Interplay between productive traits, the social rank and the cow's stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour

Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez; Javiera Bastías-Ruz; Paula Toro-Mujica; Dayane Lemos Teixeira; Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo

doi:10.1017/S002185962000088X

Interplay between productive traits, the social rank and the cow's stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour

Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez^*
, Javiera Bastías-Ruz
, Paula Toro-Mujica
, Dayane Lemos Teixeira
, Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Bristol Veterinary School

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

110 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether social rank (SR) and stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour are associated with production traits. The study was conducted on a dairy farm where cows (n = 215) were managed in three groups according to lactation stage (group 1: 78 cows, 0-100 days in milk (DIM); group 2: 65 cows, 101-200 DIM and group 3: 72 cows, 200 DIM). SR was calculated from observations made from agonistic behaviour performed at the water troughs and feed bunks of each pen (n = 3). The animals were classified into three levels of dominance based on at least five clear interactions, resulting in: 61 dominant, 75 intermediate and 69 subordinate cows based on SR. Stability in the order of entry was estimated as the standard deviation of the entry position. SR was weakly correlated with milk yield, urea and protein content in milk. The results showed that stable cows had higher milk production and entered the milking parlour after the non-stable animals. Stability in the order of entry to the milking parlour was not affected by SR. Overall, the use of milking facilities appears to be associated with production traits rather than SR.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	518-526
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge
Volume	158
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S002185962000088X
Publication status	Published - 4 Nov 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to thank Fundación Agro UC for the animal facilities and assistance in obtaining the research data. Video recording equipment was kindly provided by Rafael Larraín and Jorge Oses. Special thanks should be given to Dr Hanne Helen Hansen from the University of Copenhagen for proofreading our manuscript. Paula Toro-Mujica would like to thank the REDI170084 project supported by the Comisión Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONICYT) of Chile for financing a scholar visit to the University of Copenhagen.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

Keywords

Animal welfare
dairy
milking order
social hierarchy

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10.1017/S002185962000088X

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@article{39b6d362ebcf4f50b8718923eb14bb68,

title = "Interplay between productive traits, the social rank and the cow's stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour",

abstract = "The aim of this study was to investigate whether social rank (SR) and stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour are associated with production traits. The study was conducted on a dairy farm where cows (n = 215) were managed in three groups according to lactation stage (group 1: 78 cows, 0-100 days in milk (DIM); group 2: 65 cows, 101-200 DIM and group 3: 72 cows, 200 DIM). SR was calculated from observations made from agonistic behaviour performed at the water troughs and feed bunks of each pen (n = 3). The animals were classified into three levels of dominance based on at least five clear interactions, resulting in: 61 dominant, 75 intermediate and 69 subordinate cows based on SR. Stability in the order of entry was estimated as the standard deviation of the entry position. SR was weakly correlated with milk yield, urea and protein content in milk. The results showed that stable cows had higher milk production and entered the milking parlour after the non-stable animals. Stability in the order of entry to the milking parlour was not affected by SR. Overall, the use of milking facilities appears to be associated with production traits rather than SR.",

keywords = "Animal welfare, dairy, milking order, social hierarchy",

author = "Einar Vargas-Bello-P{\'e}rez and Javiera Bast{\'i}as-Ruz and Paula Toro-Mujica and Teixeira, \{Dayane Lemos\} and Daniel Enriquez-Hidalgo",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank Fundaci{\'o}n Agro UC for the animal facilities and assistance in obtaining the research data. Video recording equipment was kindly provided by Rafael Larra{\'i}n and Jorge Oses. Special thanks should be given to Dr Hanne Helen Hansen from the University of Copenhagen for proofreading our manuscript. Paula Toro-Mujica would like to thank the REDI170084 project supported by the Comisi{\'o}n Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnolog{\'i}a (CONICYT) of Chile for financing a scholar visit to the University of Copenhagen. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2020.",

year = "2020",

month = nov,

day = "4",

doi = "10.1017/S002185962000088X",

language = "English",

volume = "158",

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journal = "Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge",

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Interplay between productive traits, the social rank and the cow's stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour. / Vargas-Bello-Pérez, Einar; Bastías-Ruz, Javiera; Toro-Mujica, Paula et al.
In: Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge, Vol. 158, No. 6, 04.11.2020, p. 518-526.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Interplay between productive traits, the social rank and the cow's stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour

AU - Vargas-Bello-Pérez, Einar

AU - Bastías-Ruz, Javiera

AU - Toro-Mujica, Paula

AU - Teixeira, Dayane Lemos

AU - Enriquez-Hidalgo, Daniel

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank Fundación Agro UC for the animal facilities and assistance in obtaining the research data. Video recording equipment was kindly provided by Rafael Larraín and Jorge Oses. Special thanks should be given to Dr Hanne Helen Hansen from the University of Copenhagen for proofreading our manuscript. Paula Toro-Mujica would like to thank the REDI170084 project supported by the Comisión Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONICYT) of Chile for financing a scholar visit to the University of Copenhagen. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020.

PY - 2020/11/4

Y1 - 2020/11/4

N2 - The aim of this study was to investigate whether social rank (SR) and stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour are associated with production traits. The study was conducted on a dairy farm where cows (n = 215) were managed in three groups according to lactation stage (group 1: 78 cows, 0-100 days in milk (DIM); group 2: 65 cows, 101-200 DIM and group 3: 72 cows, 200 DIM). SR was calculated from observations made from agonistic behaviour performed at the water troughs and feed bunks of each pen (n = 3). The animals were classified into three levels of dominance based on at least five clear interactions, resulting in: 61 dominant, 75 intermediate and 69 subordinate cows based on SR. Stability in the order of entry was estimated as the standard deviation of the entry position. SR was weakly correlated with milk yield, urea and protein content in milk. The results showed that stable cows had higher milk production and entered the milking parlour after the non-stable animals. Stability in the order of entry to the milking parlour was not affected by SR. Overall, the use of milking facilities appears to be associated with production traits rather than SR.

AB - The aim of this study was to investigate whether social rank (SR) and stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour are associated with production traits. The study was conducted on a dairy farm where cows (n = 215) were managed in three groups according to lactation stage (group 1: 78 cows, 0-100 days in milk (DIM); group 2: 65 cows, 101-200 DIM and group 3: 72 cows, 200 DIM). SR was calculated from observations made from agonistic behaviour performed at the water troughs and feed bunks of each pen (n = 3). The animals were classified into three levels of dominance based on at least five clear interactions, resulting in: 61 dominant, 75 intermediate and 69 subordinate cows based on SR. Stability in the order of entry was estimated as the standard deviation of the entry position. SR was weakly correlated with milk yield, urea and protein content in milk. The results showed that stable cows had higher milk production and entered the milking parlour after the non-stable animals. Stability in the order of entry to the milking parlour was not affected by SR. Overall, the use of milking facilities appears to be associated with production traits rather than SR.

KW - Animal welfare

KW - dairy

KW - milking order

KW - social hierarchy

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85095841342

U2 - 10.1017/S002185962000088X

DO - 10.1017/S002185962000088X

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

AN - SCOPUS:85095841342

SN - 0021-8596

VL - 158

SP - 518

EP - 526

JO - Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge

JF - Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge

IS - 6

ER -

Interplay between productive traits, the social rank and the cow's stability in the order of entrance to the milking parlour

Abstract

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Keywords

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