Different housing systems for growing dairy bulls in Northern Finland – effects on performance, behaviour and immune status

Abstract

We compared performance, behaviour and immune status of Ayrshire bulls raised in different housing environments in Northern Finland. Thirty bulls were allotted to one of three treatments: uninsulated barn (UB bulls, five animals/pen, two pens), forest paddock (PAD bulls, five animals/PAD, two PADs) and tie-stall in an insulated barn (IB bulls, 10 animals in individual stalls). The daily gain tended to be higher in the IB bulls than in the PAD bulls. Energy intake of the UB and PAD bulls was higher but the feed conversion rate was worse than that of the IB bulls. The time budgets and diurnal rhythms of the UB and PAD bulls were quite similar. The measures of immune (IgG) status indicate that the hygiene of the bulls’ surroundings decreased in summer, especially in the IB. Our study indicates that dairy bulls can be overwintered outdoors in Northern Finland without warm housing facilities.

Keywords:

• Beef production
• feed intake
• gain
• outdoor housing
• uninsulated housing

Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Employment and Economic Development Centre for Northern Ostrobothnia, INTERREG IIIA North Programme (the Interreg Programmes are financed by the European Regional Development Fund), the State Provincial Office of Lapland, the Regional Council of Lapland, the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Juliana von Wendt's Fund and Finnish Cultural Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to thank Ms. Paula Martiskainen, Ms. Susanna Järvikylä and Mr. Sami Huttu for technical assistance and Mr. Matti Huumonen with his staff for care of the experimental animals. The authors wish to express their gratitude also to Mr. Lauri Jauhiainen for advice on statistical analyses. The staff at Animal Production Research in Jokioinen is also thanked for the laboratory analyses.