Research Article

Daily activity of cows in a herd Charolais

Mariusz Bogucki, Anna Sawa, Wojciech Neja, Adam Oler, Maciej Ziemer

1. Acta Sci. Pol. Zootechnica, 11(4), 2012, 3‒10

Abstract. This study analysed basic forms of behaviour in Charolais cows with regard to season of the year and day. It was found that in each season, resting cows preferred lying on the left side, from 19.7% of the day in summer to 27.6% in winter. Animals rested on the right side slightly less often: 14.0% and 24.7% of the day, respectively. Cows spent most time on feed intake in summer (36.2% of the day) and least time in winter (19.7%). Standing position was most frequent in autumn (31.6% of the day) and least frequent in winter (28%). Water intake by the cows was most frequent during summer, averaging 4.8 times per day. By far the most frequently, cows rested in the lying position during the night. Animals spent from 57.8% to 78.9% of the total feeding time on lying down in summer and winter, respectively.

Keywords: behavioural observations, cattle, Charolais