Twelth deliverable out now

The twelth deliverable of the project is the second (and last) one of work package 9, 'Health of dairy cows milked by an automatic milking system'. Its title is 'Welfare status of dairy cows in barns with automatic milking - Relations between the environment and cow behaviour, physiologic, metabolic and performance parameters'.

This deliverable highlights factors affecting the ability of the cows in AMS to maintain normal feeding, resting and social behaviour, diurnal rhythm and good health, all important cow-related welfare factors to be considered in management systems for dairy cows. It reports the results of studies on behaviour, health, metabolic profile and performance in different cow traffic systems, behaviour, health and anti-stress profile in dairy cows, cow activity and continuity in daily rhythm, light/dark preference when resting during nights and the use of welfare assessment protocol (D23) on the research herd. In general it is concluded that the welfare of dairy cows in automatic milking systems depends on several factors, related to the barn design and cow traffic systems, the cows and social interaction among the cows in the herd, feeding and nutritional sypply and general management (including the herdsman).

Message date: April 7, 2003