A total of 20 Japanese Black cow-calf farms with 8 grazing, 9 housing (partly loose housing) and year-round tethering systems on Ishigaki Island, Okinawa (subtropical area) were investigated. Effects of different management systems on the calving interval of the cows were examined using a questionnaire and analysis of a hematological test. The mean of the calving interval was 382.3 days for all farms and there were no significant differences among the management systems. There were also no significant differences in the serum vitamin A, total cholesterol or total protein among the management systems. The calving interval was intermediately or highly, correlated with the weaning period, that is, the correlation coefficient was 0.437 for grazing, 0.424 for housing and 0.919 for tethering, and intermediately correlated with time spent observing estrus with the following coefficients: -0.567 for grazing, -0.581 for housing and -0.629 for tethering. The grazing days was highly correlated (r=-0.857, P<0.01) with calving interval. These results suggested that the shortening of the calving interval of Japanese Black cows might be caused by sufficient time spent observing estrus and early weaning. The extension of grazing days was also effective in shortening the calving interval in the pasture farm.

View full abstract

Measurement technique on the eating and ruminating behavior of grazing cattle was developed. Measuring the peculiar jaw movement with eating and ruminating behavior made up this equipment. Jaw movement was measured by principle (change output signal synchronize the expansion and contraction of sensor tube) of the breath pickup sensor tube. Change of output signal synchronize the jaw movement was recorded by media recorder. And then, recorded pulse sound data was read personal computer for electrical change. And measure of eating and ruminating behavior was studied in the grazing cattle. Eating and ruminating behavior was clearly measured spent of time at each behavior. From the result, it was suggested that this measurement technique was effective for measurement of behavior of the eating and ruminating without restriction of ruminants.

View full abstract

The efficiency and practicality of using a new tie- stall design for housing reproductive beef cattle was investigated. The new method (UMTS) consisted of an upper moveable tie stall unit with the potential to reduce labor and improve comfort of reproductive beef cattle. In Experimentl, two beef cattle were allocated to the UMTS treatment and two to the conventional method (CM). Moisture of bedding, amount of bedding and stall cleaning time were measured. In Experiment, four cattle were assigned to a 4×4 Latin square design with four treatments: UMTS with a high volume of bedding (UMTS-high), UMTS with a low volume of bedding (UMTS-low), CM with high volume of bedding (CM-high), and CM with low volume of bedding (CM-low). Animal behavior, resting time, and the number of flies on fore shank were measured. In Experiment1, the UMTS group allowed the cattle to remain in their stall for 16 d before cleaning was necessary. Thus, the UMTS group improved labor efficiency by 90% compared with CM group, the UMTS group used four times more bedding. In Experiment2, stereotypic behavior time tended to be reduced and neck bend resting time tended to be longer for cattle in the UMTS group than in the CM group. Rumination time while lying down was longest for cattle in the UMTS-high group. The number of flies on fore shank was decreased by the UMTS group, and by both groups when a large amount of bedding was provided. Our study showed that incorporating an upper moveable tie stall design improved stall cleaning efficiency and improved animal comfort.

View full abstract

We developed a tracking unit that uses the Japanese mobile phone network to transmit data from Kuril harbor seals (Phoca vitulina stejnegeri), which are difficult to recapture. The unit senses location by GPS, hauling-out status, depth and temperature. Six wild Kuril harbor seal pups were tracked at Cape Erimo, Japan, in summer. GPS data indicated that the seals hauled out only on insular rocks in a known haul-out site at Cape Erimo. Although the data of hauling-out status were limited in accuracy, they at least indicated the seals often hauled out both at daytime and at nighttime. The depth logs of four of the seals were analyzed. The greatest depth recorded was 131m. Of the depth logs >1m, 98% were <50m. The seals may tend to use deep water when nearshore water is rough. Three of four seals tended to have depth logs distributed at about 30m. The seals tended to spend more time at shallow depths at night than at other times.

View full abstract