Cow Standing Time and Its Link to Laminitis

A healthy, high-yielding dairy cow is expected to spend about 12 to 14 hours of her day lying down and ruminating. When cows lie down, the blood flow passing through the udder increases by about 30%; this means more milk is synthesized. In short, the more comfortably a cow lies down, the more milk she produces.

Why Do Animals Stand Too Much?

If the animals in your herd spend most of the day standing instead of lying down, it means you have some serious problems in your barn:

1. Poor Stall Comfort: If the lying areas (beds) of the cows are too narrow, too hard, or too wet/dirty, the cows avoid lying down.

2. Heat Stress: In excessively hot weather, animals prefer to stand and pant to expel heat from their bodies.

3. Foot and Hoof Pains (Laminitis, etc.): Animals with pain in their hooves or foot joints stand for long periods because they suffer great pain when lying down and getting up (especially when getting up).

The Role of Pedometer and Animal Tracking Device

It is impossible to calculate how many hours each of the hundreds of cows in the barn lies down with the human eye. The Dairysense s-Tag Pedometer device is attached to the animal's ankle and continuously collects data on lying down, getting up, standing, and walking (step count) 24/7.

If the system detects that an animal's daily lying time has fallen below the standards (10 hours), it directly generates a Welfare (Comfort) Alert. Taking this warning into account, the farmer can check the animal's stall area or plan its hoof care. Early precautions are the most valuable investment preventing the mandatory exit of cows from the herd.