Making tiestalls more comfortable: I. Adjusting tie-rail height and forward position to improve dairy cows' ability to rise and lie down

Abstract

The overall goal of the study was to develop new recommendations for tie-rail placement combining both vertical and horizontal positions to improve dairy cow welfare. Four treatments were tested: 2 new tie-rail positions that followed the natural neckline of cows when feeding and rising [neckline 1 (NL1), neckline 2 (NL2)], current recommendation (CR), and the average tie-rail position currently found on Quebec farms (current average on farm; CF). All other stall dimensions followed CR based on average cow size. Forty-eight cows blocked by parity and stage of lactation were randomly allocated to a treatment for 10 wk. Live scoring was performed weekly to evaluate injury, cow and stall cleanliness, and bedding quantity. Daily lying time, lying bout frequency, and lying bout duration were continuously recorded using leg-mounted accelerometers. Cows were recorded 1 d/wk by overhead cameras to evaluate lying down and rising events. Tie-rail placement did not affect cow and stall cleanliness, bedding quantity, and lying time. All tie-rail placements tested resulted in neck injuries with the position of neck injuries shifting based on the change in tie-rail placement: CR increased in proximal neck injuries (mean ± standard deviation, difference in injury score from baseline: +0.89 ± 0.153) compared with NL2 (+0.06 ± 0.153), but decreased in medial neck injuries (-0.11 ± 0.166) compared with NL2 (+0.78 ± 0.166) and NL1 (+0.53 ± 0.166). All treatments showed a decrease over time in average lying intention time (mean, difference between overall short- and long-term: -5.8 s/event), lying-down time (-1.1 s/event), contact with stall during lying (-32.5%), slipping during lying (-9.1%), backward movement on knees during rising (-10.9%), contact with tie-rail during rising (-14.3%), and overall abnormal rising (-15.6%) over time. Although lying and rising ability improved over time, abnormal lying and rising behaviors were still highly prevalent in the long term. Overall, our results show that dairy cows are limited in their ability to move within their environment without coming in contact with the stall confines (tie-rail and divider bars), warranting further research to determine alternatives to metal tie-rail bars, such as a flexible bar or chain, or provide fewer obstacles through the elimination of some stall hardware.