Research has shown that the personality of dairy cows can have an impact on milk yields.
One study in New Zealand suggested that dairy cows that are “calm” and “investigative” produce more milk and spend longer grazing than their herd counterparts.
The study of 87 cows conducted in New Zealand over a 16-day period found that the investigative, calm or “curious” dairy cows produced a higher milk yield than cows with other personality traits.
The objective of the study was to determine whether personality traits, measured using a series of short standardized behavioral tests, were associated with daily behaviour patterns such as grazing and lying and whether these can impact on the milk production of dairy cattle managed on pasture.
Five tests were conducted over consecutive days with one test per day measuring their responses to a novel object, restraint, novel human, avoidance distance, and response to milking tests. The research concluded there were three personality types for the dairy cows which they labelled “fearful of humans”, “calm and investigative” and “reactive during milking.”
It found that cows that were most calm or investigative spent more time grazing (by about 1 h) without a trade-off in reduction in lying time. Cows that were most (versus least) “calm and investigative” spent about 70 mins more a day grazing and produced about 5.5 kg per day more milk. The report said that the longer grazing time “likely” contributed to their greater milk production.
Cows that were more fearful of humans by leaving a high avoidance distance and being reactive toward humans had reduced lying time. Cows that were most reactive to milking tended to have a lower milk yield of around 1.8 kg/d less.
The report concluded: “These results support the growing body of literature demonstrating an association between personality traits and daily behaviour and productivity of cattle.”
It added: “These short behaviour tests could be used on commercial farms to characterize individual animals and aid in tailoring farm management to meet individual cow needs.”
The study was conducted at the Lincoln University Research Dairy Farm in Lincoln, New Zealand from November 11 to 30, 2019.
More recent research suggested that cow personality may influence both adaptation to automated milking systems (AMS) and milk production.
The study, conducted at the University of Guelph’s Elora Research Station–Ontario Dairy Research Centre in Canada, initially enrolled 32 Holstein heifers. It assessed personality traits including boldness, exploration, activity and sociability to determine their impact on AMS training and performance.
The findings showed that cows trained to use the AMS produced, on average, 7% more milk per day over the 21-day study period than cows that had not undergone training.
Trained cows also required fewer fetching events, where farmers encourage animals to enter the milking system, and recorded more voluntary visits, more milkings and higher overall milk yields.
However, personality influenced cows’ willingness to adapt to the AMS. The researchers found that individual personality traits affected responses to pre-calving AMS training, with more active and “bold-vocal” cows adapting less successfully to the system.
Among non-trained cows, personality was linked to the frequency of fetching events and time spent in the fetch pen. Bold-vocal and active cows required more fetching interventions, while active cows spent longer in the fetch pen.
The study concluded that milk yield may be improved through active AMS training programmes that encourage cows to enter the system before calving.
Collectively, the results suggested that more social or vocal cows performed less well in terms of AMS milking activity, highlighting the role of personality in dairy herd management,