Influence of high altitude grazing on productive and physiological traits of dairy cows

Zemp, Markus; Leuenberger, Hans; Künzi, N.; Blum, J. W.

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0388.1989.tb00242.x

Cited by 18 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…It is widely accepted that BCS is an important indirect measure of cows' energy balance, and it is influenced by many factors such as: poor roughage quality or concentrate level, stocking density, stress linked to transport of animals from valley to mountain farms, the increasing of thermoregulatory and physical activity, or lactation stage (Zemp et al, 1989). Cows were in mid-lactation at thebeginning of the study, so during the summer grazing all the animals should have restored body reserves (Berry et al, 2001;Bovolenta et al, 2009).…”

Section: Physical Condition and Behaviour Of Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of summer grazing on welfare of dairy cows reared in mountain tie-stall barns

Corazzin

Piasentier

Dovier

et al. 2010

Italian Journal of Animal Science

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Traditional mountain farms have an important economic, social and environmental role. The Alps management system for dairy cows consists of animals kept indoors from autumn to spring, mostly in tie-stalls, and moved to mountain pasture in summer. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of mountain summer grazing on the welfare of dairy cows housed in tie-stall barns. Twenty-four farms were considered. In twelve of them, animals were reared in tie-stalls and moved to mountain pasture for three months in summer; they were visited three times: (i) four weeks before grazing during the indoor period in the stall; (ii) about three weeks after the start of grazing; and (iii) in the stall, in autumn, at least three weeks after returning from grazing. The other twelve farms kept the animals in tiestalls all year; they were visited once in autumn. Data were collected following a protocol that considers animal-based measures and structure information on the basis of Quality Welfare Consortium ® indications. Data allowed the calculation of both the Animal Needs Index score (ANI 35L) and an overall assessment of the cows' welfare obtained from three general aspects: housing, animal's physical condition, and animal's behaviour. Summer grazing had a significant positive effect on injuries, lameness and animal's rising duration but a negative effect on faeces consistency. Moreover, a reduction of tongue playing was observed. The ANI 35L and the overall assessment did not show significant differences linked to summer grazing, which tended to have a positive but temporary effect on animal behaviour

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Section: Physical Condition and Behaviour Of Animalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of summer grazing on welfare of dairy cows reared in mountain tie-stall barns

Corazzin

Piasentier

Dovier

et al. 2010

Italian Journal of Animal Science

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“…Indeed the genetic potential of breeding animals is increasing and pasture frequently may not be able to fully satisfy the nutritional requirements of the grazing dairy cows. There is a reduction in milk production often associated with a loss in body weight (Zemp et al, 1989). On the other hand, the animals might respond to supplements by reducing forage intake through the substitution rate (SR) mechanism (Dillon, 2006) as has been shown also in mountain environment by several authors (Malossini et al, 1995;Peyraud et al, 1998;Bovolenta et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Performance and cheese quality of Brown cows grazing on mountain pasture fed two different levels of supplementation

et al. 2009

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“…On the other hand, the genetic potential of breeding animals is increasing, and usually the pasture cannot fully satisfy the nutritional requirements of the grazing lactating cow. There is, in fact, a fall in milk production, often associated with a loss of body weight (Zemp et al 1989). This deficit needs to be counterbalanced by the administration of supplements.…”

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confidence: 99%

Effects of stocking density and supplement level on milk production and cheese characteristics in Brown cows grazing on mountain pasture

Bovolenta

Saccà

Corazzin

et al. 2008

Journal of Dairy Research

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Twenty-eight Brown cows were maintained on a mountain pasture for a period of 40 days and assigned to 4 groups following a factorial design 2 stocking density (0.7 and 1.4 cows/ha)x2 supplement levels (2.4 and 4.8 kg organic matter (OM)/d). Herbage intake, animal body condition score (BCS), milk yield, milk chemical and coagulation properties, cheese composition, rheology and sensory characteristics were measured. The average herbage intake was 12.2 kg OM/d, with a significant effect related to stocking density (low, 13.1 v. high, 11.4 kg OM/d). BCS variation was always negative and changed with supplement level, although with no statistical significance (-0.43 points on average). Milk yield was lower for the group with lower availability of herbage (low supplement and high stocking density: 15.9 kg/d), whereas it was comparable among others groups (16.9 kg/d on average). The group with high supplement and low stocking density produced milk with worse cheese making properties. Cheese composition analyses showed an effect of supplement level on calcium content, and on parameters for degree of ripening, such as nitrogen fractions and lipolysis index. As for the textural parameters, hardness and gumminess were found to be higher with the low level of supplement. The different level of supplementation could differentiate the groups on the basis of the sensory perception of cheese.

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Influence of high altitude grazing on productive and physiological traits of dairy cows

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Effect of summer grazing on welfare of dairy cows reared in mountain tie-stall barns

Effect of summer grazing on welfare of dairy cows reared in mountain tie-stall barns

Performance and cheese quality of Brown cows grazing on mountain pasture fed two different levels of supplementation

Effects of stocking density and supplement level on milk production and cheese characteristics in Brown cows grazing on mountain pasture

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