Behaviour of Holstein cows under a free housing system, in winter, in an arid zone, México

Abstract

The objective of this trial was to assess the social and individual behaviour of dairy cows under free housing conditions, during a winter season and between feeding periods. The study considered 60 days of observations using 40 Holstein cows (2-4 years old) from a dairy herd in the state of Aguascalientes. The cows were all kept in one pen with a space allowance of 40m²/cow. Individual behaviour data showed that cows spent 51% of their time resting in a lying position, 29% ruminating, 10% eating, 4% walking, 4% standing and 2% tail switching. No evidence of body quivering, ear twitching, head tossing or kicking was found. Social behaviour data showed that affiliation interactions occurred 6.1 times per hour and aggressive interactions 0.95 times per hour. Regarding affiliation behaviour it was found that licking, smelling, replenishing, mounting and scratching other cows occurred 4.9/hour, 0.61/hour, 0.24/hour, 0.18/hour and 0.12/hour respectively. Regarding aggressive behaviour the following was recorded: cows following, threatening and butting other cows occurred 0.63/hour, 0.10/hour and 0.22/hour respectively. The cows showed maintenance and social behaviours that suggest a welfare state attributable to the environmental temperature that was predominant during the season of study, the individual space assigned per cow and the time schedule in which the observations were made.