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- Title
Behavioral time budget of dry cows: Photoperiod alters distribution of maintenance behaviors.
- Authors
Karvetski, K. E.; Velasco, J. M.; Reid, E. D.; Salak-Johnson, J. L.; Dahl, G. E.
- Abstract
In this study, we characterized the effect of photoperiod manipulation on the daily duration and distribution of maintenance and other behaviors during the dry period. Cows (n=22) were assigned to either short day photoperiod (SDPP, 8L:16D) or long day photoperiod (LDPP, 16L:8D) at dry-off, -42d prior to expected calving date. Cows were recorded for 24h at -41d and again at -20d using digital video recording. Using instantaneous scan sampling, individual behavior was classified at 10min intervals as drinking, feeding, lying, perching, standing, or walking. To obtain total daily time (h/d) spent engaged in a behavior, the total frequency of each behavior was calculated as a percentage of total observations and then multiplied by 24. To calculate average duration (in min) per hour of the day of each behavior, the frequency was summed hourly and multiplied by 10. During the dry period, cows spent an average of 14.1h lying, 5.3h standing, 2.2h feeding, 0.6h drinking, and 0.4h walking; there was no effect of photoperiod on total daily time for any behavior. However, LDPP increased total time spent perching from 1.6h at -41d to 2.3h at -20d (p=0.1), whereas SDPP decreased total time spent perching from 3.1h at -41d to 2.3h at -20d (p=0.14). There was a treatment by time of day interaction for feeding behavior (p<0.0001). Access to fresh feed at 1400h resulted in a peak in feeding times for both SDPP and LDPP cows (31.1 and 23.6min, respectively). SDPP cows had a smaller decline in feeding time afterwards; at 1600h, the SDPP feeding time of 12.1min was higher in SDPP cows than 3.6min for LDPP cows (p<0.05). For 2100 through 2300h, LDPP increased feeding behavior again, as the mean hourly feeding time of 11.8min for LDPP cows was higher than 3.1min for SDPP cows (p<0.05). In summary, photoperiod did not affect total duration of maintenance behaviors. However, the distribution of feeding behavior was affected by photoperiod. These results suggest that an understanding of maintenance behaviors requires consideration in order to improve dry cow management schemes.
- Subjects
TIME management; DAIRY cattle; COWS; DIGITAL video recording; MILK
- Publication
Journal of Animal Science, 2006, Vol 84, p410
- ISSN
0021-8812
- Publication type
Article