: https://sciquest.org.nz/browse/publications/article/142602