The influence of restraint on the occurrence of oral sterotypies in dairy cows (1992)

Redbo, I.

Abstract

Tethering of dairy cows induces high levels of behavioural disturbances [tongue-rolling, bar-biting], possibly triggered by frustrated feed manipulation. .. Five of six cows stopped performing stereotypies after the transfer into loose housing, while one cow which previously showed high stereotypy levels continued at a very low level, from 25.7% when tethered to 0.6% in the loose housing. .. These results indicate that the tethering of dairy cows has negative implications on their welfare.