SOLUZIONI TECNOLOGICHE INNOVATIVE E METODOLOGIE DI MONITORAGGIO DEL COMPORTAMENTO PER MIGLIORARE EFFICIENZA PRODUTTIVA E BENESSERE DI BOVINI DA LATTE

Dairy farms have greatly evolved in recent years with the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of innovative technologies, with particular consideration to animal welfare and comfort. The housing for dairy cows, with their equipment, facilities and farm management have become a real production factor that can affect the results of enterprise. In this context, the study of animal behavior is considered an important indicator for the evaluation of the welfare animal in different types of housing and for the development of farming systems that allow combining high levels of production and animal welfare. The purpose of this research was to explore some relevant aspects of the influence of dairy housing and operational conditions on the comfort of dairy cows and livestock production efficiency. The activities performed during the research period were oriented to assess the behavioral reaction of different groups of dairy cows to environmental, structural and operational conditions and to evaluate several methodologies and technologies for monitoring the behavioral activities of dairy cows. In some of the case studies examined we analyzed the effects of feeding frequency and environmental conditions, and the influence of dimension and layout of functional spaces in free-stall housing. For this purpose, methods of analysis, based on video recording and post-image analysis have been developed. Moreover, some devices for automatic recording of behavior have been developed and validated. The main results confirm that the feeding frequency seems to affect in limited way the time spent on the different daily behavioral activities (lying, standing, and feeding) of dairy cows, but, the distribution of activities throughout the day was modified. It has also been confirmed as the most significant changes in behavior arise from the environmental conditions, especially related to THI, and the adequacy of functional spaces layout. The influence of the rest area layout has provided valuable indications for the design criteria to increase the time that the cows are lying down and to improve comfort and welfare of animal. The development of a simulation model, based on fuzzy logic, has allowed providing an integrated assessment tool of design solutions for free-stall dairy cow barns. This tool could help to verify the design criteria also considering the behavior of dairy cows and support the analysis of existing housing to assess the critical structural factors. The methods investigated, based on video recording and image analysis, have confirmed that reliable estimates of the daily behavior of individual animals, or the average behavior of the herd, can be generated using hourly scan sampling interval. The data loggers investigated, based on accelerometer sensors, have accurately measured lying and standing behaviors in lactating dairy cows kept in a highly automated loose-housing barn, confirming the validity of use of these devices to improve awareness of cow comfort. Moreover, the methodologies and technologies investigated have improved the level of automation of recording of the behavioral activities. In conclusion, the results obtained from the various research activities have provided useful information on criteria design and management operations in different farm conditions, highlighting the importance of these aspects in helping to create the optimum conditions to design dairy housing more appropriate to the needs of animals, improving their welfare.