The behaviour and production of dairy cattle when offered green pasture or exercise pen

摘要

The aim of the experiment was to investigate the activity and behaviour of dairy cows with access to different outdoor areas. The study took place on two commercial farms with loose-housing and automatic milking systems (AMS). One farm offered 2.8 hectares of green pasture and the other offered a 0.7-hectare exercise pen. Sixty-six percent of the cows with access to green pasture went outside whenever possible. More activity was observed on 'pasture-days'. Most observations were spent grazing (72.2%). Milk yield was, however, lower (P<0.01) and number of visits to the AMS fewer (/'<0.00l), on days with access to pasture. In the farm with access to an exercise area, only 31% of the cows went outside when possible. Most of the observations were standing/walking with head up (43.2%) and lying (33.2%). The number of cows outside was mainly controlled by the indoor feeding interval. Access to the exercise pen did not affect the daily milk yield, but resulted in an increase in number of milking visits (P=0.005). In conclusion, access to outdoor areas, preferably pasture, is important for dairy cows and may have a positive effect on animal welfare and their ability to practice natural behaviour.