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1.
Comparison of four methods of calf confinement. II. Behavior   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
Holstein bull calves (N = 46) were blocked by birth order and randomly assigned to be individually reared in stalls, pens or hutches (trials I and II) or as a group in a 3.6 X 7.9 m yard (trial II only). Treatments differed by the degree of restraint and social isolation imposed, with stalls the most restrictive and yard the least. Stalls and pens had wooden slatted floors; hutches and yard were on ground. Calves were placed on treatment within 24 h of birth and remained on treatment 6.5 wk. Total time standing or lying per 24 h in situ at 5 wk was not affected by treatment (P greater than .05), but hutch calves changed position between standing and lying more often than others (P less than .05), in order to remain in sun or shade. At 6.5 wk, calves (N = 24) in trial II were individually open-field tested for 20 min in the presence of alien calves. Stall and pen calves performed more actions utilized in locomotion and defense and engaged in more social behavior than hutch or yard calves (P less than .05). Only stall and pen calves stumbled and fell, but observations were insufficient to allow statistical analysis of these incidents. Treatment effects were found with respect to vocalizations: stall and pen calves emitted more "baaocks," while yard calves emitted more "moos." Results of this study and of a companion physiological study of the calves suggest that the intensification of drives induced by chronic suppression of their release may be accompanied by physiological responses associated with chronic stress.  相似文献   

2.
Abstract

To examine if hard floor or relocation to a new room affects the pulsatile secretion of growth hormone (GH) and cortisol in calves, we housed individually 12 calves on concrete floors and 12 on rubber mats for 67–74 days. Half of the calves in each pen were relocated to an identical but strange room. Serial blood samples were taken 24 h prior to and 24 h following relocation at 20-min intervals and were assayed for GH and cortisol. Both of the hormones had a clear ultradian pulsatile variation. We detected (mean±/se) 4.6±/0.6 GH pulses/24 h. GH concentrations peaked four times during the day and pulses were higher in daytime. Cortisol peaked 5.8±0.6 times/24 h. Cortisol concentrations were highest at feeding. No overall effects of flooring or relocation were found but calves on concrete floors had greater cortisol concentrations than on rubber mats, especially during the night.  相似文献   

3.
The effects of weaning on beef calves of different ages were investigated. Forty male and 40 female calves were either weaned at 6 (W6, n = 40) or 8 (W8, n = 40) months of age. The vocalization activity and behaviors (feeding, lying and standing/walking) were observed during the first 3 days following weaning. Body weight was recorded at 6 and 8 months and 2 weeks following weaning. W6 animals vocalized more often than W8 calves and females more than males on day 1 (P < 0.05). The vocalization activity decreased at a higher rate in W8 than in W6 from days 1 to 3. On day 2, W6 calves spent less time lying and more standing/walking than W8 calves (P < 0.05). The behaviors did not differ between males and females. The average daily gain after weaning did not differ between weaning ages (P > 0.05), but W8 calves gained more from 6 to 8 months of age. In conclusion, weaning distress was more pronounced in W6 than in W8 calves. W8 calves also had a superior growth performance during 6 to 8 months of age. The effect of the calves' sex was less pronounced. Therefore, it is recommended to wean beef calves later than 6 months of age.  相似文献   

4.
We provided comfortable resting areas in pens and tools for self-grooming and suppressing aggressive behavior for environmental enrichment in Japanese black and Japanese Shorthorn calves. At the start of the experiment, the black calves ( n  = 10) were 164 days old and 138 kg in weight, and the Japanese Shorthorn calves ( n  = 10) were 176 days old and 164 kg in weight. Calves of each breed were divided into two groups (the enrichment group and the non-treatment group), and each group was housed in a 4 m × 7.2 m pen. The effect of enrichment on calf welfare was estimated on the basis of daily weight gain and behavior. The brush stimulated the grooming behavior in calves although the mean time of using the brush decreased during the experiment. The partition of the feed trough and the wooden wall in the pen decreased the agonistic behavior in Japanese Shorthorn calves ( P  < 0.01) and increased the affiliative behavior in Japanese black calves ( P  = 0.08). The cleanliness of the bedding increased sternum lying and lying with the head touching the flank or ground in Japanese black calves and decreased the standing resting behavior in both breeds ( P  < 0.05 in all the cases). However, the treatments did not have an effect on daily weight gain. We concluded that the treatments would improve the welfare of calves and function as environmental enrichments.  相似文献   

5.
The study focused on the rolling behaviour of sows and the crushing of piglets by sows' rolling behaviour. The experiment examined the influence of sloped floor in loose housed farrowing pens on the rolling behaviour of sows and crushing of piglets. The experimental unit was made up of 24 pens. There were two experimental pen designs with piglet creep in the corner of the pen and piglet creep across the end of the pen, respectively. Both of the experimental pen designs had a 10% sloped floor in the sow's resting area. The two control pen designs were identical to the experimental pen designs, but with a level floor. The behaviour of 85 sows and their litters was continuously video recorded. Behavioural observations were made from birth of the first piglet and until 3 days after birth of the first piglet. Rolling behaviour of sows caused significantly more trapped piglets under the sow than lying down from standing (P = 0.04). Rolling behaviour caused 64% of the trapped piglets and lying down from standing caused 36% of the trapped piglets. Rolling from udder to side without protection trapped significantly more piglets than rolling from udder to side near slanted wall or piglet protection rails and rolling from side to udder (P < 0.001). With a certain pen design sloped floor reduced rolling from udder to side without protection (P = 0.007) and reduced the number of trapped piglets (P = 0.01), but results concerning lying behaviour showed that sloped floor pushed sows to rest on the level part of the floor. The results indicate that rolling behaviour that crushes piglets can be reduced, and sows prefer to lie on a level floor.  相似文献   

6.
A cross-sectional study of 93 farms in England was carried out to estimate the prevalence and associated risk factors for bursitis. A total of 6250 pigs aged 6–22 weeks were examined for presence and severity of bursitis. Details of pen construction, pen quality and farm management were recorded including floor type, presence of bedding, condition of the floor and floor materials. The prevalence of bursitis was 41.2% and increased with each week of age (OR 1.1). Two-level logistic regression models were developed with the outcome as the proportion of pigs affected with bursitis in a pen. Pigs kept on soil floors with straw bedding were used as the reference level. In comparison with these soil floors, bursitis increased on concrete floors where the bedding was deep throughout (OR 4.6), deep in part (OR 3.7), and sparse throughout (OR 9.0), part slatted floors (OR 8.0), and fully slatted floors (OR 18.8). Slip or skid marks in the dunging area (OR 1.5), pigs observed slipping during the examination of the pen (OR 1.3) and wet floors (OR 3.6) were also associated with an increased risk of bursitis. The results indicate that bursitis is a common condition of growing pigs and that the associated risk factors for bursitis were a lack of bedding in the lying area, presence of voids and pen conditions which increased the likelihood of injury.  相似文献   

7.
Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of the presence of a trainer cow on behavior, performance, health, and feeding patterns of newly weaned beef calves. In Exp. 1,252 weaned calves (270+/-18 kg) were allocated to 22 pens (11 to 15 calves per pen). A trainer cow was randomly assigned to each of 11 pens. Calves were weighed prior to feeding on d 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28. Rectal temperatures were taken on each of these days (except d 28) and blood samples were collected on d 0, 3, and 7 and subsequently analyzed for serum haptoglobin and leukotoxin antibody titers. Instantaneous scan observations of calf behavior were made at 10-min intervals between 0730 and 1730 on d 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. A similar protocol was used in Exp. 2, in which 297 calves (258+/-17 kg) were allocated to 24 pens. Blood analyses included haptoglobin, white blood cell counts (WBC), and neutrophil:lymphocyte (NL) ratios. In Exp. 3, the above protocol was followed and patterns of feed bunk attendance of individual calves were also monitored using radio frequency identification by passive transponder ear tags. Trainer cows did not influence (P > .10) calf rectal temperatures, requirements for antibiotic therapy, WBC, NL ratios, or leukotoxin antibody titers. Pooled across treatments, NL ratios were lower (P < .01) on d 0 (.31) than on d 3 (.36) or d 7 (.39). Although differences in weight gain were detected in some periods within the three experiments, there were no differences (P > .10) overall (d 0 to 28). Trainer cows did not affect (P > .05) frequency or duration of bunk visits by the calves. Averaged across treatments, frequency and duration of bunk visits increased (P < .001) from 9.6 visits/d and 56.7 min/d between d 0 and 3 to 12.3 visits/d and 108.9 min/d between d 15 and 21. The number of calves observed eating during scan sampling observations also increased from 16.4% on d 1 to 25% on d 4 (P < .10) and 29% on d 5 and 6 (P < .05). More (P < .05) calves were observed lying on d 1 (41.7%) and d 2 (45.3%) than on d 4 (37.5%), d 5 (34.8%), or d 6 (36.2%). With a trainer cow present, fewer (36.7% vs 41.5%; P < .001) calves were observed lying and more (11.7% vs 10.2%; P = .08) were observed walking than when no cow was present. Trainer cows did not improve calf health, time spent at the feed bunk, or performance of newly weaned calves.  相似文献   

8.
The use of hoop barns as an alternative housing system for beef cattle has not been widely researched. The objectives of this study were to determine the main effects of behavior of steers 1) over winter and summer, 2) when housed in either a hoop barn or a conventional feedlot, and 3) interactions between season and housing system. A total of 960 crossbred Bos taurus steers were used [August 2006 to April 2008 (2 winter and 2 summer trials)]. Steers were housed in either 1 deep-bedded hoop barn (n = 12 pens; 4.65 m(2)/steer) or 1 open feedlot with shelter (n = 12 pens; 14.7 m(2)/steer). Steers were ear tagged, implanted, and weighed (414 ± 36 kg) on arrival and allotted to treatments that were balanced for source, BW, and hide color. Behavioral data (3 postures and 2 behaviors) were collected using a 10-min live scan. The experimental unit for behavior was a pen of steers. Behavioral data were arcsine transformed to achieve a normal distribution. There were no (P > 0.05) differences for time spent at bunk or waterer for steers between housing treatments. Steers housed in an open feedlot with shelter spent less time lying and more time standing and walking (P < 0.05) compared with steers housed in a hoop barn. There were no (P = 0.32) differences between seasons for standing. Steers spent more time at the bunk (P < 0.0001) and waterer (P < 0.0001) in the summer compared with the winter. In the winter, steers engaged in more lying (P = 0.0002) and walking (P < 0.0001). Overall, steers stood less (P = 0.006) and spent more time lying (P = 0.024) when housed in a hoop barn than in the open feedlot with shelter regardless of season. Steers housed in the open feedlot with shelter walked more (P < 0.0001) than steers housed in the hoop barn and walked more (P < 0.0001) in winter than in summer months (6 vs. 3%). There were no (P > 0.05) differences in time spent at bunk and waterer between housing systems within season, but time spent at the waterer and bunk decreased (P < 0.05) for both housing systems during the winter. In conclusion, housing 40 steers per pen in a cornstalk-bedded hoop barn at 4.65 m(2)/steer does not result in adverse behavioral alterations and can be considered as a housing alternative for finishing steers in the Midwestern United States when compared with steers fed in an open feedlot with shelter provided.  相似文献   

9.
The aim of this study was to analyze the lamb's choice of bedding material when 4 different types of bedding materials and cement floor (CT) area were available during the fattening period. A total of 16 lambs were selected and distributed in 2 groups of 8 lambs each and fattened for 18 days. The animals were housed randomly in 1 of 2 pens that were subdivided into 5 areas. Four of these areas had 1 of the 4 types of flooring: sawdust (SU), waste of paper (WP), straw (ST), and rice husk (RH), whereas the fifth had a CT, opposite the feeding and drinking troughs. A video-recording device was set up in a room close to the pens to record maintenance behavior. Two kinds of recording were carried out: scan sampling every 10 minutes (7 am-9 pm) throughout the entire experiment, and continuous behavior sampling recorded continuously for 12 h/d (8 am-8 pm) on days 1, 7, and 14 (a total of 36 h/pen). The behavior patterns recorded during the experiment included lying down, standing, walking, feeding, and drinking. The occupancy rates for the different bedding areas were significantly different (P ≤ 0.001), and the lambs demonstrated a clear preference for SU bed, with a 47% occupancy rate, followed by WP (17%), ST, and RH, with occupancy rates of nearly 6% and 7%, respectively. The occupancy rate in the area with no bedding material (CT) was 21%. Significant differences were also found in behavior patterns between the bedding zones. When the lambs on the SU bedding were observed, 80% of the time they were lying down and 20% of the time standing. When they occupied the WP area, they spent 63% of the time lying down and 37% standing; for the ST bedding, the rates were 23% lying down and 77% standing; and when the lambs were observed in the area with RH flooring, they spent 40% of the time lying down and 60% standing. The clear preference shown by the lambs for SU may be associated to the SU's physical and thermal properties compared with ST. If all factors are taken into account (cost, animal preferences, and technical performance), WP bedding becomes a interesting material as an alternative to the ST bedding traditionally used by sheep farmers.  相似文献   

10.
During a 12-month period lameness, claw lesions and claw infections were studied in 15 herds with loose housing of pregnant sows on partly slatted concrete floors. Of these herds, 12 herds had concrete slats and 3 herds had plastic slats. The mean prevalence proportion of lame sows in the herds was 13.1%. The risk of lameness increased with increasing claw lesion score and with the presence of claw infections. In the herds with concrete slats, the relative risk of lame sows was 2.4 times higher than in the herds with plastic slats. In the herds with poor floor hygiene, the relative risk of lameness was 2.8 times higher than in the herds with dry and clean floors. The mean prevalence proportion of sows with claw infections at the 3 separate examinations in the 15 herds was 3.8%. Claw infections were more prevalent in herds with dirty floors and in herds with little space per animal (<2m2). In the herds with concrete slats, the relative risk of claw infections was 2 times higher than in the herds with plastic slats.  相似文献   

11.
Seventy-two Friesian calves (BW = 102.0 +/- 1.8 kg) were bought from a commercial calf farm and distributed to a factorial arrangement of treatments in a complete block design with 3 treatments and 3 blocks of similar fasted BW to study the effect of increasing the number of feeding places per pen on performance, behavior, and welfare indicators during the 4 wk after arrival. Treatments consisted of 1 (T1), 2 (T2), or 4 (T4) concentrate feeding places/pen (8 calves/pen). Concentrate and straw were fed at 0830 in individual feeders, and animals were allowed to consume on an ad libitum basis. Dry matter intake and ADG were recorded weekly, and blood samples were taken on d 0 (before transport), 7, 14, 21, and 28. Time spent in maintenance activities, number of displacements between calves, and the angular dominance value (ADV) were registered at wk 1 and 3 after arrival. Increasing the number of feeding places per pen resulted in a quadratic response of concentrate and total DMI, ADG, and BW during the 28-d period, with T1 showing the lowest values. Straw intake and the within-pen SD of ADG tended to decrease linearly (P = 0.10) as the number of feeding places per pen increased. During the 4-wk receiving period, and particularly on d 7 after arrival, serum NEFA responded quadratically, with T1 and T2 calves showing the greatest values. With increasing number of concentrate feeders, the average time spent lying increased (P = 0.001), standing time decreased linearly (P = 0.001), and the diurnal feeding pattern changed (concentrate eating time increased but straw eating time decreased during peak feeding times, P < 0.05). The number of displacements from the concentrate feeders responded quadratically (P < 0.001) with increasing number of feeding places per pen, with T4 calves showing the lowest levels of aggression. In T1 calves, increasing ADV resulted in a linear decrease (P = 0.03) of ADG at wk 1 with a quadratic effect at wk 3 (P < 0.01). In T2 calves, increasing ADV resulted in a linear decrease (P = 0.04) of ADG at wk 1 but a linear increase (P = 0.02) at wk 3. No effect of social rank on ADG was observed in T4 calves (P > 0.20). Increasing social pressure at the concentrate feeders beyond the threshold of 4 heifers per feeder had a negative effect on performance. Within-pen variability in performance increased linearly as a consequence of greater effects of social dominance. Physiological indicators of welfare were not consistently affected by treatments.  相似文献   

12.
The time budgets and daily milk yield of Jersey and Friesland cows and their crosses were compared in a pasture-based system by recording the time spent grazing, drinking, lying, standing and walking in four seasons of the year (cool-dry, hot-dry, hot-wet and post-rainy). Observations were made from 0800 to 1400 hours on seven cows per breed. Seven observers monitored the cows at 10-min intervals for 6?h using stop watches. Time spent standing was higher (P??0.05) across the genotypes in the hot-wet season. In the cool-dry season, differences in time spent grazing (P??0.05) in the same season. The Jersey cows spent the longest time walking (P?相似文献   

13.
Three types of raised perforated floor were compared with floor-level concrete which had perforated flooring at the rear. Piglets on raised perforated floors grew faster (P less than 0.05) to 21 days than pigs on mainly solid floors (205 g/day and 198 g/day, respectively). The mortality in the first 21 days of all pigs born did not differ between raised (18.4 per cent) and mainly solid floors (18.7 per cent) and there were no effects of individual floor types on overall survival or on deaths due to crushing. The incidence of diarrhoea was not significantly less on raised than on solid floors (27 per cent and 34 per cent of litters, respectively) but antibiotic treatment time was shortened (0.9 days and 1.2 days, P less than 0.05). The incidence of splayleg was highest on fibreglass slats. Concrete floors caused most knee abrasions but the incidence of arthritis was unaffected. Approximately twice as many sows on mainly solid floors went off their feed or had a high rectal temperature compared with sows on raised perforated floors. No differences were observed between narrow or A-frame farrowing crates.  相似文献   

14.
Holstein bull calves were blocked by birth order and randomly assigned to one of three treatments in trial I: stall (N = 7), pen (N = 7) and hutch (N = 7), and to one of four treatments in trial II: stall (N = 6), pen (N = 5), hutch (N = 6) and yard (N = 8). Stalls were elevated, .56 X 1.2 m, with wooden slatted floors. Stalled calves were tethered from the front with a collar and .5-m chain. Pens were elevated, 1.2 X 1.5 m, with wooden slatted floors and were located in the same open-front building as the stalls. Hutches were 1.2 X 1.2 X 2.4 m long and open on one end. Hutch calves were restrained with a dog collar and 2.4-m chain. Yard calves were housed as a group in a 3.6 X 7.9 m, outdoor enclosure, of which one-half was a covered, three-sided structure. Calves were placed on treatment between 12 to 24 h of age, bottle-fed 1.9 liters colostrum twice daily for 2 d and then bucket-fed 1.9 liters milk replacer twice daily, with continuous access to hay and grain. Jugular blood samples taken at 6 wk were analyzed for blood cell counts, blood chemistry profile (13 items), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), basal cortisol and adrenal response (cortisol) to exogenous adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH). Average daily gain from 0 to 42 d was highly variable and was not significantly different for different treatments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)  相似文献   

15.
1. Choice of three different nest types by hens of broiler breeder lines was investigated: metal nests (26 x 29 x 33-45 cm, w x d x h) with inclined rubber mats, metal nests of the same size with litter, and larger wooden nests (30 x 40 x 38) with litter. Three lines were studied: line B (324 females + 36 males), line P (315 + 36), and line WM (306 + 32). Each line was housed in a pen 23.3 x 3.9 m (90.7 m2); half the area was concrete floor with litter, and the other half raised plastic slats, on which stood 84 nests, 28 of each type, in two-tier blocks. 2. Ninety-five per cent of eggs were laid in nests, with significant variation between types: 63% metal littered, 30% wooden littered, and 2.3% metal with inclined rubber mats. Choice between types was similar in the three lines. Hens of line B laid 66% of nest eggs in lower nests, P laid 57% and WM laid 64%. 3. The other 5.1% of eggs were laid on the floor: 1.2% on the litter and 3.9% on the slats in front of the nests. It is suggested that some subordinate hens were excluded from nests, and therefore laid on the floor.  相似文献   

16.
Housing and feeding are integral to calf rearing, and must meet calf needs while remaining functional for the farmer. This study compared health, behavior, growth, and labor requirements of calves housed in groups indoors and fed via an automatic or manual milk feeding system compared to calves manually fed in individual or group hutches outdoors. Seventy-six (49 Holstein Friesian [HF] and 27 HF × Jersey) dairy heifer calves were balanced for birth weight (35.2 ± 4.95 kg), birth date (1 February ± 7.2 d) and breed. The experiment was a randomized block design with four treatments; 1) indoor group housing with automated feeding (IN_AUTO; 12 calves per pen), 2) indoor group housing with manual feeding (IN_MAN; 12 calves per pen), 3) outdoor group hutch with manual feeding (OUT_G_MAN; 8 calves per pen), and 4) outdoor individual hutch with manual feeding (OUT_I_MAN; 6 calves: 1 per pen). Calves in OUT_treatments moved outdoors at 18 d (± 5.9 d). Each treatment was replicated once. Milk allowance increased gradually from 6 to 8 L/day (15% reconstitution rate) with ad libitum fresh water, concentrates, and hay offered from 3 d old. Gradual weaning occurred at 8 wk old. Measurements were divided into period 1; before movement outdoors, and period 2; after movement outdoors. Health was similar among treatments, regardless of period, with the most frequent score being zero (i.e., healthy). Summarized, standing and lying were observed 24.3% and 29.8%, respectively, in OUT_I_MAN calves, compared to 8.0% and 49.1%, for the other systems, which were similar. No difference in bodyweight (BW) existed between treatments, except at weaning where BW was lower for OUT_I_MAN (67.4 ± 2.84 kg) compared to IN_MAN (74.2 ± 2.01 kg), and day 102 where OUT_I_MAN (94.1 ± 2.85 kg) were lighter than IN_AUTO (101.1 ± 2.10 kg) (P = 0.047). Total labor input was greatest for OUT_I_MAN (00:02:02 per calf per day; hh:mm:ss) and least for IN_AUTO (00:00:21 per calf per day) (P < 0.001). The labor for feeding (00:00:29 per calf per day), feeding inspection (00:00:10 per calf per day), and cleaning equipment (00:00:30 per calf per day) was greatest for OUT_I_MAN. All calves showed good health and growth patterns. Differences in behavior expressed by calves in the OUT_I_MAN, compared to other treatments may indicate compromised welfare. Thus, although outdoor group hutches do not negatively impact calves, indoor housing, particularly using automated feeders, can improve labor efficiency.  相似文献   

17.
Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of individual versus combined housing systems on behavioural and growth responses of dairy calves in order to test the hypothesis that when calves were kept in early age individually and later in groups, they would increase growth performance and social behaviours. Twenty-four Holstein Friesian calves were allocated to two different housing systems. After three days of colostrum feeding, individually housed (IH) calves were kept in pens (1 m×1.5 m) for 60 days while combined housed (CH) calves were kept in group pens (3 m×3 m) for 30 days after individual housing during the period of 4–33 days. Each calf was monitored twice a week for a period of 1 h starting at 08.00, 10.00, 12.00, 18.00, 20.00 and 22.00 h at 10-min intervals. Behavioural activities were playing, walking, licking objects, idle standing, lying, restlessness, grooming and tongue playing. Calves’ live weights, body measurements and feed intakes were determined on a weekly basis. The results were: 1) combined housing calves increased their calf starter intake (37.35±1.24 kg vs. 23.39±0.86 kg; p<0.001), alfalfa hay intake (8.76±0.35 kg vs. 7.14±0.43 kg; p<0.05) and total feed intake (46.11±1.04 kg vs. 30.53±0.86 kg; p<0.001) compared to individual housed calves; 2) combined housing increased the proportional events of playing (12.80 vs. 2.86%), walking (19.14 vs. 3.81%) and grooming (8.06 vs. 4.60%), but decreased licking objects (1.03 vs. 2.94%), idle standing (20.73 vs. 36.29%), lying (30.19 vs. 39.53%) and restlessness (1.69 vs. 3.47%) compared to individual housing systems (p<0.001) without affecting tongue rolling (6.36 vs. 6.50%); 3) combined housing system increased body weight gain by about 2.36 kg and body length by about 1.48 cm per calf compared to those kept in individual pens (p<0.05). In conclusion, combined housing system provided calves more opportunity to show their walking, playing and grooming activities, reflecting increases in feed intake, body weight gain and length compared to individual housing system.  相似文献   

18.
Abstract

This study was carried out in two commercial Norwegian dairy herds where the replacement heifers were kept in groups of 10 in pens with 6 conventional free-stalls and 5 combined stalls at the feed bunk. The stall cleanliness was better in the free-stalls than in the combined stalls (P?<?.01). Time spent lying was not affected by number of animals in the group (P?=?.20), but feeding synchrony (P?=?.05) and lying synchrony (<.001) were higher when there were six animals in the group. The heifers showed a clear preference for lying in the standard free-stalls and this was not affected by number of animals in the pen (P?=?.83). The results of this initial study indicate that a pen system with combined lying/feeding stalls and free-stalls offers a satisfactory lying comfort, apparently minimal competition over lying space and acceptable animal cleanliness.  相似文献   

19.
Average daily core body temperature and behavioural patterns of pregnant mares were studied, in search of definitive signs of parturition within 24 h of the event. Nineteen pony mares were sampled twice daily for core body temperature. A significant temperature drop, averaging 0.1 degrees C (0.2 degrees F) was observed during the day prior to parturition. Between 18.00 h and 06.00 h, during the two weeks before parturition, Thoroughbred and Standardbred mares (n = 52) spent an average 66.8 per cent of their time standing, 27.0 per cent eating, 4.9 per cent lying in sternal recumbency, 1.0 per cent lying in lateral recumbency, and 0.3 per cent walking. On the night before parturition, mares spent significantly less time lying in sternal recumbency than on previous nights and on the night of parturition all behaviour patterns except eating were significantly different from the nights of the two weeks before parturition. There was an increase in walking (5.3 per cent), lying in sternal recumbency (8 per cent) and lying in lateral recumbency (5.3 per cent) whereas standing (53.3 per cent) was decreased. In 58 observed pregnancies, 54 mares (97 per cent) foaled in a recumbent position and 50 mares (86 per cent) foaled between 18.00 h and 06.00 h.  相似文献   

20.
A longitudinal observational study in 180 pig breeding herds was performed to calculate prevalences of herd specific factors as well as typical limb disorders and to estimate their associations in a 2-step regression analysis. Regarding herd size, genetics, feeding and weight gain herds were distributed almost equal. The population density and the hygiene status were considered proper in most herds. In the farrowing units partially slatted floors of metal or plastic with slats > 9 mm, in the weaning units fully slatted floors of plastic, and in the rearing units fully slatted floors of concrete were most common. Less than 6% of the farms housed their pigs on solid concrete with straw bedding. Herd prevalences of fault floors varied between 18 and 43%. As a herd health problem (morbidity > 25%) claw hematomas and limb abrasions in just 1-week old piglets, overgrown claws and bursa swellings in weaned pigs, and bursa swellings in rearing pigs were wide spread. Leg deformations by osteopathy or arthritis occurred only sporadically. In the risk analysis claw hematomas of piglets were associated with slatted floors, particulary with slats < 10 mm. Abrasions were associated with concrete and rough floor surfaces at all. Overgrown claws and bursa swellings in weaned and in rearing pigs were associated with damaged, slippery or rough floor surfaces. Other associations were not detected. The quality of floor might be more important than the type of housing.  相似文献   

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