Certain behaviors such as eating, rumination, and lying down can be related to the health of the cow and cow comfort. These behaviors can also be related to the productivity of the cows. Likewise, stress, disease, and discomfort negatively affect milk productivity.Therefore, it can be said that it is in the best interest of the farmer to increase eating, rumination, and lying down and decrease stress, disease, and discomfort to achieve the maximum productivity possible. Also, estrous behaviors such as mounting can be a sign of cow comfort, since if a cow is lame, nutritionally deficient, or housed in an over crowded barn, its estrous behaviors is altered.
Feeding behaviors are important for the dairy cow, as feeding is how the cow ingests dry matter. However, the cow must ruminate to fully digest the feed and utilize the nutrients in the feed. Dairy cows with good rumen health are likely to be more profitable than cows with poor rumen health—as a healthy rumen aids in digestion of nutrients. An increase in the time a cow spends ruminating is associated with the increase in health and an increase in milk production.The productivity of dairy cattle is most efficient when the cattle have a full rumen. Also, the standing action while feeding after milking has been suggested to enhance udder health. The delivery of fresh feed while the cattle are away for milking stimulates the cattle to fed upon return, potentially reducing the prevalence of mastitis as the sphincters have time to close while standing. This makes the pattern of feeding directly after being milked an ideal method of increasing the efficiency of the herd.
Cows have a high motivation to lie down [28] so farmers should be conscious of this, not only because they have a high motivation to lie down, but also because lying down can increase milk yield.[ When the lactating dairy cow lies down, blood flow is increased to the mammary gland which in return results in a higher milk yield.
To ensure that the dairy cows lie down as much as needed, the stalls must be comfortable. Put very simply, a stall should have a rubber mat, bedding, and be large enough for the cow to lie down and get up comfortably. Signs that the stalls may not be comfortable enough for the cows are the cows are standing, either ruminating or not, instead of lying down, or perching, which is when the cow has its front end in the stall and their back end out of the stall.
There are two types of housing systems in dairy production, free style housing and tie stall. Free style housing is where the cow is free to walk around and interact with its environment and other members of the herd. Tie stall housing is when the cow is chained to a stantion stall with the milking units and feed coming to them.
