University of Edinburgh, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Scotland.
Theriogenology. 2012 Jan 15;77(2):382-8. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2011.08.010. Epub 2011 Sep 14.
This study compared estrous behavior of dairy cows kept in cubicle housing and fed a total mixed ration diet (HOUSED treatment) with that of cows kept at pasture with concentrate supplementation (PASTURE treatment). Behavior was compared both in the 48 h around standing estrus and during the standing estrus period. The 23 spring-calving Holstein-Friesians in each treatment were observed directly three times per day for nine weeks. The occurrence of nine selected behaviors associated with estrus was recorded during 20 min observation sessions. Twelve standing estrus events from each treatment were selected for analysis of the frequency of these nine behaviours over the 48 h around standing estrus. Milk progesterone profiles were used to confirm the dates of standing estrus events. Attempting to mount other cows, sniffing the anogenital region of other cows, resting the chin on other cows, receiving chin rests and head-to-head butts all showed significant changes in frequency in the 48 h around standing estrus in both treatments, reaching a peak during standing estrus (P ≤ 0.05). Mounting other cows increased significantly in the PASTURE treatment around standing estrus (P < 0.001), but not in the HOUSED treatment. The frequency of ano-genital sniffs received by the animals in the PASTURE treatment also increased significantly around standing estrus (P < 0.01) but not in the HOUSED treatment. When the animals were in standing estrus there was a significantly higher frequency of standing to be mounted in PASTURE than in HOUSED cows (median (q1, q3) PASTURE = 2.5 (1.0, 3.0), HOUSED = 0.0 (0.0, 1.0)) (P < 0.01), but no difference in the frequency of the other eight sexual behaviors recorded. HOUSED cows did not exhibit the same increase in mounting during the standing estrus period as PASTURE cows and received fewer mounts in observation sessions during standing estrus. These results have implications for the use of estrus detection systems that rely solely on mounting behavior in cubicle-housed dairy cows.
本研究比较了圈养和舍饲全混合日粮（HOUSED 处理）的奶牛与放牧补饲（PASTURE 处理）的奶牛在发情期的行为。在发情期前后 48 小时和发情期期间进行了行为比较。每个处理组的 23 头春季产荷斯坦弗里生奶牛，在 9 周内每天直接观察 3 次。在 20 分钟的观察期间记录了 9 种与发情相关的选定行为的发生情况。从每个处理组中选择了 12 个发情事件，以分析发情前后 48 小时内这 9 种行为的频率。使用牛奶孕酮曲线来确认发情事件的日期。试图爬跨其他奶牛、嗅其他奶牛的会阴部、下巴靠在其他奶牛身上、接受下巴支撑和头对头撞击，在两个处理组的发情前后 48 小时内，这些行为的频率都有显著变化，在发情时达到峰值（P ≤ 0.05）。在 PASTURE 处理组中，发情前后爬跨其他奶牛的频率显著增加（P < 0.001），但在 HOUSED 处理组中没有增加。在 PASTURE 处理组中，动物接受的会阴部嗅探频率也在发情前后显著增加（P < 0.01），但在 HOUSED 处理组中没有增加。当动物处于发情状态时，PASTURE 奶牛站立接受爬跨的频率明显高于 HOUSED 奶牛（中位数（q1，q3）PASTURE = 2.5（1.0，3.0），HOUSED = 0.0（0.0，1.0））（P < 0.01），但记录的其他 8 种性行为的频率没有差异。HOUSED 奶牛在发情期间没有表现出与 PASTURE 奶牛相同的爬跨增加，并且在发情期间的观察期间接受的爬跨次数较少。这些结果对仅依赖于圈养奶牛发情检测系统中的爬跨行为的发情检测系统的使用具有重要意义。
