Associations between body condition score, locomotion score, and sensor-based time budgets of dairy cattle during the dry period and early lactation

Abstract

Lameness, one of the most important disorders in the dairy industry, is related to postpartum diseases and has an effect on dairy cow welfare, leading to changes in cows' daily behavioral variables. This study quantified the effect of lameness on the daily time budget of dairy cows in the transition period. In total, 784 multiparous dairy cows from 8 commercial Dutch dairy farms were visually scored on their locomotion (score of 1-5) and body condition (score of 1-5). Each cow was scored in the early and late dry period as well as in wk 4 and 8 postpartum. Cows with locomotion scores 1 and 2 were grouped together as nonlame, cows with score 3 were considered moderately lame, and cows with scores 4 and 5 were grouped together as severely lame. Cows were equipped with 2 types of sensors that measured behavioral parameters. The leg sensor provided number of steps, number of stand-ups (moving from lying to standing), lying time, number of lying bouts, and lying bout length. The neck sensor provided eating time, number of eating bouts, eating bout length, rumination time, number of rumination bouts, and rumination bout length. Sensor data for each behavioral parameter were averaged between 2 d before and 2 d after locomotion scoring. The percentage of nonlame cows decreased from 63% in the early dry period to 46% at 8 wk in lactation; this decrease was more severe for cows with higher parity. Cows that calved in autumn had the highest odds for lameness. Body condition score loss of >0.75 point in early lactation was associated with lameness in wk 4 postpartum. Moderately lame cows had a reduction of daily eating time of around 20 min, whereas severely lame cows had a reduction of almost 40 min. Similarly, moderately and severely lame dry cows showed a reduction of 200 steps/d, and severely lame cows in lactation showed a reduction of 600 steps/d. Daily lying time increased by 26 min and lying bout length increased by 8 min in severely lame cows compared with nonlame cows. These results indicate a high prevalence of lameness on Dutch dairy farms, with an increase in higher locomotion scores from the dry period into early lactation. Time budgets for multiparous dairy cows differed between the dry period and the lactating period, with a higher locomotion score (increased lameness) having an effect on cows' complete behavioral profile. Body condition score loss in early lactation was associated with poor locomotion postpartum, whereas lameness resulted in less eating time in the dry period and early lactation, creating a harmful cycle.

Heat stress in a temperate climate leads to adapted sensor-based behavioral patterns of dairy cows

“…The farms contributing to this study can be considered representative of the modern Dutch dairy industry. For further details of the farms, see Table 1 and Hut et al (2021). Farms differed in the exact times of milking and fresh feed delivery, as well as in the exact ration composition.…”

The negative impact of lameness on dairy cow reproduction

“…Various studies (Norring et al, 2014;Weigele et al, 2018) have shown less feeding time for lame cows per day and this indicator would further deteriorate with the progression of lameness (Norring et al, 2014). Hut et al (2021) found a decrease in daily eating time of 20 min for moderately and 40 min for severely lame cows compared to healthy ones. In the study of Almeida et al (2008), in addition to shorter eating time, lame cows showed almost 30% decreased rumination time, although this finding was not consistent across studies (Hut et al, 2021;Weigele et al, 2018).…”

Sensor based time budgets in commercial Dutch dairy herds vary over lactation cycles and within 24 hours

“…All dairy cows on the 8 commercial dairy farms in The Netherlands included in this study were equipped with 2 types of sensors. Details of these farms, with an average herd size of 140 cows, are described in Table 1 and in our previous publication on lameness [26]. To monitor feeding behavior (eating time and rumination time), commercially available "Nedap Smarttag Neck" sensors (Nedap, Groenlo, The Netherlands) were attached to the neck collar of each cow and the commercially available "Nedap Smarttag Leg" sensors were attached to one of the front legs of each cow, to monitor walking (walking time and standing time) and lying behavior (lying time).…”

“…In total, 1074 cows with 3201 lactations were available in this study. The use of such sensors in a commercial dairy herd is not considered an animal experiment under Dutch law, hence no formal ethical approval was needed (see also [26]). The number of cows per sensor based behavioral parameter is presented in Fig 1 . For visualization purposes, farms were grouped by type of milking system (AMS, N = 3 / CMS, N = 5) where cows on CMS farms also had pasture access during parts of spring, summer and autumn for at least 120 days/year for at least 6h/day as a part of a subsidized Dutch system to stimulate pasture access for dairy cows.…”