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2009

Business

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Cow Preference And Usage Of Free Stalls Compared With An Open Pack Area, J. A. Fregonesi, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary Nov 2009

Cow Preference And Usage Of Free Stalls Compared With An Open Pack Area, J. A. Fregonesi, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

Free-stall housing systems are designed to provide a comfortable and hygienic lying area, but some aspects of stall design may restrict usage by cows. The aim of this study was to compare free-stall housing with a comparable lying area (open pack) without stall partitions. We predicted that cows would spend more time lying down and standing in the bedded area when provided access to an open pack than when in free stalls. We also predicted that cows would spend less time standing outside of the lying area and less time perching with the front 2 hooves in the lying area …

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Prevalence And Risk Factors For Skin Lesions On Legs Of Dairy Cattle Housed In Freestalls In Norway, C. Kielland, L. E. Ruud, A. J. Zanella, O. Østerås Nov 2009

Prevalence And Risk Factors For Skin Lesions On Legs Of Dairy Cattle Housed In Freestalls In Norway, C. Kielland, L. E. Ruud, A. J. Zanella, O. Østerås

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

Appropriate indoor housing facilities for dairy cattle promote improved animal welfare. Skin alterations are an indicator of dysfunctional housing. The purpose was to determine the relationship between different housing design and skin lesions, hence providing farmers more insight into how to reduce the occurrence of lesions. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2,335 animals in 232 Norwegian freestall-housed dairy cattle from September 2006 to June 2007. A model was established to investigate risk factors related to the presence of lesions including hair loss, swelling, and wounds on the legs of dairy cattle. Separate models were developed to investigate risk factors …

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Lying Behavior: Assessing Within- And Betweenherd Variation In Free-Stall-Housed Dairy Cows, K. Ito, D. M. Weary, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk Sep 2009

Lying Behavior: Assessing Within- And Betweenherd Variation In Free-Stall-Housed Dairy Cows, K. Ito, D. M. Weary, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

One of the most important design criteria for dairy cow housing is access to a comfortable lying area. Behaviors such as the time cows spend lying down and how often they lie down can be used to evaluate the quality of stalls; however, assessing lying behavior on farms can be challenging. Indices such as the cow comfort index (CCI) and stall use index (SUI) have been widely used in on-farm assessments. The aims were to establish reliable sampling and recording methods for measuring lying behavior, to evaluate the adequacy of the CCI and SUI as estimates of lying behavior, and …

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Preference And Usage Of Pasture Versus Free-Stall Housing By Lactating Dairy Cattle, A. L. Legrand, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary Aug 2009

Preference And Usage Of Pasture Versus Free-Stall Housing By Lactating Dairy Cattle, A. L. Legrand, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The aim of the current study was to assess if cows preferred pasture or indoor housing, and how diurnal and environmental factors affected this preference. Lactating dairy cows (n = 5 groups, each containing 5 cows) were sequentially housed either in a free-stall barn on pasture, or given the choice between the 2 environments. Each group was tested 3 times under each condition, for a total of 21 d, to assess the effects of varying climatic conditions (outdoor temperature ranged from 9.9 to 28.2°C and daily rainfall from 0 to 65 mm/d over the course of the experiment). When provided …

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Preference For Pasture Versus Freestall Housing By Dairy Cattle When Stall Availability Indoors Is Reduced, A. C. Falk, D. M. Weary, C. Winckler, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk Aug 2009

Preference For Pasture Versus Freestall Housing By Dairy Cattle When Stall Availability Indoors Is Reduced, A. C. Falk, D. M. Weary, C. Winckler, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

Providing cattle with access to pasture has been shown to yield benefits, including access to more space, fewer agonistic interactions, better air quality, and the ability to perform a greater range of normal behaviors. Preference for pasture appears to depend on several parameters, including weather conditions and availability of shade. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the preference for pasture versus inside a freestall barn with variable stocking densities at the stalls. We also investigated the effect of temperature-humidity index (THI) and precipitation on this preference. Overall, cows spent on average 13.7 ± 2.6 h/d (mean ± …

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Preference And Usage Of Pasture Versus Free-Stall Housing By Lactating Dairy Cattle, A. L. Legrand, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary Aug 2009

Preference And Usage Of Pasture Versus Free-Stall Housing By Lactating Dairy Cattle, A. L. Legrand, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The aim of the current study was to assess if cows preferred pasture or indoor housing, and how diurnal and environmental factors affected this preference. Lactating dairy cows (n = 5 groups, each containing 5 cows) were sequentially housed either in a free-stall barn on pasture, or given the choice between the 2 environments. Each group was tested 3 times under each condition, for a total of 21 d, to assess the effects of varying climatic conditions (outdoor temperature ranged from 9.9 to 28.2°C and daily rainfall from 0 to 65 mm/d over the course of the experiment). When provided …

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The Stall-Design Paradox: Neck Rails Increase Lameness But Improve Udder And Stall Hygiene, F. Bernardi, J. A. Fregonesi, C. Winckler, D. M. Veira, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary Jul 2009

The Stall-Design Paradox: Neck Rails Increase Lameness But Improve Udder And Stall Hygiene, F. Bernardi, J. A. Fregonesi, C. Winckler, D. M. Veira, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, D. M. Weary

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

Housing conditions for dairy cows are thought to af-fect lameness, but almost no experimental work has addressed this link. The aim was to assess the effect of one feature of free-stall design, the position of the neck rail, testing the prediction that cows will be more likely to become lame if using pens with the neck rail positioned such that it prevents standing fully inside the stall. Cows (n = 32) were housed in 8 pens. Treat-ments were tested using a crossover design; treatments were allocated alternately to pens at the beginning of the experiment and switched halfway through the …

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Cow Comfort In Tie-Stalls: Increased Depth Of Shavings Or Straw Bedding Increases Lying Time, C. B. Tucker, D. M. Weary, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, K. A. Beauchemin Jun 2009

Cow Comfort In Tie-Stalls: Increased Depth Of Shavings Or Straw Bedding Increases Lying Time, C. B. Tucker, D. M. Weary, M. A. G. Von Keyserlingk, K. A. Beauchemin

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

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 …

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Assessing Lameness In Cows Kept In Tie-Stalls, K. A. Leach, S. Dippel, J. Huber, S. March, C. Winckler, H. R. Whay Apr 2009

Assessing Lameness In Cows Kept In Tie-Stalls, K. A. Leach, S. Dippel, J. Huber, S. March, C. Winckler, H. R. Whay

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

Identifying lame cows and quantifying the prevalence of lameness are important elements of cattle welfare assessment that are generally achieved by methods involving observations of each animal walking. There is no published method for assessing lameness in cows confined in tie-stalls. The objective of this study (carried out within the European Commission’s Welfare Quality® project) was to develop a suitable method and validate it for lameness detection against a published locomotion score. A series of indicators of lameness visible in tied cows was formalized into a stall assessment protocol. This was validated against a traditional locomotion score and tested for …

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Effect Of Restricted Access Time To Pasture On Dairy Cow Milk Production, Grazing Behavior, And Dry Matter Intake, E. Kennedy, M. Mcevoy, J. P. Murphy, M. O'Donovan Jan 2009

Effect Of Restricted Access Time To Pasture On Dairy Cow Milk Production, Grazing Behavior, And Dry Matter Intake, E. Kennedy, M. Mcevoy, J. P. Murphy, M. O'Donovan

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of restricting pasture access time on milk production and composition, body weight and body condition score change, dry matter intake, and grazing behavior of autumn calving dairy cows in midlactation. Fifty-two (19 primiparous and 33 multiparous) Holstein-Friesian dairy cows (mean calving date, August 17 ± 91.2 d) were randomly assigned to a 4-treatment (n = 13) randomized block design grazing study. The 4 grazing treatments were: (i) full-time access to pasture (22H; control), (ii) 9-h access to pasture (9H), (iii) two 4.5-h periods of access to pasture after both milkings …

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