Time budgets of dairy cows in a cow-calf contact system with automatic milking

Daily time budgets can be used to determine the amount of time cows allocate to different behaviors throughout the day and can be useful when evaluating housing and management systems. There is a growing interest in keeping dairy cows and calves together during the first months of lactation; however, it is not known how their time budgets are affected by the calf contact. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in time budgets between 2 groups of dairy cows housed in the same pen within a freestall system with automatic milking. One group of cows had access to their calves until 4 mo of lactation, whereas the other group had no direct contact with the calves. Using focal animal sampling by video analysis and sensor data available from the milking unit we determined the 24-h time budgets of 37 dairy cows. The sample consisted of 20 primi- and 17 multiparous cows of the breeds Swedish Red and Swedish Holstein. The cows were randomly assigned either cow-calf contact or no contact, with separation from the calf within 24 h postparturition. Data were collected when cows were on average 43, 75, and 107 d in milk. The results showed that the cow-calf cows spent less time eating silage, without reduced dry matter intake, less time socializing with other cows, and less time standing in cubicles. However, the duration spent in the waiting area in front of the milking unit was greater among the cow-calf cows. In conclusion, neither cow-calf contact nor no-contact cows seemed to be constrained in any of the included behaviors to a point of reduced welfare; hence, a cow-calf contact system in combination with automatic milking may be possible to set up on farms with maintained or improved animal welfare.