Nous avons cherché à savoir les aspects du comportement des vaches laitières susceptibles de fournir une certaine idée du degré de confort des animaux et dans quelle mesure le mode de stabulation influe sur la durée des épisodes de repos. Key words: Behaviour, cow comfort, housing, lying, resting Résumé The duration and frequency of lying behaviour and the time spent standing without eating appear to be probable behavioural indicators of cow comfort. The type of pen or stall in which cows are housed can have a substantial impact on resting time. A lower frequency of standing and lying and an increase in the duration of lying bouts suggests that in tie-stalls cows are more reluctant to change position from lying to standing. There was little evidence of diurnal rhythm in activity. We found no differences in eating time and few differences in body, head or leg positions cows assumed while lying. Cows stood up and lay down more often in the large pens and the duration of individual standing bouts was longer in tie-stalls. Cows individually housed in large pens with a mattress flooring lay down 4.2 h d −1 longer than cows housed in tie-stalls on a concrete floor, while cows in tie-stalls stood idle (without eating) for longer. Following a crossover design, we observed the behaviour of eight lactating Holstein cows kept for three weeks in stalls believed to represent a contrast in comfort. We explored which aspects of dairy cow behaviour provide measures of cow comfort and how housing affects resting time.
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