Effect of pre-partum habituation to milking routine on behaviour and lactation performance of buffalo heifers

Polikarpus, Annemari; Napolitano, Fabio; Grasso, F.; Palo, R. Di; Zicarelli, Fabio; Arney, David; Rosa, Giuseppe De

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2014.10.003

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…This follows the results of Tucker et al (2007), who transitioned cows from twice-to once-a-day milking with no increase in standing at the gate. Collectively, these findings are in alignment with a broader realm of literature demonstrating that performing management changes gradually reduces the negative behavioral responses relative to when those changes are performed abruptly (e.g., weaning of beef calves: Price et al, 2003;Loberg et al, 2008; early introduction to milking parlor of buffalo heifers: Polikarpus et al, 2014).…”

Section: Frustration Due To Abrupt Cessation Of Milkingsupporting

confidence: 77%

Invited review: Cessation of lactation: Effects on animal welfare

Zobel

Weary

Leslie

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

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The forced cessation of milk production, or dry-off, is a routine management practice in dairy cattle, sheep, and goats. This practice initiates a dry period, during which the animal is not milked. Milking begins again after parturition. Most of the literature on the dry period has focused on how various drying-off strategies affect milk production and disease; little work to date has addressed how dry-off affects the overall welfare of the dairy animal. The first aim of this review was to present an overview of the importance of dry-off and how it is commonly achieved. Our review shows that much scientific progress has been made in improving health status between lactations. The second aim was to identify important gaps in the literature, of which 2 key research disparities have been identified. We find that much of the work to date has focused on cattle and very little research has examined dry-off in dairy sheep and goats. We also find a lack of research addressing how common dry-off methodologies affect animal welfare on more than just a biological level, regardless of species.

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Section: Frustration Due To Abrupt Cessation Of Milkingsupporting

confidence: 77%

Invited review: Cessation of lactation: Effects on animal welfare

Zobel

Weary

Leslie

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

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“…Similar to present findings, Upadhyay et al (2015) reported significant (P<0.01) effect of suckling on milking time in Tharparkar cows. The findings of the present study also supported by the results of previous experiments in which non-significant effect of habituation to milking routine on milking time in primiparous Friesian cows (Dowling and Sutherland, 2012) and in primiparous buffaloes (Polikarpus et al 2014) have been reported.…”

Section: Milking Time (Min)supporting

confidence: 92%

Effect of habituation to milking and natural suckling on milking behaviour and milk production characteristics in primiparous Sahiwal cows

Bharti¹,

Kamboj²

2019

IJDS

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The present study was performed to investigate the influence of habituation to milking and natural suckling on milking behaviour and milk production characteristics in primiparous Sahiwal cows. For this experiment 18 late pregnant Sahiwal heifers were selected and divided into 3 groups viz. non-habituated to milking routine and weaned, control (C), habituated to milking routine and weaned (T1) and habituated to milking routine and suckled (T2) group. The mean let-down time (C: 91.

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“…Therefore, a farmer that habituates heifers to the milking parlor following the approach used in the current study is unlikely to see an immediate gain in productivity, or, in other words, increased productivity seems to be an unreliable incentive to conduct such a training. Similar to our results, Polikarpus et al (2014) reported that prepartum habituation to milking routine did not have an effect on milk yield of buffalo heifers, although trained animals Human avoidance distances (m) of trained (TH) and untrained (UH) heifers measured on a series of test days (d 0 = day of integration into herd; d 1, d 7, and d 28 = days postpartum). Heifers' initial level of fear was classified as low or high.…”

Section: Milk Yieldsupporting

confidence: 91%

Habituation of dairy heifers to milking routine—Effects on human avoidance distance, behavior, and cardiac activity during milking

Kutzer

Steilen

Gygax

et al. 2015

Journal of Dairy Science

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The onset of lactation marks a significant turning point in a heifer's life, and prior experience with the milking routine could have positive effects on animal welfare and productivity. The objectives of this multifarm (n=5) study were to investigate (1) whether prelactation training sessions affected behavior during milking, cardiac activity, human avoidance distance, and milk yield, and (2) whether these responses would be modified by the heifer's initial level of fear of humans. Trained heifers (TH, n=30) experienced the routine in the milking parlor on at least 10 d prepartum, whereas untrained heifers (UH, n=29) entered the parlor for the first time after calving. Behavior and cardiac activity were recorded on d 1 and 7 after calving, and an avoidance test was carried out on the day of integration into the dairy herd as well as on d 1, 7, and 28 postpartum. Each animal's initial level of fear of humans was classified as high or low based on the first human avoidance distance measured toward an unknown person. Results showed that TH showed less stepping and kicking during the udder preparation phase in the parlor and UH had higher probabilities to put their ears flat on the head, clamp their tail between the hind legs, and have their eyes wide open throughout the different phases in the milking parlor. Heart rate decreased from d 1 to 7, increased from before to during and to after milking and was slightly elevated in TH compared with UH. Milk yield did not differ between TH and UH. Human avoidance distance was not influenced by training, but distance decreased in heifers with a high initial level of fear of humans across repetitions of the test, whereas heifers with a low initial level of fear of humans had generally short avoidance distances. However, initial level of fear of humans neither determined behavior and heart rate during milking nor milk yield of TH and UH. The results indicate that the training regimen applied in the present study habituated heifers, to some extent, to the milking routine.

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Effect of pre-partum habituation to milking routine on behaviour and lactation performance of buffalo heifers

Cited by 25 publications

References 29 publications

Invited review: Cessation of lactation: Effects on animal welfare

Invited review: Cessation of lactation: Effects on animal welfare

Effect of habituation to milking and natural suckling on milking behaviour and milk production characteristics in primiparous Sahiwal cows

Habituation of dairy heifers to milking routine—Effects on human avoidance distance, behavior, and cardiac activity during milking

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