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Farm- and Cow-Level Effects on the Behavioral Patterns of Dairy Cows Milked with Automatic Systems

The objective of this thesis was to determine the effect of housing and feeding management and cow characteristics on the behavioral patterns of cows in automated milking systems (AMS). In a first study, increasing frequency of feed delivery from 1 to 2x/d for cows milked in an AMS resulted in longer lying duration. In that study, lame cows milked less frequently, had increased lying durations and more frequent lying bouts. In a second, cross-sectional study of 13 AMS farms it was found that cows had longer lying durations when given more space at the feed bunk and when their feed was pushed up more frequently. Milking frequency increased as cows/AMS decreased. Milk yield increased with space at the feed bunk. Overall, these results suggest that feeding management, robot and bunk-space availability, and health status affect the behavior and production of AMS-milked cows. / Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network (CBMRN)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OGU.10214/3700
Date11 June 2012
CreatorsDeming, Justine Adams
ContributorsDeVries, Trevor
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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