Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
J Dairy Sci. 2019 Jun;102(6):5492-5500. doi: 10.3168/jds.2018-15893. Epub 2019 Mar 21.
Use of individual maternity pens for dairy cows is recommended to ensure undisturbed calving and postpartum transfer of colostrum to calves, but management of these pens is a challenge due to difficulty predicting the time of calving. If group-housed cows, however, have the opportunity to calve in a secluded area of a group pen, this may limit disturbance of the dam and her newborn, especially if this area is fitted with a gate preventing other cows from entering. The aims of this study were to assess effects of cows calving inside a secluded area versus cows calving in the group area on maternal behavior and social interaction between dam and herd members during the first postpartum hour, calf's latency to stand, number of calves suckling an alien cow, and the dam's acute response to separation from the calf. This was investigated in pens consisting of a central group area with access to 6 secluded areas with or without a mechanical push gate allowing only 1 cow access at a time. At least 2 wk before expected calving, 60 Danish Holstein multiparous cows were assigned alternately, in groups of 6, to a group pen with 6 gated secluded areas or a group pen with 6 ungated secluded areas. The effects of treatment (gated, ungated) and calving place chosen within treatment (secluded area, group area) on maternal behavior, interactions with herd members, maternal response to separation, and calf latency to stand were investigated. Irrespective of whether cows calved in a secluded area or not and whether the secluded area was gated or not, cows spent, on average, 39 (±7.9) min of the first hour after calving licking their calves. When calving in a gated secluded area, the cows interacted less with herd members than when calving in the group area (0.5, 28, 18, and 33 min/h for gated/secluded, gated/group, ungated/secluded, and ungated/group areas, respectively), and no calves suckled an alien cow within the first hour after birth. In addition, the longer the calf stayed with the dam, the longer the dam stood with her head out of the pen after removal of the calf. Calf's latency to stand after calving was unaffected by treatment and calving place (mean = 39 min; range = 8-243 min). The results show that dam and calf can be protected from disturbances when cows calve in a secluded maternity area, especially if the secluded maternity area is fitted with a gate preventing other cows form entering.
使用单独的产奶牛畜栏来确保奶牛不受干扰地分娩和产后将初乳转移给小牛是很有必要的，但由于难以预测分娩时间，这些畜栏的管理是一个挑战。然而，如果群体饲养的奶牛有机会在畜栏的一个僻静区域分娩，这可能会限制对母牛及其新生小牛的干扰，特别是如果这个区域配备了一个防止其他奶牛进入的门。本研究的目的是评估奶牛在隐蔽区域内分娩与在群体区域内分娩对产后 1 小时内母体行为和母畜与畜群成员之间的社会互动、小牛站立潜伏期、小牛吮吸异源牛的数量以及母牛对与小牛分离的急性反应的影响。在由中央群体区域组成的畜栏中进行了这项研究，该畜栏有 6 个通向单独畜栏的通道，这些畜栏配备了机械推门，每次只能允许 1 头奶牛进入。在预期分娩前至少 2 周，将 60 头丹麦荷斯坦经产奶牛交替分组，每组 6 头，分别分配到有 6 个带门的单独畜栏或有 6 个不带门的单独畜栏的畜群中。研究了处理（带门、不带门）和在处理内选择的分娩地点（单独畜栏、群体畜栏）对母体行为、与畜群成员的互动、母体对分离的反应和小牛站立潜伏期的影响。无论奶牛是否在单独畜栏中分娩，以及单独畜栏是否有门，奶牛在分娩后第一小时内平均有 39（±7.9）分钟舔舐小牛。当在带门的单独畜栏中分娩时，奶牛与畜群成员的互动比在群体畜栏中分娩时要少（分别为 0.5、28、18 和 33 分钟/小时，带门/单独畜栏、带门/群体畜栏、不带门/单独畜栏和不带门/群体畜栏），并且在出生后第一小时内没有小牛吮吸异源牛。此外，小牛与母牛待在一起的时间越长，在小牛被移走后，母牛站在畜栏外的时间就越长。小牛分娩后的站立潜伏期不受处理和分娩地点的影响（平均值=39 分钟；范围=8-243 分钟）。结果表明，当奶牛在单独的产房区域分娩时，可以保护母牛和小牛免受干扰，特别是如果单独的产房区域配备了防止其他奶牛进入的门。
