Differences in occupation of lying stalls by cows: case study of pens with one row of stalls
2021
Gaworski, M., Warsaw Univ. of Life Sciences (Poland)
Designs of barns with a free-stall housing system take into account various configurations of lying stalls. The distribution of the lying stalls in the pen, especially in connection with the access to the feed alley, translates into the distances covered by the cows every day. The aim of the study was to compare the lying stalls in terms of the time they were occupied by cows in a lying and standing position. The experiment concerning the occupation of lying stalls was carried out on the basis of two pens. In each pen, six cows had access to six stalls in one row. The location of the stalls in the row differed from the feed alley. The cows’ activities in the stalls, i.e. lying, standing on two and four hooves, were recorded for 14 days. The average time of stall occupation for lying was 11.79 h∙dayE−1∙stallE−1. The research did not show any statistically significant differences between the time of occupying particular stalls in a row. Nevertheless, the research showed a tendency that the increasing distance of lying stalls from the feed alley was accompanied by a decrease in the time they were occupied by cows lying and standing on two hooves. Taking into account the relationship between the location of the stalls and the time of their occupation, the value of the Pearson linear correlation coefficient in the case of lying down time was r = −0.9849, and in the case of standing on two hooves r = −0.9079. The differentiation between the lying stalls in terms of their occupation time confirmed that cows in t heir activity in the pen may be guided by the distance of the lying places from the feed alley. However, further research is required to confirm the preferences for lying stalls in a pen with cows.
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