1Biometeorology Study Group (GEBIOMET),Federal University of Technology-Paraná,Estrada para Boa Esperança,km 04,Comunidade São Cristóvão Dois Vizinhos,PR 85660-000,Brazil.
2Forest Engineering Course Coordination,Federal University of Technology-Paraná,Estrada para Boa Esperança,km 04,Comunidade São Cristóvão Dois Vizinhos,PR 85660-000,Brazil.
Animal. 2019 Feb;13(2):399-406. doi: 10.1017/S1751731118001088. Epub 2018 May 23.
With international demand for production systems aimed at thermal comfort and animal welfare, milk producers have become increasingly interested in compost barns. However, doubts about the behavioral aspects of cows in tropical and subtropical climates remain, because the compost barn system offers a larger bed area per animal at a lower stocking rate. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the diurnal behaviors, hygiene and lameness of crossbred dairy cows are influenced by different number of lactations when housed in a compost-bedded pack barn system under hot and humid conditions. Crossbred cows (Holstein and Jersey), which were divided into two treatments based on number of lactations (primiparous and multiparous cows), were evaluated during lactation (n=12). The study was conducted from September 2015 to February 2016 in a compost barn in the southwest region of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Daytime behavior was observed between milking schedules using focal observations with 0/1 sampling. Cow hygiene and lameness were evaluated using subjective scores ranging from 1 to 4 and 1 to 5, respectively. Animal behavior and welfare was analyzed using Bayesian inference with a mixed effects model. The probabilities of dyspnea and pushing behaviors were higher (P<0.05) in multiparous cows, and the probability increased during the hottest hours of the day. For both multiparous and primiparous cows, the agonistic behaviors of pushing, butting and chasing peaked during the afternoon. Eating behaviors had the highest likelihood values (0.8 at 0800 h). The cows preferred to remain lying down in the morning, while rest and standing rumination were preferred in the afternoon. Primiparous cows were cleaner than multiparous cows, and the hygiene score for this group was significantly lower (P<0.05). The hygiene and lameness scores for all animals were low, and the highest scores were 1 and 2. In conclusion, multiparous cows exhibited more frequent agonistic behaviors during the hottest hours of the day. Regarding hygiene and lameness scores, multiparous cows exhibited a higher degree of dirtiness compared with the primiparous cows.
随着国际上对旨在实现热舒适和动物福利的生产系统的需求，牛奶生产者对堆肥畜舍越来越感兴趣。然而，在热带和亚热带气候下，关于奶牛行为方面的疑虑仍然存在，因为堆肥畜舍系统为每头动物提供了更大的卧床面积，饲养密度更低。本研究的目的是评估在炎热潮湿的条件下，处于堆肥卧床饲养系统中的杂交奶牛的昼夜行为、卫生和跛行是否会受到不同泌乳次数的影响。杂交奶牛（荷斯坦和泽西）根据泌乳次数（初产和经产奶牛）分为两组，在泌乳期（n=12）进行评估。该研究于 2015 年 9 月至 2016 年 2 月在巴西巴拉那州西南部的一个堆肥畜舍中进行。白天在挤奶时间之间通过焦点观察进行行为观察，采用 0/1 抽样。使用主观评分（范围为 1 到 4）评估奶牛卫生和跛行，分别为 1 到 5。使用混合效应模型的贝叶斯推理分析动物行为和福利。呼吸困难和推挤行为的可能性在经产奶牛中更高（P<0.05），并且在一天中最热的时间内概率增加。对于经产和初产奶牛，推挤、碰撞和追逐的攻击行为在下午达到峰值。进食行为的可能性最高（0.8 在 0800 h）。奶牛更喜欢在早上躺着，而下午则更喜欢休息和站立反刍。初产奶牛比经产奶牛更干净，并且该组的卫生评分显著更低（P<0.05）。所有动物的卫生和跛行评分都较低，最高评分为 1 和 2。综上所述，经产奶牛在一天中最热的时间表现出更频繁的攻击行为。关于卫生和跛行评分，与初产奶牛相比，经产奶牛的肮脏程度更高。
