Effects of prepartum grouping strategy on immune, metabolic, health, reproductive, and productive parameters of dairy cows

Cows are social animals and as such are highly susceptible to social interactions and hierarchical order. Situations of limited space or access to feed and frequent regrouping during the prepartum period are expected to exacerbate aggressive and submissive behaviors. In studies conducted with a small number of cows per pen, cows had reduced feeding time, greater rate of displacement from the feed bunk and stalls, and reduced milk yield up to three to 14 days after regrouping. Therefore, weekly regrouping of prepartum dairy cows is expected to result in exposure of these cows to a continuous state of social unrest and stress during the most critical time of their lives. This abstract discusses results from a study in a commercial dairy that evaluated an 'All-In-All-Out' (AIAO) approach to regrouping prepartum cows.