Behaviour of Cows in the Milking Parlour and Its Relationship with Milk Production and Type of Na

Abstract

Тhe purpose of the research was to examine the behaviour of five hundred forty-two dairy cows in the 2 × 16 DeLaval parallel milking parlour. During ten milking sessions the consistency of the entrance order in the milking parlour was investigated, in particular group preference, side preference and standing position during milking and relationships of these behavioural elements with milk production and type of nervous activity (NA) of cows. The highest repeatability was characteristic of group preference (repeatability coefficient 0.47, Р<0.001), lower repeatability was for side preference and standing position (0.17, Р<0.001 and 0.09, Р<0.05). Young cows preferred generally to be milked in the first group (average lactation number 1.7), they had lower milk yield compared with the average milk yield in the herd (305-d milk yield-7552 kg) and reactive type of NA.The third group for milking was preferable for older cows (2,3lactations) with higher milk yield (7827 kg) and inert type of NA. It has been established that 8-12% of cows consistently chose the right or left side in the milking parlour, 42% of cows did not show any side preference. There have not been found significant differences in age and milk production of cows depending on the side preference and standing position in the milking parlour. Using the own methodology, that based on the consistency of group preference and standing position in the milking parlour, cows were divided into three types of NA: reactive, balanced and inert. In the studied herd, reactive type of NA, balanced and inert contained 34%, 29% and 37% of cows, respectively. In cows of inert type of NA indicated some …