Bedding on Geotextile Mattresses: How Much is Needed to Improve Cow Comfort?

Abstract

The objective of our study was to evaluate how the amount of sawdust bedding on mattresses affects dairy cattle behavior and preferences. Eleven nonlactating, multiparous cows were housed individually in pens with access to 3 free stalls. Each stall was fitted with a geotextile mattress covered with either 0, 1, or 7.5 kg of kiln-dried sawdust. The experiment began with 7 d of acclimatization to all 3 stalls. Cows were then allowed access to only 1 of the 3 stalls at a time, each for 3 d (restriction phase). At the end of this restriction phase, cows were allowed free access to all 3 stalls for 3 d (free-choice phase). Time spent lying and the number of lying bouts increased significantly with the amount of bedding, from 12.3 +/- 0.53 h lying and 8.5 +/- 0.62 bouts per 24 h on bare mattresses to 13.8 +/- 0.53 h lying and 10.0 +/- 0.62 bouts per 24 h on mattresses with 7.5 kg of sawdust. In addition, the animals spent less time standing with only the front hooves in the stalls when more sawdust was present. When allowed free access to all 3 options, all 11 animals spent a majority of their time lying and standing in the 7.5-kg option. In conclusion, cows preferred mattresses bedded with 7.5 kg of sawdust, on which they spent more time lying down and less time standing with only the front hooves in stalls. These results indicate that more sawdust bedding improves cow comfort in stalls with geotextile mattresses.

Short communication. Behavioural activities of two dairy cow genotypes (Holstein-Friesian vs. Jersey x Holstein-Friesian) in two milk production systems (grazing vs. confinement)

“…Our results agree with Grant & Albright (2000) for confined cows in a free-stall system with 10 h per day of lying, 3-5 h of feeding and 7-10 h of ruminating instead of the fact that in our trial we have lower daily time observation. Furthermore, Tucker & Weary (2004) reported that lying times is increased with the amount of bedding provided and softer bedding corresponds to longer lying times. In our trial, confined cows lied daily for a long time due to high quality of bedding provided and the low rate of lying time on the G system might be explained by the fact that during diurnal time cows preferred to graze in order to satisfy their feeding needs.…”

Testing of property changes in recycled bedding for dairy cows

“…For example, cows spend more time lying down and have higher frequency of lying events on their preferred lying surfaces (Tucker et al 2003;Tucker, Weary 2004) and cows choose the option that is more comfortable, namely well bedded stalls. Lying time decreased progressively when bedded stalls were poorly maintained (Drissler et al 2005;Fregonesi et al 2007).…”

Feasibility of Miscanthus as alternative bedding for dairy cows

“…Besides the amount of bedding material, which was comparable between straw and Miscanthus, also the physical properties of the surface (softness, thermal comfort, coefficient of friction, compressibility, etc.) can also contribute to the development of skin lesions at carpus and hock (Tucker et al 2009;Tucker and Weary 2004). Although none of these physical characteristics were measured during this trial, subjective observations during daily raking of the cubicles revealed that Miscanthus was much looser in consistency.…”