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Freedom of movement is highly valued by society as one of the most important living conditions for farm animals. For producers in tiestall barns, 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 the Dairy Research Cluster 3 (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Dairy Farmers of Canada), 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 to tiestall cows with no exercise access. Cow behaviour and number of steps taken per day were evaluated.

Access to exercise area: What does it do?

Cows that were provided with access to an exercise area took on average 300 more steps per day (50% more steps) compared to 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 idle (68% of time; see Figure 1).

Cows are typically highly motivated to perform natural behaviours, like 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 for an exercise area

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

• Type of access – An outdoor exercise area led to 20% (167 steps) more steps per day than an indoor exercise area.
• Space allowance – Cows took 16% (146 steps) more steps per day in a large area (80 square metres) than a small area (20 square metres).
• Duration of outing – Spending two hours in the exercise area compared to one hour led to an increase of 9% (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 idle. There are likely some additional considerations to further improve the cows' experience, such as providing different types of enrichments 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 a 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.

This article was provided by the team at Agricultural Communications and Epidemiological Research (ACER) Consulting, Guelph, Ontario; Marjorie Cellier, postdoctoral fellow, department of animal science, McGill University; Elsa Vasseur, associate professor and holder of the Industrial Research Chair on Sustainable Life of Dairy Cattle, McGill University.

Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) invests in scientific research to foster innovation in the Canadian dairy sector. DFC supports research initiatives that benefit all Canadian dairy farmers and works in collaboration with its members and other sector partners to address priorities outlined in the National Dairy Research Strategy. The goals of this strategy are to increase farm efficiency and sustainability, enhance animal health, care and welfare practices, and strengthen the role of dairy in human nutrition and health, as well as in sustainable diets. Visit DFC Dairy Research dairyfarmersofcanada.ca/en/dairy-research for more information.