The effects of stand-off pad surface materials on the welfare and behaviour of dairy cows over the winter dry period in Canterbury, New Zealand

Abstract

Moving dairy cows off pasture to a stand-off area is a common practice used to mitigate nitrate leaching, particularly during winter. From an economic point of view, choice of surface material has large implications for farmers. However, limited data is available on how stand-off pad surface material may affect cow welfare, and compliance with welfare regulations is a priority when choosing a stand-off pad surface material to use. An experiment was conducted over 10 days during winter in Canterbury, New Zealand to investigate the effect of different stand-off pad surface materials on dairy cow feed intake, lying behaviour, cleanliness, lameness and social interaction. In the experiment, 210 Friesian × Jersey, pregnant non-lactating dairy cows were blocked and assigned to three feeding and stand-off treatments: grazed fodder beet in situ for 7 hours (8 am to 3 pm) then moved to a stand-off pad with a surface of woodchip (WC), stones 40-60mm (S50) or stones 60-80mm (S70) for 17 hours (3 pm to 8 am). Surface type had no effect on average lying time (9.9 hours ± 1.10), with 85% of cows lying for >8 hours, lameness score (0.043 ± 0.0901) and cleanliness score (0.97 ± 0.0901). There was no difference in the number of interactions per cow over the three treatments however there was a location difference in Dominance Value (DV) which is an indicator of hierarchy determined by aggressive behaviour. Average DV was higher (P=0.05) when cows were on the stand-off pad compared to when they were grazing on the paddock. While current results showed no effect for surface type on cow welfare, all surfaces met minimum welfare requirements. A longer study, covering the whole winter season, is required to confirm these results.