Behavior of cows of different ages at the period of adaptation to the conditions of voluntary milking

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the behavior of cows of different ages in lactation when the technology of keeping and milking was changed. The research was conducted in Terezyne (Bila Tserkva district, Kyiv region) on first-borns (n=48) and adult cows (n=86). The herd of adult cows was kept loosely in a prefabricated room (LxWxH 100x36x10 m) for 300 heads, and heifers in capital rooms reconstructed for loose housing and on walking areas. A group of adult cows was milked in the milking parlor at the Parallel installation. Animals of both groups after the transit period (10 days after calving) were transferred to a prefabricated room for 400 heads (150x36x10.5 m) and voluntary milking on a robotic unit located on the premises. Under the new housing conditions animals of different age groups were placed in different sections. The studies were conducted during the adaptation period (30 days after the change of detention conditions). The adaptation period was divided into VI periods, each lasting 5 days. The daily behavior of the group of first-borns on the main indicators (lying, walking, standing and watering) corresponded to the values determined by the schedule of the "ideal" day for dairy cows from the third period, and adult cows only in the V period. According to the four indices (comfort, stall, lying down, use of the stall) that characterize the comfort of cows in the boxing of a group of first-born cows had a shorter period of adaptation to new environmental conditions. In the group of first-borns the index of comfort corresponded to the norm from the third period, and the index of stall use from the fourth period. In adult cows, these indices corresponded to the regulated norms from the IV and V periods, respectively. The group of first-borns showed higher adaptive traits in terms of duration of feed intake compared to adult cows. The duration of feed intake in the group of first-borns corresponded to the recommended values starting from the second period (6-10 days), and adult cows starting from the third period (11-15 days). During ethological research during the process of milking first-borns at the automatic machine it was found that during the adaptation period the number of attempts to bring down the milking machine during milking decreased by 4.04 times, and in the group of adult cows by 4.39 times.