Cow tipping is the supposed activity of sneaking up on a resting cow and tipping her over so she cannot rise. It is rumoured to be carried out by country folk for simple entertainment, often fuelled by drink. It relies on the idea that cows sleep whilst standing up. It is, of course, an urban myth.
But cows do like to stretch out sometimes, and might appear “tipped”. Lying down is as an important part of the cow’s day as it is ours. But they do it very differently to us. Cows lie down for about 8-12 hours per day, but unlike us, where we usually go to bed for one long block of time, they have a continuous pattern of eat-lie-repeat, with each lying bout being between 1-2 hours. Usually, they chew their cuds when lying down. Although enjoying the rest, they don’t sleep much. In common with other herbivorous prey animals, their need to remain vigilant for attack means they only sleep for around 20-30 minutes per day, and even so, that is in little cat-naps.
As Spring approaches farmers sometimes exclaim to me how they can’t wait for a bit of Doctor Green. They mean the green of grass, and are referring to how it seems to make their cows appear more healthy. Certainly when turnout day comes, one can often observe the cows belonging to those same farmers lying spreadeagled on their sides in their pastures, making the absolute most of their newfound freedom to spread out fully, rest, and get a bit of sunshine on their backs. Yes, green grass contains lots of protective vitamins which can aid health (e.g. vitamin E), and it is nutritious, but the Dr Green that many farmers look forwards to is often simply that their cows can display their normal behaviour, and lie down for as long as they'd like. For some, I think, it might have been the first time in six months that they have been able to get truly comfortable, having been cooped up over the Winter in cubicles which are too constrictive or too hard (or sadly, sometimes too few in number).
Thankfully, these types of farms, where the Winter months are accompanied by a rising degree of of lameness, hock sores and other lesions for their long-suffering cows, are becoming fewer. But they serve as a reminder about just how important housing design is for cow comfort and for herd health.
As an aside, I recently spent some time in Galicia, Northern Spain, where the dairy farms are generally much smaller than ours and old fashioned and reminiscent to some of those I encountered during my early days as a vet in North Yorkshire in the mid 1990’s. In James Herriot fashion, I saw cows tethered in decrepit wooden byres, lying on bare concrete stalls, with long overgrown toes, and sore feet to match. They reminded me just how far our British dairy farmers have come in the past 30 years. Big is not always beautiful, but it is not always bad either, and on the whole, whilst we still have a way to go, cow comfort - and consequently foot health - have both vastly improved in my opinion, as dairy herds have expanded, investments in infrastructure have been made, and improvements in knowledge have filtered through to the younger and more business-like generations of farmers.
Cow time budgets, including their lying behaviour, fascinate me. You can tell a lot about a cow or a herd if you spend time observing their lying behaviour. Take foot health as an example. In general, lameness increases the amount of time cows spend lying down, but this is not always consistent. Some lame cows lie for less time - and this may be because the act of getting up and down is particularly painful. What is more consistent, however, is that the number of lying bouts decreases. Lame cows, once down, stay down for longer; presumably again because the act of getting up and down is more painful. These long bouts (more than 2-3 hours at any time) may be why “pressure sores” develop, accounting for more hock sores and other lesions. Alternatively, and just as plausibly when you observe them, lame cows get up with greater awkwardness, resulting in hock abrasions as they shuffle backwards before their forwards lunge. This is when you might also witness them knocking and banging themselves on the cubicle dividers.
There is plenty of evidence that shorter lying times are, by themselves, a significant risk for sole bruising and sole ulcers (important causes of lameness). The devil is always in the detail, though, because cows at pasture lie for significantly shorter time (around 8-9 hours per day) compared to housed cows (around 11-12 hours per day), and yet suffer less bruising or sole ulcers. The detail and the devil here is most likely concrete versus pasture: it is long standing times on concrete which is the risk factor, rather than standing time per se.
Cows value their lying times. Studies have shown that they compensate by lying down longer on days after they have been forced to stand more - for example, after a TB test. Other research indicates that they are prepared to “work” for lying time, by forcing specially weighted saloon gates to access places to lie. More cruelly, earlier studies have shown that cows will suffer electric shocks in order to lie down. In this regard, lying behaviour is termed “inelastic” - something a cow will try and get, whatever the circumstances. Thus, when we see a lot of cows standing in a cow shed, not lying (I mean here, when they have nothing else obvious to do, such as being milked, eating or moving from A to B), it goes to show just how badly wrong the beds must be. Whilst cubicle comfort is an important aspect, it is worth considering all factors which might affect lying behaviour at a herd level. These include:
Lying surface/ comfort
Bedding depth
Lying surface wet/ dry - wet beds severely reduce lying times
Cubicle design/ size
Acclimatisation to cubicles
Stocking density - availability of free stalls have profound effects
Pasture vs housed (pasture cows lie less time, as they spend more time eating)
Floor (standing) surface - a comfortable surface may reduce need to lie
Feeding times (time spent eating) - almost an inverse relationship to lying times
Milking times (time away from beds)
Lock-up times (again, away from beds)
Re-bound effect: lying deprivation (if > 3 hours) = longer compensatory lying
Temperature (THI) - heat stress results in far greater standing time
If outside, inclement weather, especially rain, may decrease lying time
Stimulation: low stimuli/ boredom/ depression/ darkness - all result in longer lying
Lameness - usually longer lying, but not always
Then, zooming in, there are a host of different factors which affect lying times at an individual cow level. These include:
Lameness - generally longer lying times, and fewer bouts
Mastitis - generally shorter lying times
Other pain/ sore/ lesions (e.g. hock sores) - can be shorter or longer
Illness - shorter or longer
Calving - shorter around calving, and increased bouts
Age/ parity - possibly older cows lie for longer
Stage of lactation - tends to be a nadir (lowest point) at around 30-60 days in milk. Possibly related to feeding/eating time. Possibly due to udder discomfort.
Yield - it’s complicated! Higher yielding cows generally spend more time eating, so lie for less time. Then again, longer lying times can result in greater yields for any given feed intake (possibly due to better blood flow through the udder)
Acclimatisation/ bullying, especially fresh calved heifers
Oestrus - lying times typically halve when in heat
Technology such as cameras and pedometers (“Fitbits” for cows) is making assessing cow behaviours easier to do in some herds, but simply spending time observing the housed herd can be very valuable too.
Observing undisturbed cows in their cubicle shed can give some indication to lying behaviour. In general, at least 85% of the herd should be either eating or lying down. Standing around is not good. Cows in cubicles can be assessed for a “cubicle comfort index” (CCI) score. In this photo above, 10 cows are in contact with a cubicle, but only seven are lying. The CCI here is 70% (7/10). A reasonable target is a CCI > 80% at any time.
In summary, wherever you might suspect that housing improvements could be beneficial, the Spring and Summer months are good times to get to work for many farms, whilst the herd is outside grazing. Money spent improving cubicle comfort (and reducing over-stocking) is money well spent. Lying times are important, and complicated. Considerations should include:
Lying times are important for cow wellbeing, production efficiency and foot health
There are many factors governing lying behaviour
It is useful to know a herd’s lying times and targets can be set, depending on herd type
Lying times should be considered at herd level and individual cow level
Individual lying behaviour is useful for health monitoring, including lameness and mastitis, as well as for heat detection
Lying behaviour should consider total time; number of bouts and individual bout length
So, if you were ever in doubt, cows do NOT sleep standing up. Cow tipping is not real. Cows do sleep, but not for long. Cows need rest, just as much as you or I. And like us, they like their beds to be peaceful, comfy, and dry.
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