Brouwers S P, Schug A F E, Simmler M, Savary P
Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO), Agroscope, Rte de la Tioleyre 4, 1725 Posieux, Switzerland; Animal Physiology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Universitätstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO), Agroscope, Rte de la Tioleyre 4, 1725 Posieux, Switzerland; Institute of Animal Breeding and Husbandry, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Olshausenstraβe 40, 24098 Kiel, Germany.
Animal. 2025 May;19(5):101507. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2025.101507. Epub 2025 Apr 3.
In cubicle housing systems for dairy cows, neck rails/straps/chains are used to limit bedding soiling by faeces and urine. Flexible neck straps are an alternative to rigid neck rails, which are associated with animal welfare issues such as painful collisions, injuries, and atypical behaviours. However, no literature exists on the positioning of flexible neck straps in relation to their effectiveness in limiting soiling of the bedding material and their effect on cow behaviour. In a research barn with 40 cows, we experimentally investigated how neck strap positioning relative to cow body size affects rising and lying down behaviours, general lying behaviour, and defecation behaviour in lying cubicles. To expand the range of body-relative positioning beyond that resulting from the herd's variation in body size, we varied the neck strap height (105, 120, and 135 cm) and its distance from the curb (155 and 170 cm) in two experiments. The resulting ratios of neck strap height to withers height (NSH ratio) ranged from 0.65 to 0.96, and the ratios of neck strap distance from the curb to diagonal body length (NSD ratio) ranged from 0.85 to 1.11. With the exception of sideways head lunging, atypical rising and lying down behaviours were rare throughout the study. A higher (less restrictive) NSH ratio was associated with a reduced probability of crawling backwards on the carpal joints during rising. We found no statistical support for an effect of neck strap positioning relative to cow body size on the probabilities of other atypical rising and lying down behaviours, or daily lying time and frequency. For defecations within a 120 s time window around rising events while in the lying cubicle, a higher (less restrictive) NSH ratio was associated with a higher probability of faeces landing in the cubicle. This probability also increased with a higher (less restrictive) NSD ratio. Overall, our results indicate that the positioning of flexible neck straps relative to cow body size, as tested in this study, does not considerably affect dairy cow behaviour, suggesting that flexible straps can accommodate cows of different sizes. The effectiveness of positioning cows in the lying cubicle in such a way that limits soiling of the bedding around rising events increased with a lower (more restrictive) NSH ratio. Thus, flexible neck straps can be a viable alternative to rigid neck rails by limiting soiling of lying cubicles around rising events without considerably impeding dairy cow movements during rising and lying down.
在奶牛的隔间饲养系统中，颈部栏杆/皮带/链条用于限制粪便和尿液对垫料的污染。柔性颈部皮带是刚性颈部栏杆的一种替代方案，刚性颈部栏杆存在一些动物福利问题，如痛苦的碰撞、受伤和异常行为。然而，关于柔性颈部皮带的位置与其限制垫料污染的有效性以及对奶牛行为的影响方面，尚无相关文献。在一个有40头奶牛的研究牛舍中，我们通过实验研究了颈部皮带相对于奶牛体型的位置如何影响在躺卧隔间中的起身和躺下行为、一般躺卧行为以及排便行为。为了扩大相对于身体的定位范围，使其超出牛群体型差异所导致的范围，我们在两个实验中改变了颈部皮带的高度（105、120和135厘米）及其与围栏的距离（155和170厘米）。由此得到的颈部皮带高度与肩峰高度之比（NSH比）范围为0.65至0.96，颈部皮带与围栏的距离与对角体长之比（NSD比）范围为0.85至1.11。在整个研究过程中，除了侧向头部前冲外，异常的起身和躺下行为很少见。较高（限制较小）的NSH比与起身时腕关节向后爬行的概率降低有关。我们没有发现统计学证据支持颈部皮带相对于奶牛体型的位置对其他异常起身和躺下行为的概率、每日躺卧时间和频率有影响。对于在躺卧隔间中起身事件周围120秒时间窗口内的排便情况，较高（限制较小）的NSH比与粪便落在隔间内的概率较高有关。随着NSD比升高（限制较小），这个概率也会增加。总体而言，我们的结果表明，如本研究中所测试的，柔性颈部皮带相对于奶牛体型的位置对奶牛行为没有显著影响，这表明柔性皮带可以适应不同体型的奶牛。以限制起身事件周围垫料污染的方式将奶牛放置在躺卧隔间中的有效性随着较低（限制较大）的NSH比而增加。因此，柔性颈部皮带可以成为刚性颈部栏杆的可行替代方案，通过限制起身事件周围躺卧隔间的污染，而不会在起身和躺下过程中显著阻碍奶牛的活动。
