Characterizing changes in activity and feeding behaviour of lactating dairy cows during behavioural and silent oestrus

•Activity was increased on the day of behavioural oestrus.•Resting time, lying bouts and feeding behaviours were reduced on the day of behavioural oestrus.•Only feeding duration was reduced on the day of silent oestrus. The normal time budgets of dairy cows are influenced by oestrus, with cows spend...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied animal behaviour science 2018-09, Vol.206, p.12-17
Main Authors: Zebari, Hawar M., Rutter, S. Mark, Bleach, Emma C.L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activity
Animal behavior
Animal lactation
Animal reproduction
Artificial insemination
Behavioural oestrus
Cameras
Cattle
Dairy cattle
Dairy cows
Dry matter
Enzyme immunoassay
Feeding
Feeding behavior
Immunoassay
Milk
Progesterone
Reproduction (biology)
Silent oestrus
Time budgets
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Summary:•Activity was increased on the day of behavioural oestrus.•Resting time, lying bouts and feeding behaviours were reduced on the day of behavioural oestrus.•Only feeding duration was reduced on the day of silent oestrus. The normal time budgets of dairy cows are influenced by oestrus, with cows spending less time resting and eating but more time walking. Previous studies have shown that cows spend approximately 21% less time feeding where the day of oestrus is assumed to be the day of successful artificial insemination. The objective of the present study was to determine whether the number of steps, lying time, lying bouts, dry matter intake (DMI), feeding duration and the number of visits to feed were affected by behavioural and silent oestrus in lactating dairy cows. Thirty Holstein Friesian cows were housed in a free-stall barn with 34 cubicles and were continuously monitored by four video cameras. Milk samples were collected on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon and analysed for progesterone concentration by enzyme immunoassay. Steps, lying time and lying bouts were measured using IceQubes (IceRobotics Ltd., Edinburgh, UK). Daily feed intakes and feeding duration were recorded by a Roughage Intake Control (RIC) system (Insentec B. V., Marknesse, Netherlands). Of the 40 behavioural oestrus events, standing behaviour was observed in 50% of events. On the day of behavioural oestrus the number of steps were increased significantly (P 
ISSN:0168-1591
1872-9045
DOI:10.1016/j.applanim.2018.06.002