DAILY TIME BUDGET OF DAIRY COWS HOUSED IN TIE STALL BARNS, DURING TOTAL CONFINEMENT

Although individual and social behavior of cattle has been studied extensively under pasture and loose housing conditions, similar behavioral data for partial or total confinement housing are limited. Essentially, the 24- h time budget represents the net response of a cow to her environment (Grant, 2003). Daily time budget was first introduced by Grant and Albright (in 2000) for cows housed in free-stall environment. Choices in stabling and management affect the behavior, health, longevity and performance of cows. Behavior while resting, eating, ruminating, urinating or defecating provides additional information about comfort. In the current study were used ten Romanian Black and White multiparous cows, housed in a tie stall barn 24 hours per day. Experiments were carried out during the cold season, in February 2008. Cows monitored were in their first hundred days of lactation. In our study cows spent resting on average 379.9 minutes (6.33 hours), value that represents 26.38 % from the days interval. Time devoted to feeding was on average 341.9 minutes (5.69 hours), in 17.5 periods. Rumination had place on average in 17.3 periods and a total time of 517.5 minutes (8.62 hours). Cows adopted lying position on average 581.2 minutes (40.36% from 24-h) and standing position on average in 858.7 minutes (59.63% from 24-h).