Cow Handling and Comfort

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Cow Handling and Comfort

• AVS346
• Dairy Cattle Technology
• David Marcinkowski

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Animal Behavior

• Ethology
• Very important area of research
• Animal welfare
• McDonalds, visitors etc.
• Effects on animal performance
• Take advantage of behavior when designing
  facilities
• Slaughterhouses, restraint, parlors, stalls
• Animal will tell you whats wrong

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Stress

• What is it ?
• Acute and chronic
• Dairy cows are raised in artificial settings
• How do you measure it in animals?
• Short term heart rate, respiration, cortisol
  levels
• Long term performance
• Milk production, growth rate

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Cattle Flight Zone
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Body Posture

• If a cow shows you her side
• Everything is OK
• Head down displaying a warning
• Faces you with head down
• Direct threat
• Use balance point to move cows
• In front of balance point - cow moves back
• Behind cows goes forward
• At balanced point - cow confused

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Behavior

• Isolation
• Herd animals
• Agitated when alone
• Move in groups
• Social dominance
• Well-defined pecking order
• Move Boss Cow others will follow
• Moving animals from group to group
• Move several
• Heat detection

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Behavior

• Memory
• Very good
• Creatures of habit
• Remember bad expereinces
• Remember successful escapes
• Vision
• 300 degrees
• Can perceive colors
• Best vision forward and down
• Avoid shadows
• Limited depth perception at ground level
• Prefer open spaces

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Behavior

• Hearing
• Humans 1000-3000 Hz
• Cows up to 80000 hz
• Will become acclimated to loud sounds
• Jets
• Music
• More milk?
• Drowns out other noises

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Avoid Distractions

• Reflections on puddles or metal
• Noises like chains that jiggle, gates clanging
  etc
• High pitched noise
• Air hissing - should be silenced with mufflers or
  piped outside
• Air drafts blowing towards approaching animals
• Clothing and other objects hung on the fence
• Movements such as blowing plastic, fan blades and
  people
• Objects on the floor, changes in surface, lines,
  shadows drains and grates
• Sudden changes in the color of equipment
  especially high contrast colors
• Large expanses of a single color. Walls etc.
• Dark entrances. Animals will move to the light

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Response to Handling
Tyson, Penn State
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Effect of Photoperiod on Milk Production

• Photoperiod
• Day length- Hours of day
• Affects many animals
• Causes a number of biological and behavioural
  changes
• Breeding behavior in livestock and wildlife
• Hibernation and migration
• Color of fur
• Humans Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Affect on Milk Production
• Light suppresses the release of melatonin -
  Darkness increases melatonin
• Long photoperiods (16hours) cause shorter
  durations of high melatonin
• Melatonin set cows internal clock which
  influences the secretion of insulin-like growth
  factor-1 (IGF-1) and Prolactin
• IGF-1 increases milk production,
• BST effects are also mediated through IGF-1
• Photoperiod and BST effect are additive

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Level of Light

• Need to achieve 20 Foot candles of illumination
  in 50 feet of stalls
• Directed at the head/eyes/front of the animal

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Summary of Milk the Response to Supplemental
Lighting
University of Illinois Website
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Cows Need 3 Things

• Food and water
• Comfortable bed
• Freedom from pain
• Fresh air

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Day in the Life of a Cow

• Lying down gt12 hours/day
• Cud Chewing 8 hours
• (60 of down time)
• Standing and socializing 3 hours
• Feeding 5 hours
• 11 meals per day
• Drinking 0.5 hours
• 15 times per day
• Imposed Chores 3 hours
• No more than 4.5 hours causes a drop in
  production

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Food

• Feed bunk
• Design low, easy to push up and clean
• Condition of surface smooth unpitted
• Space available at least 2 feet per cow
• Amount of feed available
• No empty bunks
• 5 Overfeeding
• Time away from feed - lt4.5 hours
• Cud Chewing Index
• 60-80 during rest

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Water

• Water is often overlooked as potential problem
• Quality fresh and clean
• From well
• Volume and flow rate
• Waterers
• Trough space
• 1 per 10 cows
• Design height etc.
• Location
• Management - cleanliness

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Comfortable Stall

• Tie stall versus freestall
• Size
• Length, width,
• Dividers
• Lunge space
• Bedding type
• Sand, straw, sawdust, recycled manure solids
• Cleanliness
• Surfaces
• Mattresses, mats, rubber concrete water

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Uncomfortable Stalls
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Idle Standing
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Perching
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Diagonal Lying and Standing
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Lying/Standing Backwards
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Cow Standing Up
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Open Lunge Space
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Alternate Occupancy
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Freestall Design
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Freestall Dimensions
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Effect of Bedding Type on Swollen Hocks
All differences significant
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Air/Ventilation

• Moisture removal
• Odor/gases removal
• Temperature control
• Heat removal in summer
• Heat retention in winter
• Natural versus Mechanical
• Mechanical
• Positive or negative pressure system
• Inlets and exhausts
• Windows dont count!!

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Natural Ventilation
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Curtain Walls
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Positive Pressure System
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Negative Pressure System
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Tunnel Ventilation
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Footing

• Dirt is best
• Concrete
• Rough surface
• Grooved
• Rubber Mats
• Watch how cows walk

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Cattle Lameness

• One of the most common diseases of dairy cattle
• Affects reproduction, nutrition, production and
  profitability
• Each case costs about 90 - 300
• Multifactorial Disease
• Nutrition, cleanliness, cow comfort, housing,
  genetics, health and management (foot trimming)

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Foot Diseases

• Foot Rot
• Hairy Heel Warts
• White Line disease
• Horizontal Grooves
• Abscesses
• Bruises
• Double soles

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Lameness score 1
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Lameness score 2
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Lameness score 3
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Lameness score 4
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Scoring Cow Comfort

• Minimize cow chore time (lt4.5 hours)
• Stall usage (lt85)
• Rumination time (50-60 of cows lying down)
• Lameness (gt70 Score 1)
• Evaluate walking surface
• Cows bunching in groups
• Ventilation (Is air fresh)

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Locomotion Score Targets
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Dairy Animal Welfare Issues

• Calves
• Mortality and morbidity of young calves
• Individual housing with no social interaction
• Underfeeding of calves as compared with nursing
  of dam
• Dehorning
• Transition Cows
• High production leads to metabolic diseases

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Dairy Animal Welfare Issues

• Cows
• Lameness
• Tail docking

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Certification Guidelines and Groups

• National Dairy Animal Well-Being Initiative
• Dairy Industry Coalition
• Animal Welfare Approved
• Animal Welfare Institute
• Certified Humane
• Validus
• Private Company

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General Guidelines

• Environment must account for animals welfare
  needs
• Physical and thermal discomfort
• No fear or distress
• Allow natural behaviors
• Some instances grazing
• Facilities carefully designed and constructed
• Floors slip resistant
• Control of moisture, odors and dust
• Provided adequate space and freedom of movement
• Loafing area may be required

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Other Guidelines

• Milking Parlor
• Not a reason for tail docking
• Stalls do not impede cows lying down or standing
  up
• Machines tested annually
• Routine maintenance performed as needed
• Liner replacement etc.
• Milker protocols
• Reduced waiting times in parlor - lt5hr/day
• Cows observed while milking behavior scores
• No overstocking

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Other Guidelines

• Good colostrum management
• No tethering of animals
• Animals eat at or above foot level
• Feed available 20 hours per day
• Adequate feedbunk space to eliminate competition
• Adequate supplies of clean water
• Outside animals should have access to shade
• Euthanasia protocols for severely sick or injured
  animals