Study On The Effect Of Bed Comfort On The Performance And Health Status Of Dairy Cows

Cow comfort is a direct manifestation of animal welfare in the field of dairy farming,in recent years,with the progress of social civilization,the concept of animal welfare has become more popular,and cow comfort has also become a research hotspot.Bed comfort is an indispensable part of cow comfort management.As the most frequent and intimate component of cows in the environment of cowsheds,bed rest has a self-evident effect on the performance of cows.Based on animal welfare requirements,pastures should provide cows with reasonable and comfortable beds.Factors such as the type and size of the bedding on the bed have a great influence on the lying behavior of the lactating cow.A comfortable bed can stimulate the production potential of the cow and have benefits for the performance and health of the cow.For cows,a comfortable bed should have the following conditions: sufficient length and width,soft and comfortable dry bedding,enough forward space,and no obstacles when the cows get up.Producers should firmly establish the "breed-based" breeding concept,and pay attention to and improve the comfort of the dairy cow’s living environment to achieve the purpose of improving quality and efficiency,so that the dairy industry can continue to develop in a sustainable,healthy and stable manner.Objective: To study the impact of different bed comfort levels on milking performance,reproductive performance and health status of dairy cows,to reveal the importance of comfort management on dairy farm production,to provide a basis for improving dairy cow welfare and improving dairy cow production performance,and to provide follow-up research lays the foundation.Method: In this experiment,a large-scale dairy farm around Shihezi city was selected as the experimental pasture.150 adult Chinese Holstein cows with similar lactating days and good health were selected and divided into three groups of 50 cows in each group.In three cow houses with different bed comfort levels B and C,the beds in the three cow houses were treated differently.A cow house without a bed was used as a control group,and a cow bed B and C were used as a test group.The test period was 1 year.(1)Three methods of visual observation,tool measurement,and personal experience are used to evaluate the comfort level of three cowshed beds,and they are divided into three levels of 1,2,and 3 according to the comfort level from low to high.(2)Record and collate the milking performance(daily milk production,milk fat rate,milk protein rate,total solids,somatic cell count(SCC))data of cows under different bed comfort conditions,using statistical analysis software Analyze the effect of bed comfort on milk performance of dairy cows.(3)Record and collate data on the reproductive performance of cows under different bed comfort conditions(total conception rate,calving interval,breeding index,first postpartum days),and use statistical analysis software to analyze the impact of bed comfort on cow reproductive performance.(4)Count the bacteria of the three levels of bed litter,count the incidence of mastitis,limb foot disease,and endometritis of cows under different bed comfort levels,and analyze the bed comfort level for the above three cow diseases The impact of morbidity.result:(1)The basic situation of the bed: A cowshed has no bed;B cowshed is a sand bed,length 225 cm,width 110 cm,height 110 cm,C cowshed is a dry cow dung bed,length 245 cm,width 120 cm,height 120cm;The thickness of the two bed mattresses is 15-20 cm,and the cleanliness of the cow bed is good;the surface of the bed of the C cowshed has an angle of 4° to 7°,and the surface of the bed of the B cowshed has no angle;the bed of the C cowshed is better than the B cow The bed is soft.In terms of bed indexes: the number of cows lying in the C cow house is more than that in the B cow house,the difference is significant(P<0.05),the number of standing cows is lower than that of the B cow house,the difference is significant(P<0.05);the cows in the C cow house are lying on the bed The comfort index CCI(92.55%,81.45%)and bed use index SUI(88.67%,74.47%)were higher than the B cow house bed,and the bed standing index SSI(7.45%,18.60%)was lower than the B cow house bed.In terms of hock joint damage and cattle body cleanliness scores,the proportion of cows with a hock joint injury of 0 points and cleanliness 1 score of cows is higher than that of A and B cow houses.The difference is significant(P<0.05),and the overall performance is C Cowshed bed>B cowshed bed>A cowshed bed.Results of bed comfort level: C cowshed is a level 3 bed,B cow is a level 2 bed,and A cow is a level 1 bed.(2)Lactation performance: The daily milk production of level 2 and 3 bed cows is significantly higher than that of level 1 bed,the difference is significant(P<0.05),and there is no significant difference between level 2 and 3 bed(P>0.05);The SCC of level 1,3 bed is higher than that of level 2 bed,the difference is significant(P<0.05),but there is no significant difference between level 1 and 3 bed(P>0.05);bed grade has a relationship with milk fat rate,milk protein rate,total solids No obvious effect(P>0.05).(3)The total conception rate of level 2 and 3 bed is higher than that of level 1 bed,the difference is significant(P<0.05),and the difference between level 2 and 3 bed is not significant(P>0.05);the first postpartum allocation of level 1 bed the number of days is higher than that of level 2 and 3 bed,and the difference is significant(P<0.05),but the difference between level 2 and 3 bed is not significant(P>0.05);bed grade has no significant effect on the breeding index and calving interval(P>0.05)).(4)There are significant differences in the number of bacteria in different grades of bed rest(P<0.05),the overall performance is grade 1> grade 3> grade 2;bed grade has an effect on mastitis and endometritis,the difference is significant(P<0.05),manifested as grade 1> grade 3> grade 2;the effect of bed grade on limb foot disease showed that the incidence of grade 1 bed limb foot disease was higher than that of grade 2,3 bed,and the difference was significant(P<0.05),there was no significant difference between the grade 2 and 3 bed(P>0.05).conclusion:(1)A cowshed bed comfort level is 1;B cowshed bed comfort level is 2;C cowshed bed comfort level is 3.(2)The bed comfort level is significantly positively correlated with milk production of cows and negatively correlated with SCC in milk.(3)The bed comfort level was significantly positively correlated with the total conception rate,and was significantly negatively correlated with the first postpartum days,and had no significant effect on the breeding index and calving interval.(4)The bed comfort level has a significant impact on mastitis,endometritis,and limb and foot disease.The number of bacteria in different bed comfort levels is different.The higher the number of bacteria,the higher the incidence of bed mastitis,endometritis,and limb foot disease.