Attention to Standing for Herd Home Cows

A nitrogen-cutting research programme that found dairy cows were less likely to lie down on the job should prompt farmers to think about animal welfare, says a vet.

Dexcel researcher Dr Gwyneth Verkerk told farmers at an open day at the organisation's Scott Farm on Thursday that cows using a herd home as part of research into reducing nitrogen were less likely to lie down and slightly more likely to show signs of lameness.

"I have some concerns around the system that we are using and we have to look at what we can do to alleviate some of the pressures on the animals. We're trying to do good things for the environment but to what extent do the animals have to pay for the cost of nitrogen leaching?"

Dexcel runs a "Tight N" herd of 21 dairy cows used for researching nitrogen reducing strategies at its Newstead farm.

The programme, run on 7ha, aims to produce 1200kg/milksolids per cow with only half the nitrogen leaching of a typical Waikato dairy farm.

The cows were housed in a herd home over winter - a roofed structure with a slatted concrete floor to catch and store effluent to reduce nitrogen leaching.

Attaching pedometers to cows over two weeks, researchers found the cows in the herd home spent 29 per cent of their time lying, compared with 34 per cent for cows not in the home.

Cows will lie for up to 12 hours a day and can become stressed if unable to lie for more than six hours a day.

Dr Verkerk said that while the overall difference was not great, individual cows in the housed herd had spent significantly less time lying down and 10 of the cows showed some sign of lameness.

Cows that were lying down preferred the solid concrete strips around the edge of the herd home, leaving less dominant animals on the slatted section in the centre.

Body condition at calving was also lower at 4.6 in the Tight N herd compared with 5 in the control herd - something that could not be linked to feed consumption. The phenomenon was also seen in other stand-off situations, not just with the herd home.

Ms Verkerk said animal welfare issues were becoming more important for consumers, with the EU moving toward animal welfare labelling on food products by 2010.

"It's quite likely that we will find ourselves heading down this track."

Herd Homes managing director Tom Pow said that while the trial was good for testing nitrogen leaching, it did not make best use of a herd home. Ideally cows should have free access in and out, and the structure would be larger, offering more shelter and warmth, encouraging cows to lie.

Mr Pow said herd homes were relatively new, with about 20 in the Waikato, and cows and staff would take a while to adjust to them.