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Danielsson, Tina, 2012. The effect of social rank on milking and feeding behaviour in automatic milking system for dairy cows. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: SLU, Dept. of Animal Nutrition and Management (until 231231)

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Abstract

Today automatic milking systems (AMS) are growing in popularity. In these systems the cows are loose and have to get to the robot and the feed on their own. The cows ranking in this system affect their welfare. In this study data from seven years in an AMS was used and analysed. The aim was to investigate how ranking could affect the behaviour of the cows at milking and at feeding. It was seen that high ranking cows had significant difference in the shape of their lactation curve compared to the low ranked cows. And it was also seen that the high ranked cows were milking more. This might be explained by the high ranking cows eating more often, but they were not eating more in total. Further the difference in lactation curve could be explained by a shorter milking interval for the high ranking cows. These factors do not only affect the production but also the welfare of the low ranking cows due to long milking interval etc. Finding these low ranking cows is essential for being able to improve their welfare. In this study it was found that a low ranked cow might not stay low ranked the entire time in the stable, 62% of all cows had a rise in DV during lactation.

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Idag växer de automatiska mjölkningssystemen (AMS) i popularitet. I dessa system går korna lösa och måste själva ta sig till roboten för att mjölkas och till fodret. Kornas rang påverkar därmed deras välfärd. I denna studie har data från sju år i en AMS besättning analyserats. Målet var att undersöka hur kornas rang kan påverka beteendet vid mjölkning och foderintag. Hög rang sågs ge signifikant skillnad i mjölkningskurvans utseende om man jämför mot lågrankade kors kurvor. Det kunde också ses att de högrankade korna mjölkade mer. Detta kan eventuellt förklaras av att de högrankade korna åt oftare, men de åt inte mer totalt sett. Skillnaden i laktationskurvornas utseende kan också förklaras av ett kortare mjölkningsintervall hos de högrankade korna. Dessa faktorer påverkar inte bara djurens produktion men även välfärden hos de lågrankade korna pga. längre tid mellan mjölkningar etc. Att kunna hitta de lågrankade korna är av stor vikt för att kunna förbättra deras välfärd. I denna studie sågs att lågrankade kor kanske inte behåller sin rang hela stallperioden, 62 % av alla kor ökade sitt dominansvärde under laktationen.

Main title:The effect of social rank on milking and feeding behaviour in automatic milking system for dairy cows
Authors:Danielsson, Tina
Supervisor:Pettersson, Gunnar
Examiner:Bertilsson, Jan
Series:Examensarbete / Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Institutionen för husdjurens utfodring och vård
Volume/Sequential designation:370
Year of Publication:2012
Level and depth descriptor:Second cycle, A2E
Student's programme affiliation:1010A Agriculture Programme (admitted before July 1, 2007) 270 HEC
Supervising department:(VH) > Dept. of Animal Nutrition and Management (until 231231)
Keywords:Automatic milking system, Welfare, Dominance, Ranking, Behaviour
URN:NBN:urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-1648
Permanent URL:
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-1648
Subject. Use of subject categories until 2023-04-30.:Animal husbandry
Language:English
Deposited On:17 Sep 2012 09:49
Metadata Last Modified:17 Sep 2012 09:49

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