Feeding behaviour of high yielding dairy cows during early lactation

The feeding behaviour and feed intake of dairy cows in early lactation were analyzed. This study aimed to determine the relationships between selected characteristics of feeding behavior and feed intake per cow and day. Information concerning feed intake of each individual dairy cow is especially valuable for herd management particularly in early lactation. However, technical requirements for implementation are rarely given. Therefore, relationships between feeding behavior parameters, which can be recorded with practice-oriented sensor technology, and feed intake are of special interest. The investigation was based on data of 70 high-yielding dairy cows (23 in 1st lactation, 47 multiparous ) with a mean annual yield of 12000 kg. The cows were fed by using a feed intake data acquisition system (feeder). By means of feeders and electronic animal identification, every single visit of each individual cow was documented regarding time of entry and time of leave as well as feed consumed. The study was conducted from 7th – 105th day of lactation. During this period 222,231 visits at feeder were recorded and added to the evaluation. The followings values were calculated for the parameters number of visits per day, mean duration of visits per day, total daily feed duration and daily dry matter intake (mean ± SD): 32,07 ± 12.86 visits, 6.97 ± 2.64 minutes, 201.42 ± 59.23 minutes and 21.58 ± 4.19 kg dry matter. The results showed that there were significant relationships between total feeding duration and number of visits and between total daily feeding duration and longest visit per day. On the other hand, there was only a weak relationship between the total feeding duration and the dry matter intake per day.

Vollversion deutsch