Short communication: Use of a mechanical brush by Holstein dairy cattle around parturition

Grooming is a normal behavior that may contribute to relief of stress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of access to a mechanical brush on auto-grooming behavior in parturient cows. The hypothesis was that cows would increase the total time spent scratching using the brush if they had access to a brush around the time of calving, whereas auto-grooming would be lower for the brush group compared with the no-brush group. The use of a mechanical brush was analyzed both in a group-housed pen (72 to 48 h before calving) and in an individual maternity pen (6 h before to 6 h after calving) in 16 multiparous Holstein cows. In the maternity pen, cows were randomly assigned to have access to the brush or not. The provision of a mechanical brush in the individual maternity pen did not change the amount of time spent auto-grooming but cows did use the brush before calving and after the calf was removed. Despite being housed in pens containing a brush, cows failed to use it when the calf was present. However, cows with access to a brush spent more time licking their calves in the first hour postcalving (β = 8.7 min; 95% confidence interval: 1.5, 15.8) than cows that did not have access to a brush. Regardless of treatment, cows increased the time spent auto-grooming and scratching following separation of their newborn calf (β = 1.4 min; 95% confidence interval: 0.46, 2.3 and β = 0.07 min; 95% confidence interval: 0.02, 0.12, respectively). Further research is warranted to investigate possible benefits of mechanical brush devices at the time of calving, particularly for cows that experience difficult calving and require manual or mechanical assistance.