Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-06-01T23:24:28.124Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Animal behavior and pasture depletion in a pasture-based automatic milking system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2014

N. A. Lyons ,
K. L. Kerrisk ,
N. K. Dhand ,
V. E. Scott  and
S. C. Garcia
N. A. Lyons*
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
K. L. Kerrisk
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
N. K. Dhand
Affiliation:
Department for Farm Animal and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
V. E. Scott
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
S. C. Garcia
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
*
†E-mail: n.lyons@sydney.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

In pasture-based automatic milking systems (AMS), feed is the main incentive that can be managed to encourage reliable and consistent voluntary and distributed cow traffic. Modifying timing, placement and size of feed allocations is expected to have an effect on cow behavior that could avoid the occurrence of extended milking intervals, which have a negative effect on milk yield. Therefore, behavioral studies provide information on how cows modify their actions under different management regimes and can help explain the impact of those regimes. Behavioral observations were conducted in spring 2011 at the FutureDairy AMS research farm, as part of a study where a herd of 175 cows was split into two groups that received supplementary feed either before (PRE), or immediately after (POST) milking. In addition, all cows were offered access to two daily pasture allocations. Observations were conducted in the pasture allocation on 15 focal cows from each treatment group during four periods of 24 h to detect presence and behavior (grazing, ruminating, idling and other) every 15 min. In addition, bite rate and pasture biomass were measured every hour. Overall, despite the finding that more POST cows than PRE cows entered the pasture allocation during the first 8 h of active access, there was no difference in the total proportion of cows that had gained access by the end of the active access period (average 68% for both treatments). Cows in the PRE treatment started exiting the pasture allocation just 6 h after entering, compared with 8 h for POST cows, although their behaviors in the pasture allocation did not differ. Behaviors and bite rate were more dependent on pasture biomass than on supplementary feeding management.

Keywords

automatic milking systemgrazing behaviorcow trafficpasture
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 8 , Issue 9 , September 2014 , pp. 1506 - 1515
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Chilibroste, P, Tamminga, S and Boer, H 1997. Effects of length of grazing session, rumen fill and starvation time before grazing on dry-matter intake, ingestive behaviour and dry-matter rumen pool sizes of grazing lactating dairy cows. Grass and Forage Science 52, 249–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chilibroste, P, Soca, P, Mattiauda, DA, Bentancur, O and Robinson, PH 2007. Short term fasting as a tool to design effective grazing strategies for lactating dairy cattle: a review. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47, 1075–1084.Google Scholar
Chilibroste, P, Mattiauda, DA, Bentancur, O, Soca, P and Meikle, A 2012. Effect of herbage allowance on grazing behavior and productive performance of early lactation primiparous Holstein cows. Animal Feed Science and Technology 173, 201–209.Google Scholar
Dalley, DE, Roche, JR, Moate, PJ and Grainger, C 2001. More frequent allocation of herbage does not improve the milk production of dairy cows in early lactation. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 41, 593–599.Google Scholar
de Koning, K 2011. Automatic milking: common practice on over 10,000 dairy farms worldwide. In Dairy research foundation symposium 2011 (ed. P Celi), vol. 16, pp. 14–31. University Printing Services Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Google Scholar
Dickeson, D 2011. Quantifications of the effects of inaccurate pasture allocation in a pasture based automatic milking system. MSc thesis, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.Google Scholar
Garcia, SC and Fulkerson, WJ 2005. Opportunities for future Australian dairy systems: a review. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 1041–1055.Google Scholar
Garcia, SC, Fulkerson, WJ and Brookes, SU 2008. Dry matter production, nutritive value and efficiency of nutrient utilization of a complementary forage rotation compared to a grass pasture system. Grass and Forage Science 63, 284–300.Google Scholar
Gary, LA, Sherritt, GW and Hale, EB 1970. Behavior of Charolais cattle on pasture. Journal of Animal Science 30, 203–206.Google Scholar
Gibb, MJ, Huckle, CA and Nuthall, R 1998. Effect of time of day on grazing behaviour by lactating dairy cows. Grass and Forage Science 53, 41–46.Google Scholar
Gibb, MJ, Huckle, CA, Nuthall, R and Rook, AJ 1997. Effect of sward surface height on intake and grazing behaviour by lactating Holstein Friesian cows. Grass and Forage Science 52, 309–321.Google Scholar
Granzin, BC 2003. The effect of frequency of pasture allocation on the milk production, pasture intake and behaviour of grazing cows in a subtropical environment. Tropical Grasslands 37, 84–93.Google Scholar
Gregorini, P 2012. Diurnal grazing pattern: its physiological basis and strategic management. Animal Production Science 52, 416–430.Google Scholar
Gregorini, P, Clark, CEF, Jago, JG, Glassey, CB, McLeod, KLM and Romera, AJ 2009. Restricting time at pasture: effects on dairy cow herbage intake, foraging behavior, hunger-related hormones, and metabolite concentration during the first grazing session. Journal of Dairy Science 92, 4572–4580.Google Scholar
Gregorini, P, DelaRue, B, McLeod, K, Clark, CEF, Glassey, CB and Jago, J 2012. Rumination behavior of grazing dairy cows in response to restricted time at pasture. Livestock Science 146, 95–98.Google Scholar
Hammer, JF, Morton, JM and Kerrisk, KL 2012. Quarter-milking-, quarter-, udder- and lactation-level risk factors and indicators for clinical mastitis during lactation in pasture-fed dairy cows managed in an automatic milking system. Australian Veterinary Journal 90, 167–174.Google Scholar
Hirata, M, Iwamoto, T, Otozu, W and Kiyota, D 2002. The effects of recording interval on the estimation of grazing behavior of cattle in a daytime grazing system. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 15, 745–750.Google Scholar
Jago, J, Jackson, A and Woolford, M 2003. Dominance effects on the time budget and milking behaviour of cows managed on pasture and milked in an automated milking system. In Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of animal production (ed. SW Peterson), vol. 63, pp. 120–123. New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Queenstown, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Johansson, B, Redbo, I and Svennersten-Sjaunja, K 1999. Effect of feeding before, during and after milking on dairy cow behaviour and the hormone cortisol. Animal Science 68, 597–604.Google Scholar
Kennedy, E, McEvoy, M, Murphy, JP and O’Donovan, M 2009. Effect of restricted access time to pasture on dairy cow milk production, grazing behavior, and dry matter intake. Journal of Dairy Science 92, 168–176.Google Scholar
Ketelaar-de Lauwere, CC, Ipema, AH, Lokhorst, C, Metz, JHM, Noordhuizen, J, Schouten, WGP and Smits, AC 2000. Effect of sward height and distance between pasture and barn on cows’ visits to an automatic milking system and other behaviour. Livestock Production Science 65, 131–142.Google Scholar
Ketelaar-de Lauwere, CC, Ipema, AH, van Ouwerkerk, ENJ, Hendriks, M, Metz, JHM, Noordhuizen, J and Schouten, WGP 1999. Voluntary automatic milking in combination with grazing of dairy cows – milking frequency and effects on behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 64, 91–109.Google Scholar
Kolbach, R, Kerrisk, KL and Garcia, SC 2013a. Short communication: the effect of premilking with a teat cup-like device, in a novel robotic rotary, on attachment accuracy and milk removal. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 360–365.Google Scholar
Kolbach, R, Kerrisk, KL, Garcia, SC and Dhand, NK 2013b. Effects of bail activation sequence and feed availability on cow traffic and milk harvesting capacity in a robotic rotary dairy. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 2137–2146.Google Scholar
Kolbach, R, Kerrisk, KL, García, SC and Dhand, NK 2012. Attachment accuracy of a novel prototype robotic rotary and investigation of two management strategies for incomplete milked quarters. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 88, 120–124.Google Scholar
Lyons, NA, Kerrisk, KL and Garcia, SC 2014. Milking frequency management in pasture-based automatic milking systems: a review. Livestock Science 159, 102–116.Google Scholar
Lyons, NA, Kerrisk, KL, Dhand, NK and Garcia, SC 2013a. Factor associated with extended milking intervals in a pasture-based automatic milking system. Livestock Science 158, 179–188.Google Scholar
Lyons, NA, Kerrisk, KL and Garcia, SC 2013b. Comparison of two systems of pasture allocation on milking intervals and total daily milk yield of dairy cows in a pasture-based automatic milking system. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 4494–4504.Google Scholar
Lyons, NA, Kerrisk, KL and Garcia, SC 2013c. Effect of pre versus post-milking supplementation on traffic and performance of cows milked in a pasture-based automatic milking system. Journal of Dairy Science 96, 4397–4405.Google Scholar
Mattiauda, DA, Tamminga, S, Gibb, MJ, Soca, P, Bentancur, O and Chilibroste, P 2013. Restricting access time at pasture and time of grazing allocation for Holstein dairy cows: ingestive behaviour, dry matter intake and milk production. Livestock Science 152, 53–62.Google Scholar
Perez-Ramirez, E, Peyraud, JL and Delagarde, R 2009. Restricting daily time at pasture at low and high pasture allowance: effects on pasture intake and behavioral adaptation of lactating dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science 92, 3331–3340.Google Scholar
Phillips, CJC 2002. Cattle behaviour & welfare. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Phillips, CJC and Leaver, JD 1986. The effect of forage supplementation on the behaviour of grazing dairy cows. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 16, 233–247.Google Scholar
Prescott, NB, Mottram, TT and Webster, AJF 1998a. Effect of food type and location on the attendance to an automatic milking system by dairy cows and the effect of feeding during milking on their behaviour and milking characteristics. Animal Science 67, 183–193.Google Scholar
Prescott, NB, Mottram, TT and Webster, AJF 1998b. Relative motivations of dairy cows to be milked or fed in a Y-maze and an automatic milking system. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 57, 23–33.Google Scholar
Rook, AJ and Penning, PD 1991. Synchronisation of eating, ruminating and idling activity by grazing sheep. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 32, 157–166.Google Scholar
Rook, AJ and Huckle, CA 1995. Synchronization of ingestive behaviour by grazing dairy cows. Animal Science 60, 25–30.Google Scholar
Salomonsson, M and Sporndly, E 2000. Cow behaviour at pasture with or without supplementary roughage in automatic milking systems. In Robotic milking (ed. H Hogeveen and A Meijering), pp. 192–193. Wageningen Press, Wageningen, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Schmidt, GH 1960. Effect of milking intervals on the rate of milk and fat secretion. Journal of Dairy Science 43, 213–219.Google Scholar
Scott, VE, Thomson, PC, Kerrisk, KL and Garcia, SC 2014. Influence of provision of concentrate at milking on voluntary cow traffic in a pasture-based automatic milking system. Journal of Dairy Science 97, 1481–1490.Google Scholar
Sheahan, AJ, Kolver, ES and Roche, JR 2011. Genetic strain and diet effects on grazing behavior, pasture intake, and milk production. Journal of Dairy Science 94, 3583–3591.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stockdale, CR 2006. Influence of milking frequency on the productivity of dairy cows. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, 965–974.Google Scholar
Verbyla, AP, Cullis, BR, Kenward, MG and Welham, SJ 1999. The analysis of designed experiments and longitudinal data by using smoothing splines. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C-Applied Statistics 48, 269–300.Google Scholar