Smid Anne-Marieke C, Weary Daniel M, von Keyserlingk Marina A G
Animal Welfare Program, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Front Vet Sci. 2020 May 13;7:257. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00257. eCollection 2020.
Pasture access for dairy cows is highly valued both by cows and the public at large. When pasture access is not feasible, farmers can provide cows with alternative forms of outdoor access, such as an outdoor bedded pack, that may be easier to implement on some farms. We reviewed the literature on how lying, standing, walking, feeding, social, and estrus behaviors are influenced by pasture and other types of outdoor areas. Pasture allows the expression of grazing and can facilitate the expression of lying, standing, walking, and estrus behaviors. In addition, pasture can decrease the number of negative social interactions between cows, likely because more space per cow is provided than what is normally available indoors. The provision of soft flooring and an open space in outdoor bedded packs appears to provide some benefits for lying, standing, and walking behavior and may also have positive effects on social behavior, especially with larger space allowances. The effects of an outdoor bedded pack on estrus behavior are less well-documented, but the provision of a standing surface that provides better footing than typically available indoors may promote estrus behavior. Alternative outdoor areas assessed to date appear to be less attractive for cows than pasture, perhaps because these areas do not provide the opportunity to graze. We encourage future research to investigate the importance of grazing for dairy cows. The motivation of dairy cows to access alternative outdoor areas should also be investigated. As cow preference for the outdoors depends on many factors, providing cows a choice may be of particular importance.
奶牛能够进入牧场，这对奶牛和广大公众而言都具有很高的价值。当无法实现让奶牛进入牧场时，养殖户可以为奶牛提供其他形式的户外活动空间，比如户外垫料区，在某些养殖场，这种方式可能更容易实施。我们查阅了相关文献，探讨牧场及其他类型户外区域对奶牛躺卧、站立、行走、进食、社交和发情行为的影响。牧场能让奶牛表现出啃食行为，还能促进躺卧、站立、行走和发情行为的表现。此外，牧场可以减少奶牛之间负面社交互动的次数，这可能是因为每头奶牛拥有的空间比室内通常可利用的空间更大。在户外垫料区提供柔软的地面和开阔空间，似乎对躺卧、站立和行走行为有一些益处，对社交行为也可能有积极影响，尤其是在空间更大的情况下。户外垫料区对发情行为的影响记录较少，但提供一个比室内通常地面状况更好的站立表面可能会促进发情行为。迄今为止评估的其他户外区域对奶牛的吸引力似乎不如牧场，这可能是因为这些区域没有提供啃食的机会。我们鼓励未来开展研究，以探究啃食对奶牛的重要性。还应研究奶牛进入其他户外区域的动机。由于奶牛对户外环境的偏好取决于多种因素，为奶牛提供选择可能尤为重要。
