Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office FSVO, Agroscope Tänikon, 8356 Ettenhausen, Switzerland; ETH Zürich, Ethology and Animal Welfare Unit, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
ETH Zürich, Ethology and Animal Welfare Unit, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland.
J Dairy Sci. 2019 Feb;102(2):1508-1521. doi: 10.3168/jds.2018-14636. Epub 2018 Dec 20.
Access to an outdoor run might provide some benefits for the social and activity behavior of dairy goats. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of weather parameters on outdoor run use by dairy goats under temperate weather conditions. Data were collected from February to April and in October, 2014, on 14 commercial dairy goat farms in Switzerland and Germany for 14 d per farm. Temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind speed, and rain amount were measured continuously using a weather station. The outcome variables, average proportion of the herd in the outdoor run (proportion of herd in run) and average frequency of goats entering the outdoor run per hour in relation to group size (frequency of entries to run), were assessed by video data. Temperature, humidity, and solar radiation were combined to create the parameter "warmth" by means of a principal component analysis, whereas wind speed and rain (rain events and rain amount) were used in their original form as explanatory variables. Additionally, the effect of the comprehensive climate index on outdoor run use was investigated. Data were analyzed using linear mixed effects models. Increasing "warmth" increased, whereas increasing wind speed reduced, the proportion of herd in run. With increasing comprehensive climate index, the proportion of herd in run and the frequency of entries to run increased. On days without rain, the proportion of herd in run and the frequency of entries to run were markedly higher than during comparable daytime hours with rain. In the hour before the rain started and after it had stopped, more goats were in the outdoor run than during rain hours, but still fewer than during comparable daytime hours on days without rain. Furthermore, the proportion of herd in run and the frequency of entries to run decreased to a very low level when the rain amount exceeded 1 mm/h. To conclude, in the measured ranges of temperature (-0.8 to +16.5°C), humidity (34.8 to 99.2%), solar radiation (25.9 to 519.8 W/m), and wind speed (0 to 4 m/s), warmer conditions increased the outdoor run use, whereas the goats clearly avoided light wind and rain. Therefore, in the outdoor runs, protection against rain and wind could promote their use under temperate weather conditions. Furthermore, ensuring optimized access to solar radiation by considering the exposure of the outdoor run might be of advantage, as direct sun exposure induces warmer conditions.
户外运动场可以为奶山羊的社交和活动行为带来一些益处。本研究旨在探讨温带气候条件下，天气参数对奶山羊使用户外运动场的影响。数据采集于 2014 年 2 月至 4 月和 10 月，在瑞士和德国的 14 个商业奶山羊场进行，每个场采集 14 天。使用气象站连续测量温度、湿度、太阳辐射、风速和降雨量。通过视频数据评估群体平均进入户外运动场的比例（进入运动场的羊群比例）和每小时进入户外运动场的羊的平均频率（进入运动场的频率）。通过主成分分析将温度、湿度和太阳辐射组合成“温暖度”参数，而风速和雨（雨事件和降雨量）则以原始形式作为解释变量。此外，还研究了综合气候指数对户外运动场使用的影响。使用线性混合效应模型进行数据分析。随着“温暖度”的增加，进入户外运动场的羊群比例增加，而风速的增加则减少了进入户外运动场的羊群比例。随着综合气候指数的增加，进入户外运动场的羊群比例和进入频率增加。在无雨的日子里，进入户外运动场的羊群比例和进入频率明显高于有雨的可比白天时间。在雨开始前的一个小时和雨停后的一个小时内，户外运动场的羊群数量多于下雨时间，但仍少于无雨时的可比白天时间。此外，当降雨量超过 1 毫米/小时时，进入户外运动场的羊群比例和进入频率会降至非常低的水平。总之，在所测量的温度范围（-0.8 至+16.5°C）、湿度（34.8 至 99.2%）、太阳辐射（25.9 至 519.8 W/m）和风速（0 至 4 m/s）范围内，温暖的条件增加了户外运动场的使用，而羊明显避免了微风和雨水。因此，在温带气候条件下，户外运动场如果能够防止风雨，可能会促进其使用。此外，考虑到户外运动场的暴露情况，确保优化太阳能的获取可能会带来优势，因为直接阳光照射会产生更温暖的条件。
