Social interactions of dairy cows and their association with milk yield and somatic cell count

The social environment experienced by livestock can have implications for their health, welfare, and quently, their productivity. Changes in the dairy industry have led to larger herd sizes and altered management of cows, which has impacted their social environment. Studies have shown that mixing of animals can lead social instability of groups and expansion of herds can lead to high stocking densities resulting in social stress negative effects on production. Yet few studies have assessed the putative impact of positive cow-cow teractions, such as proximity to preferred herd mates and engaging in grooming, on milk production and health. To address this, we used cattle proximity as a proxy for affiliative interactions between cows in dairy herds in south-west England over one week study periods. We created proximity networks of dairy and measured cow-cow associations according to milk yield, somatic cell count (SCC; an indicator of mastitis), parity (number of lactations in the cow's lifetime), and lactation stage (grouped by days in milk for current lactation). We then assessed associations between social factors and production and health measures (milk and SCC). In all three herds, cows interacted more with cows in the same parity, suggesting early social bonding may be evident later in life and that grouping animals in terms of parity might encourage affiliative interactions. Cows did not associate according to milk yield, SCC, or lactation stage. There was no significant association between milk production or SCC and the total time spent in social contact with other cows, the mean time with the four closest herd mates, or the number of closest herd mates of the same parity. We suggest that further research on positive social environments for dairy cattle is warranted in the interests of improving welfare enabling a more robust assessment of the putative effects on production and health parameters