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Two experiments were carried out on 56 lactating dairy cows in an experimental free stall barn comparing four different lying surfaces: straw bedded pack (ST), rubber mat (RM), mattress (MA) and sand (SA). In the first experiment (26 days) cows were allowed to choose between free stalls with each lying surface. The rest area was filmed for three non-consecutive days to record the total duration of lying and standing in the free stalls with each lying surface, and the duration and frequency of lying and standing bouts. In the second experiment, lasting 50 days, the cows were divided into four groups; each one was kept in a free stall pen with only one kind of lying surface. Milk yield was recorded and individual blood and milk samples were collected. Blood metabolites and milk characteristics of the samples were analyzed. During Experiment 1 the time spent lying down in the free stalls was 631mincow −1 day −1 , and the cows spent more time lying on SA (44.1% of the total lying time) and on ST (33.2%) than on RM (11.6%) and MA (11.1%) ( P P P P P P P P P P |
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