Assessment of floor mats in tie-stalls on dairy cow comfort by analyzing impact force on floor mats, behavioral indicators of standing up and lying down, and time spent standing up by compulsion

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of three different floor mats (an old type thin rubber mat, a soft thick rubber mat, and a urethane mat) on dairy cow comfort in tie-stalls. In experiment 1, the impact forces on the mats were calculated as a positive acceleration of falling by an acceleration measurement device equipped with a hammer at a head part. The time spent lying and standing and the frequency of standing up and lying down (experiment 2) and the time spent standing by compulsion (experiment 3) were analyzed by continuous observations using time-lapse video photography. (1) In experiment 1 , the impact force was significantly softer on the urethane floor mat than on the other two mats ; that was significantly softer on the thick rubber mat than on the old type thin rubber mat ( 1505N, 3164N and 4938N: P0.01). (2) Six Holstein cows (parity: 1-3) keeping in tie-stalls were used for experiment 2 and 3. In experiment 2, times spent lying on three different type mats were similar. The frequency of standing up and lying down was significantly more on the urethane floor mat than on the old type thin rubber mat and the thick rubber mat (14.17, 11.25 and 11.25: P0.05). The time spent lying down has tendency to be shorter on the urethane floor mat than on the other mats. (3) In experiment 3, there was no significant difference in the time spent standing on three mats; that was longest on the thick rubber mat (5.7 sec.) and was shortest on the urethane floor mat (5.4 sec.). These results suggest that because of the increased resting time resulted from an increase in the frequency of lying down, the soft urethane floor mat improves cow comfort by making it easier to stand up and lie down in tie-stalls.