Relationships Between Body Hygiene Status and Behavioural Responses During Milking in Multiparous Buffalo Cows

This observational study aimed to determine the relationships between behavioral responses during milking and body hygiene scores (BHS) in multiparous Anatolian water buffalo cows. The study was conducted on 45 multiparous buffalo cows housed in a semi-open barn with a concrete floor on a commercial farm in Samsun, Türkiye. Data relating to observations, behaviour and scoring during milking were collected twice, at one-week intervals. The body hygiene status of Anatolian water buffalo cows was assessed based on four anatomical regions: the udder, the upper rear limb, the lower rear limb and the tail. Each region was scored on a five-point scale, ranging from 1 (entirely clean) to 5 (manure encrusted). Then, individual BHS were obtained by calculating a weighted index reflecting the impact of dirtiness levels in these regions on overall hygiene. In addition, kicking, stepping, vocalizing, defecating, urinating, pulling the teat cup off, turning head back and tail wagging behaviours were recorded as either present or absent through direct observation, in order to assess behavioural responsiveness during milking. Cows with a BHS value of 2 or below were classified as having low BHS, while those with a BHS value of 3 or above were classified as having high BHS. The relationship between BHS and behavioural responsiveness in cows was analysed using chi-squared independence and Spearman correlation tests in SPSS. Cows with low BHS showed less frequent kicking, stepping, pulling the teat cup off, turning head back and tail wagging behaviors compared to those with high BHS. There were positive correlations between BHS and the behavioural traits such as kicking, stepping, defecating, pulling the teat cup off, turning head back and tail wagging. This present study highlights the benefit of considering milking behaviors or temperament dynamics to understand the complexity of animal-based factors influencing the body hygiene status of cows.