Eesti holsteini tõugu lehmade käitumise võrdlus suve- ja talveperioodil

English. The behaviour of animals can be used as an indicator of welfare. There are many factorsthat affect behaviour, including management system, housing environment, climate andmaybe season. The aim of this master’s thesis was to compare Estonian Holstein breedcattle behaviour in a loose housed uninsulated housing system between the summer andwinter seasons. Data for this thesis was collected during November and December of2014 and during July and August of 2015 at the Estonian University of Life Sciences’sEerika OÜ Märja farm. Cattle behaviours and activities that were examined includedlying, eating, drinking, standing-moving, grooming, antagonistic contact. Based on theresults of this study, in general there were no statistically significant differences inbehaviour between the two seasons. This could have resulted from the warm and mildwinter and not too hot and stifling summer in the years investigated The mean time spentlying per day in the summer was 707.70 minutes and in the winter 682.83 minutes. Themean time spent eating in the summer was 231.67 minutes and in the winter 253.93minutes. There was statistically significant difference between two seasons regarding thedrinking behavior. Cows spent more time drinking in the winter. It is necessary to carryout further studies to understand why they spend more time drinking in the wintercompared to the summer. There were statistically significant differences also in theamounts of social contacts between pairs of animals. The number of social contactsbetween two animals started by an animal under observation was higher in the winter.Aggressive contacts were also higher in the winter but started by other animal, both interms of the amount of time spent in such behaviour (p = 0.0378) and the frequency of such observed behaviours (p = 0.0298). Therefore in winter it is essential to ensure thatcows have easy access to clean water, and stockmen should be particualry aware ofaggression at this time, which might be a sign of increased stress during the winter fotsuch cows.

Loomade käitumist võib pidada loomade heaolu näitajaks. Käitumist võivad mõjutadamitmed tegurid – pidamissüsteem, keskkond, kliima. Antud lõputöö eesmärk oli uuridavabapidamisel olevate eesti holsteini tõugu lehmade käitumist farmis suve- jatalveperioodil. Töös kasutatud andmed koguti Eesti Maaülikooli Eerika Farm OÜ Märjalaudast 2014. aasta novembris, detsembris ning 2015. aasta juulis, augustis. Vaadeldiseitset erinevat käitumist, millest mõned jagati alategevusteks vastavalt sellele, kes antudkäitumist alustas. Antud töö tulemustest kahe perioodi vahel üldiselt olulisi erinevusikäitumises ei ilmnenud. Selle võis tingida küllalti pehme talv ning mitte liialt kuum jalämbe suvi. Lamamisele kulutati suvel keskmiselt 707,70 minutit ning talvel 682,83minutit. Söömisele kulutati suvel keskmiselt 231,67 minutit ning talvel 253,93 minutit.Statistiliselt oluline erinevus kahe perioodi vahel ilmnes joomisele kulutatud ajas, mis olitalvel kõrgem, kui suvel. Siinkohal oleks vajalik teha edasised uuringud, mis selgitaksidvälja antud tulemuse põhjused. Olulisi erinevusi ilmnes ka loomadevahelisteskontaktides. Vaadeldud looma poolt algatatud kontaktide kogukestus oli suurem talvel.Samuti oli talvisel ajal kõrgem agressiivsete kontaktide arv (p = 0,0298) ja ajaline kulu(p = 0,0378) just grupis oleva teise looma algatusel. Seega on oluline, et talvel oleksloomadele tagatud vaba ligipääs puhtale joogiveele. Samuti peaksid farmis töötajadolema teadlikud agressiooni kasvust talvel, mis võib olla märk stressist sellistelloomadel.