Study on Resting Behavior in Six Months of Age Calves from Romanian Black and White Breed During Winter

Abstract

The aim of this paper was to measure the main aspects that characterize the resting behavior of six months old calves during the winter season. During the experiments the following resting behavior aspects were determined: number of resting periods, the length of resting periods. Results showed that in the winter season the total length of laying down periods was 150.6 minutes in the morning, 171.0 minutes in the afternoon and 358.3 minutes during the night. In the winter season calves stood down in 3.2 periods during the morning, 3.0 periods during the afternoon and 3.1 periods during the night. There were very significant differences between morning and afternoon (p<0.001), between morning and night (p<0.001) and between afternoon and night (p<0.001) for total time spent lying down by calves. In the winter season the total time spent resting (sleep and rest laying down) was 46.4 minutes in the morning, 36.3 minutes in the afternoon and 132.7 minutes during the night. The differences between morning and afternoon were not significant (p>0.01), but the differences between morning and night (p<0.001) and between afternoon and night (p<0.001) were very significant for total time spent resting by calves.