Impact of Gestation and Lactation Stage on the Dairy Cow Response Following Removal to Unfamiliar Housing and Milking System

The objective of this study was to test the hypotheses that milk yield and behaviour at milking after relocation are impacted by gestation and lactation stages. Forty-one Holstein cows were relocated from the tie-stall barn with pipeline milking system into the barn with free-stall housing and herringbone milking parlour. Milk yield and order at the milking were recorded electronically. A significant decrease in daily milk yield was detected immediately after relocation (the first day) compared with the last day before treatment (23.76±7.21 kg vs 30.97±7.26 kg; P<0.001). However, the performance drop did not last long; after fourteen days milk production exceeded the mean original level (32.16±8.87 kg). No significant differences were found in the comparison of cows according to gestation stages. Cows in the second and first stages of lactation showed the highest declines in milk yield on the first day (36.77±6.34 kg and 33.76±7.44 kg vs 28.14±7.00 kg and 25.50±8.20 kg; P<0.05). Cows in the late lactation stage came into the parlour later than the other cows, equally during morning and evening milkings (P<0.05). Relationships between the lactation stage and milking orders were positive and significant (0.3730*, 0.3946*, 0.4822**). We found that milk yield and behaviour at milking after relocation were influenced by the stage of lactation of the cows; however, the gestation stage had little long-term effect on the variables measured.