Indicators of comfort in housed dairy cows in the region of tuxpan, veracruz and the highlands

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the comfort of housed dairy cows in the region of Tuxpan, Veracruz and the highlands during June 2013 using different indicators (standing = PA; Eating = C; lying down =E, at milking = OR) . We used two farms, one in the highlands with 3 different types of barns: 1) modern (NM), 2) modern with nebulizers (NMN) and 3) old (NV) and the other in the region of Tuxpan, Veracruz with 2 different types of barns 1) with best shade (MS) and 2) decreased shade (SD). Cows were observed (3 cows per barn) for 2 periods of 24 hours. ANOVA was used to analyze the data. There was no difference (P=.10) between the farms but there was a barn effect (P = .05) in the comfort indicators. The cows spent more time lying down (11.5±0.8 hours), eating (5.7±0.53 hours) and at milking (3.2±0.3 hours) in the barn NMN than in the barns NV (8.8±0.7, 5.1±.4, 1.5±0.2 hours, respectively), NM (10.0±0.8, 4.7± 0.5, 3.0±0.3 hours, respectively), MS (9.6±0.3, 5.1±0.2, 2.7±0.1 hours, respectively) and SD (8.0±0.8, 4.9±0.5, and 2.8±0.3 hours, respectively). The cows in the NV barn spent more time standing than in the other pens. In conclusion, barn conditions can influence the time cows spend resting, eating and standing and therefore cow´s comfort.