CAN ACCESS TO AN EXERCISE AREA IMPROVE CATTLE WELFARE?

By ACER Consulting, Marjorie Cellier and Elsa Vasseur

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IS HIGHLY VALUED BY SOCIETY as one of the most important living conditions for farm animals.

For producers in tiestall systems, moving toward housing that provides cows with more freedom to move is neither easy nor quick. Providing an exercise area for cattle is a simple and affordable solution that allows for more movement and improved dairy cattle welfare. Research conducted at McGill University, funded by Dairy Farmers of Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership AgriScience Program, and Novalait, Lactanet and NSERC, has begun to highlight the benefits associated with this practice.

Dr. Elsa Vasseur and her research team are exploring the effects of exercise in dairy cattle. They conducted a comprehensive review of six studies that enrolled 141 tiestall-housed Holsteins. These studies took place over the summer, winter and fall, from 2019 to 2021, to evaluate the effect of access to an exercise area that allows cows to move freely, compared with tiestall cows with no exercise access. They also evaluated cow behaviour and number of steps taken per day.

Benefits

Cows provided with access to an exercise area took an average of 300 more steps per day (50 per cent more steps) than those in a tiestall. In the exercise area, cows spent about one-third of their time engaging in locomotor activities, such as exploration and social behaviour; however, most of the cows’ time was spent idly. Cows are typically highly motivated to perform natural behaviours, such as walking and exploring, when granted the opportunity. Access to an available exercise area leads to enrichment and improvement in the quality of expression of natural behaviours.

Additional Considerations

Additional considerations for improving the experience of cows in an exercise area include:

Type of access

An outdoor exercise area led to 20 per cent (167 steps) more steps per day than an indoor exercise area.

Space allowance

Cows took 16 per cent (146 steps) more steps per day in a large area (80 m²) than a small area (20 m²).

Duration of outing

Spending two hours in the exercise area compared with one hour led to an increase of nine per cent (84 steps) steps per day.

Further Refinements Of The Exercise Area

Although allowing cows to have access to an exercise area led to improvements in their welfare, cows spent two-thirds of their time in the exercise area being idle. There are likely some additional considerations to further improve the cows’ experience, such as providing different types of enrichment and/or resources for shelter and to encourage curiosity. These components could be added to stimulate and renew the animals’ interest in these exercise areas and encourage more movement.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGES

One hour of daily exercise impacts locomotion for movement-restricted dairy cows and allows them to engage in natural behaviours. Providing access to an exercise area for one hour doubled the number of daily steps, with the type of access, the amount of space provided, and the duration of the outing impacting the number of steps taken. Cows also spent the bulk of their time idle in the exercise area, highlighting that additional resources could provide a more enriching experience for cows, further enhancing the benefits of exercise area access on cow activity and welfare.

Agricultural Communications and Epidemiological Research (ACER) Consulting is located in Guelph, Ont.; Marjorie Cellier is Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Animal Science, McGill University; Elsa Vasseur is Associate Professor and co-holder of the Research and Innovation Chair in Animal Welfare and Artificial Intelligence WELL-E, McGill University.