Entrance order and side preference of dairy cows in the milking parlour

Abstract

Sixty-seven multiparous (group M) and 79 primiparous (group P) Friesian cows were used to assess the consistency of the order of entry and the preference for a determinate side into the milking parlour. The Kendall's coefficient of concordance showed a constancy of the entrance order into milking parlour for both primiparous and multiparous subjects (0.36, P<0.001). In primiparous cows milk yield was significantly correlated to entrance order (rs=0.22, n=79, P<0.05) and tended to be correlated to SCC (r s=0.25, n=43, P<0.10). In group M, 19 cows out of 67 (28.3%) preferred the right side of the milking parlour, whereas the other 48 (71.7%) showed no preference for one of the two sides. In group P, 8 out of 79 (10.1%) cows chose the right side, 10 the left side (12.7%) and the remaining 61 (77.2%) indifferently used the right or left positions of the milking parlour. We conclude that management practices that disturb entrance order and/or side choice should be avoided in order to minimise stress during farming routines.