Observations of Dairy Cow Activities in Loose-Housing

Abstract

The activity patterns of a herd of Brown Swiss cows wintered in a loose-housing barn with outside self-feeding of hay and silage are described. When the cows had access to silage, they spent an average of 5.2 hours daily eating, 5.1 hours loitering in the yard, 4.3 hours loitering in the lounge, and 8.2 hours resting. When hay alone was available, the eating time remained unchanged, but the cows spent 2.7 hours daily loitering in the yard, 5.1 hours loitering in the lounge, and 10.7 hours resting. Eighteen weekly determinations of the rectal temperatures, pulse, and respiration rates of six Holstein cows in a stanchion barn were compared with those of Brown Swiss Cows. The rectal temperatures and respiration rates of the Brown Swiss were significantly lower than the average of the Holsteins. The average pulse rate of the Brown Swiss was significantly higher than that of the Holsteins for the first 9 weeks. During the second 9 weeks the Brown Swiss pulse rate was significantly lower than that of the cows in the stanchion barn. These measurements could not be correlated with changes in environmental temperature. © 1954, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.