Changes in Dairy Cow Behavior with and without Assistance at Calving

Bethan Cavendish, John McDonagh, Georgios Tzimiropoulos, Kimberley R. Slinger, Zoë J. Huggett and Matt J. Bell
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Bethan Cavendish: School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington LE12 5RD, UK
John McDonagh: School of Computer Science, Jubilee Campus, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB, UK
Georgios Tzimiropoulos: School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
Kimberley R. Slinger: School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington LE12 5RD, UK
Zoë J. Huggett: School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington LE12 5RD, UK
Matt J. Bell: Agriculture Department, Hartpury University, Gloucester GL19 3BE, UK

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-9

Abstract: The aim of this study was to characterize calving behavior of dairy cows and to compare the duration and frequency of behaviors for assisted and unassisted dairy cows at calving. Behavioral data from nine hours prior to calving were collected for 35 Holstein-Friesian dairy cows. Cows were continuously monitored under 24 h video surveillance. The behaviors of standing, lying, walking, shuffle, eating, drinking and contractions were recorded for each cow until birth. A generalized linear mixed model was used to assess differences in the duration and frequency of behaviors prior to calving for assisted and unassisted cows. The nine hours prior to calving was assessed in three-hour time periods. The study found that the cows spent a large proportion of their time either lying (0.49) or standing (0.35), with a higher frequency of standing (0.36) and shuffle (0.26) bouts than other behaviors during the study. There were no differences in behavior between assisted and unassisted cows. During the three-hours prior to calving, the duration and bouts of lying, including contractions, were higher than during other time periods. While changes in behavior failed to identify an association with calving assistance, the monitoring of behavioral patterns could be used as an alert to the progress of parturition.

Keywords: dairy cows; behavior; birth; observations; management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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