The "Tretmiststall" (a loose housing system for cattle with solid manure on a sloped lying - area), which had at one time almost been forgotten, has become considerably popular over the past few years. Apart from certain operational points of view, the important factor taken into consideration is to provide a more suitable type of housing for the animals.
This example of loose housing system, reserved up till now mainly for young bull fattening and young cattle raising, has recently been favoured by some dairy farms. As yet, the effect of a "Tretmiststall" on the behaviour of dairy cattle has hardly been investigated.
For this reason, investigations have been set up to obtain basic data relating to the behaviour pattern of the herd. The main aim was to find out whether there are differences in behaviour on comparison with other housing systems - in particular with cubicle housing.
The observations were carried out on a herd in a practising dairy farm. The standard of the experimental housing was up - to - date with regard to what is presently known about "Tretmist" for dairy cattle.
The movements of the herd of 25 cows were continually followed and recorded over a time period of 24 hours by means of a videocamera. The object of observation was a fixed area of the "house" and not random samples of the herd. One wanted to check how this method of observation, a more convenient one requiring less technical effort, is related to the exactness and strength of evidence of the results. In other words, whether this way of investigation can provide an acceptable alternative to the other methods of cinematographic observations of behaviour in loose housing.
For evaluation, a time interval of two minutes was chosen. The distribution of the animals was recorded according to the criteria "Activity" and "House area".
For the first two courses of analysis, these criteria were evaluated separately.
The third analysis involved a combined evaluation of the two criteria groups. "Activity" was sub-divided into the following' characteristics of behaviour: * Lying, * Standing/Walking, * Eating, * Drinking.
The areas of location provided 5 possibilities: * Berth area above, * Berth area below, * Walking passage, * Trough, * Drinking place.
The last two locations allow for a more detailed division. They represent sections of the berth area and walking passage. Chi2-square tests were carried out to prove that the animals, which were present in the field of observation, were a representative random sample of the herd.
With regard to certain activity behaviour and areas of location, it was seen that there was a preference for sections which were not under Observation - this made it necessary to determine specific correction factors. The pattern of activity during the times of milking was determined empirically.
The most important results of the above experiment are summarized as follows:
The method of observation used in these investigations proved to be suitable for analysis of behaviour in loose housing. However, one must make a careful choice beforehand of the field of observation. All the regions of activity in the "house" must be proportionately included. It is then possible to employ this video system, which up till now was hardly used for observations of behaviour in extensive loose housing systems due to its limited image resolution, as an alternative to the more complicated technical procedure of photographic surveying.
The mode of evaluation taken to interpret the information obtained from the limited field of observation aims to make Statements for the behaviour of the herd in the entire housing region. The results of certain parameters of behaviour by cross comparison between the groups of evaluation show slight deviations. This is due to division into three groups as well as the necessity to incorporate correction factors for individual activities and locations. Therefore, the following presentation of these results are not given in exact figures but in the form of time spans instead.
The milking times took up 4.6 percent or 66 minutes of the 24-hour time period. Thereby, 36 minutes were spent on "Waiting" and "Milking". The rest of the time could be added to the activity "Eating".
The total lying time per animal was calculated as a daily average of 420 - 462 minutes. When compared with Iiterature data on lying behaviour in loose housing systems, this value is regarded as extremely low.
The favourite place for the activity "Lying" was the rear section of the lying area. 96 percent of the total lying time was spent there.
Over the course of the day, 5 lying periods were observed, the number of lying animals taking part varied between 0 and 100 percent. The Iongest period of lying took place between midnight and time of morning milking.
The other periods were spread quite evenly over the day - with interruptions for milking and feeding.
The activity "Lying" was the only behaviour criterium where a definite preference for the unobserved section of the house was recorded.
The time spent on locomotion took up, on average, 557 - 593 minutes per animal and day, whereby no division into "Standing" and "Walking" could be made. The Iiterature data on locomotion behaviour are, on the whole, clearly lower.
On the other hand, the evaluated time periods spent at the feeding Stations correspond with those given in the literature references.
The period of activity "Eating" lasted on average 338 - 413 minutes per animal and day. A distinct separation between the eating periods over the course of the day was not observed. Although there was an apparent relation to the feeding times, the individual periods of eating merged in with one another.
Despite a proportionate ratio for "feeding place - animal" of 1 : 1, the animals were never present at the trough all at the same time. The proportion of night - feeding animals was insignificant.
The activity "Drinking" was recorded as 1 percent or just 15 minutes: the smallest part of the day. This took place mainly in the second half of the day between the two milking periods. 91.
By evaluating according to regions of the "house", it is apparent that there was a distinct preference for the berth area. 57.8 percent of the day or 832 minutes were spent there, whereby the rear end of the berth area was of main importance with 668 minutes.
The fact that almost a third of this time was spent on "Standing" and "Walking" points out, that there is an increased restlessness in this area, which could explain for the results differing from those in the literature for the functions "Lying" and "Locomotion".
The lower part of the berth area was used mainly as a "route of transit" between the functional areas "Resting" and "Eating". The animals spent, on average, 164 minutes in this housing section.
The daily average time spent in the walking passage was 572 minutes, whereby 370 minutes should be added to the section by the trough.
From the results obtained from the above experiment on the behaviour of dairy cattle in two - roomed "Tretmiststall", one can derive a few essential points for future modification of the "Tretmist" housing system.
The main feature of interest is the berth area - namely the more frequented area at the rear (upper) end of the lying area. In order to provide the animals with the necessary peace and quiet and essential protection, it is recommended that this section should be spatially divided.
The establishment of a floor plan which is a compromise between the two extremes of the
* completely "open - plan" construction of the "Tretmiststall" and the,
* cubicle housing system where the single berth areas are "walled - in" on all sides, seems to be most suitable.
The partitions should be a "closed" construction so that there is no visual contact with the adjacent "resting area".
Further investigations should be carried out to study the behaviour of individual animals and their social behaviour. Only then can exact plans for constructional changes be made which would improve the housing conditions without interrupting the continuous flow of manure - which is the basic concept of "Tretmist" housing.
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The "Tretmiststall" (a loose housing system for cattle with solid manure on a sloped lying - area), which had at one time almost been forgotten, has become considerably popular over the past few years. Apart from certain operational points of view, the important factor taken into consideration is to provide a more suitable type of housing for the animals.
This example of loose housing system, reserved up till now mainly for young bull fattening and young cattle raising, has recently been favour...
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