<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The objective of this study was to examine associations between milking temperament, parity and milk production traits in primiparous and multiparous dairy cows. Twenty-one primiparous and nineteen multiparous Holstein Friesian cows were involved in the investigation on a Hungarian dairy farm. Cows’ stepping behaviour, milk yield and average milking speed were recorded once a month over an entire lactation, during morning milking. Milking temperament was scored by direct human observation on a 5-point-scale (1=very nervous, 5=very quiet) during udder preparation and milking. Multiparous cows showed a little more excitable behaviour at milking than during udder preparation (Mann-Whitney U=14165.00, P=0.032), and they were calmer at premilking preparation than primiparous cows (Mann-Whitney U=14046.00, P=0.001). Milking temperament of multiparous cows during udder preparation was associated with milking speed: nervous cows let down their milk slower (F=9.102, df= 1, P=0.003). Further experiments are needed to repeat the milking temperament test along with sensors measuring heart rate variability of cows in order to better understand the milking behaviour of cows.</p></abstract>

The objective of this study was to examine associations between milking temperament, parity and milk production traits in primiparous and multiparous dairy cows. Twenty-one primiparous and nineteen multiparous Holstein Friesian cows were involved in the investigation on a Hungarian dairy farm. Cows’ stepping behaviour, milk yield and average milking speed were recorded once a month over an entire lactation, during morning milking. Milking temperament was scored by direct human observation on a 5-point-scale (1=very nervous, 5=very quiet) during udder preparation and milking. Multiparous cows showed a little more excitable behaviour at milking than during udder preparation (Mann-Whitney U=14165.00, P=0.032), and they were calmer at premilking preparation than primiparous cows (Mann-Whitney U=14046.00, P=0.001). Milking temperament of multiparous cows during udder preparation was associated with milking speed: nervous cows let down their milk slower (F=9.102, df= 1, P=0.003). Further experiments are needed to repeat the milking temperament test along with sensors measuring heart rate variability of cows in order to better understand the milking behaviour of cows.

Behavioural Responses of Primiparous and Multiparous Dairy Cows to The Milking Process over an Entire Lactation

Institute of Animal Husbandry, Szent István University, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary

Department of Biomathematics and Informatics, Szent István University, H-1078 Budapest, Hungary

H+N Ltd. Péteri Farm, H-1181 Budapest, Hungary

Annals of Animal Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The objective of this study was to examine associations between milking temperament, parity and milk production traits in primiparous and multiparous dairy...

Behavioural Responses of Primiparous and Multiparous Dairy Cows to The Milking Process over an Entire Lactation

Published Online: Mar 03, 2015

Page range: 185 - 195

Received: Jan 28, 2014

Accepted: Jul 18, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2014-0064

© by Andrea Szentléleki

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.