Impact of Neck Chain Length on the Behavior of Dairy Cows in Tie-Stalls

Authors

  • J. Higginson Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
  • S. T. Millman Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
  • G. Ogilvie Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
  • D. F. Kelton Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20074599

Keywords:

tie-stall barns, lameness, injury, cow cleanliness, neck chain length, behavioral preference

Abstract

The majority of dairy cows in Ontario are housed in tie-stall barns, with tremendous variability in stall characteristics and dimensions among farms. An observational study conducted by our research group on 317 farms in 2003 identified several key stall characteristics as being associated with lameness, injury and cow cleanliness. Specifically, increased length of tie chain was associated with increased cow cleanliness and a decrease in hock lesions. To further investigate the importance of neck chain length, a pilot study was conducted to examine the behaviour of dairy cows in stalls with two different chain lengths and to determine if cows would exhibit a behavioral preference for increased chain length.

Cover image of the 40th Conference Proceedings: A single longhorn standing next to a barbed-wire fence on a cloudy day. Yellow background.

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Published

2007-09-20

Issue

2007

Section

Research Summaries 2

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