Lying behavior of cows in a three-row free-stall barn with an automatic milking system
2007
Morita, S.(Rakuno Gakuen Univ., Ebetsu, Hokkaido (Japan)) | Hayakawa, S. | Kageyama, A. | Takeuchi, M. | Haruta, T. | Shimada, T. | Hoshiba, S.
This study was conducted to compare the lying time and lying pattern of cows kept in a barn with automatic or parlor milking system, and also to quantitatively analyze the utilization of stalls for lying in a three-row free-stall barn. Lying behavior of cows was observed for 30 days in a barn with automatic or parlor milking system. The average daily lying time in the barn with the automatic milking system was about 12 hours, which was significantly (P0.05) longer than that of the parlor milking system (about 11 hours). The only difference in the lying pattern of cows of the automatic milking system was in the time of milking operation, in comparison to the parlor milking system. This is because cows did not have to visit the milking parlor in the automatic milking system. From the results of the quantitative analysis of the utilization of stalls for lying, it was concluded that cows tended to avoid using the end stall in a stall-row in addition to the wall-side stall in a three-row free-stall barn.
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