Effect of rubber flooring in front of the feed bunk on the time budgets of dairy cattle.
Effect of rubber flooring in front of the feed bunk on the time budgets of dairy cattle.
复制标题
饲料仓前橡胶地板对奶牛时间预算的影响。
作者：
J. A. Fregonesi;C. Tucker;D. Weary;F. C. Flower;T. Vittie
本试验旨在研究饲喂床铺前铺橡胶地板对奶牛即刻行为反应的影响。四组奶牛，每组12头，交替地被安置在一个无栏牛舍的几个部分，饲料铺位前的区域要么铺上1.85米的橡胶地板，要么铺上混凝土凹槽。橡胶地板不影响用餐时间。然而，动物在橡胶表面不吃东西的时间(5.5%)比混凝土(4.8%)略有增加，但可以检测到。由于不清楚的原因，站立时间的增加并不局限于饲料铺位前的区域；当动物可以接触到橡胶地板时，它们在圈内其他地方(免费摊位外但不在饲料铺位前面)站立的时间占可用时间的11.0%，而在只接触混凝土地板的情况下，这一比例为9.0%。此外，当动物能够接触到饲料铺位前的橡胶时，它们在免费摊位上躺的时间略有减少(52.5%比54.3%)。在围栏中的其他地方站立和吃东西等行为所花费的时间会随着时间的推移而变化。例如，在6周的试验中，吃东西的时间从23.1%下降到17.4%。总而言之，可以在喂食器前铺橡胶地板的奶牛在站立的地点和时间上表现出微小的差异，尽管这些微小变化的生物学影响尚不清楚。
The objective of this experiment was to study the effect of rubber flooring in front of the feed bunk on the immediate behavioral response of dairy cattle. Four groups of 12 dairy cattle were alternately housed in sections of a free-stall barn with either 1.85 m of rubber flooring or grooved concrete in the area in front of the feed bunk. Rubber flooring did not affect time spent eating. However, animals showed a slight, but detectable, increase in time standing without eating on the rubber surface (5.5%) compared with concrete (4.8%). For reasons that are unclear, this increase in time spent standing was not limited to the area in front of the feed bunk; animals spent 11.0% of the available time standing elsewhere in the pen (outside of the free stall but not in front of the feed bunk) when they had access to the rubber flooring, compared with 9.0% when housed with access to only concrete floors. In addition, animals spent slightly less time lying in the free stall when they had access to rubber in front of the feed bunk (52.5 vs. 54.3%). Time spent engaged in behaviors such as standing elsewhere in the pen and eating were variable over time. For example, time spent eating declined from 23.1 to 17.4% over the 6-wk trial. In conclusion, dairy cattle with access to rubber flooring in front of the feeder showed small differences in where and how much time they spent standing, although the biological implications of these small changes are unclear.