Study on selective behavior of dairy cows to different facilities under free-stall barn system

The utilization of barns for different type of fed animals is different.The utilization of different facilities and the selection to different cubicle beds in free-stall barn system in different time period were observed with 68 Holstein cows in middle and late lactation. The utilization time of different facilities in free stall barn system were observed with 12 cows in experiment and control group. The experiment results showed that the utilization time of different facilities for middle and later lactation cows were significantly different (P<0.01) in the free-stall barn system. The frequency of selecting different facilities and different cubicle beds were significantly different (P<0.05). The proportion of selecting the sandy bed was higher than that of the rubber bed in the resting cubicle,which the sandy bed should be popularized in this system in the future.