Evaluation of Daily Behavioral Patterns and Locomotor Activity in Holstein Dairy Cattle Under Different Physiological Stages and Management Factors

Precision livestock technologies play a critical role in determining animal behavior and welfare. This study aimed to determine the effects of physiological stage, parity, lactation number, and milking frequency on the locomotor, resting, and inactive time behaviors of Holstein dairy cows. The behavioral data and step counts of the animals were continuously recorded using neck collars and foot pedometers, and a total of 8698 raw daily cow-level behavioral records were analyzed. In the statistical model, the days in milk and daily milk yield were included as fixed effects. Heifers and dry cows showed greater similarity in behavioral duration than primiparous and multiparous cows. There were highly significant differences between the groups in terms of rumination, lying, standing duration, and number of steps (p < 0.001). In lactating cows, no statistically significant differences were found in behavioral durations according to lactation number (p > 0.05); however, milking frequency had a significant association across groups (p < 0.001). This study highlights the determining and interrelated effects of physiological stages and management factors on the locomotor and resting behaviors of cattle, thereby providing a behavioral framework for interpreting sensor-derived data in precision livestock farming and supporting data-driven herd management.