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The effect of temporal variation in feed quality and quantity on the diurnal feeding behaviour of dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2019

A. J. John Open the ORCID record for A. J. John [Opens in a new window] ,
S. C. Garcia Open the ORCID record for S. C. Garcia [Opens in a new window] ,
K. L. Kerrisk Open the ORCID record for K. L. Kerrisk [Opens in a new window] ,
M. J. Freeman ,
M. R. Islam  and
C. E. F. Clark
A. J. John*
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden 2570, New South Wales, Australia
S. C. Garcia
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden 2570, New South Wales, Australia
K. L. Kerrisk
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden 2570, New South Wales, Australia
M. J. Freeman
Affiliation:
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture Dairy Centre, University of Tasmania, Burnie 7320, Tasmania, Australia
M. R. Islam
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden 2570, New South Wales, Australia
C. E. F. Clark
Affiliation:
Dairy Science Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden 2570, New South Wales, Australia
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The diurnal feeding patterns of dairy cows affects the 24 h robot utilisation of pasture-based automatic milking systems (AMS). A decline in robot utilisation between 2400 and 0600 h currently occurs in pasture-based AMS, as cow feeding activity is greatly reduced during this time. Here, we investigate the effect of a temporal variation in feed quality and quantity on cow feeding behaviour between 2400 and 0600 h as a potential tool to increase voluntary cow trafficking in an AMS at night. The day was allocated into four equal feeding periods (0600 to 1200, 1200 to 1800, 1800 to 2400 and 2400 to 0600 h). Lucerne hay cubes (CP = 19.1%, water soluble carbohydrate = 3.8%) and oat, ryegrass and clover hay cubes with 20% molasses (CP = 11.8%, water soluble carbohydrate = 10.7%) were offered as the ‘standard’ and ‘preferred’ (preference determined previously) feed types, respectively. The four treatments were (1) standard feed offered ad libitum (AL) throughout 24 h; (2) as per AL, with preferred feed replacing standard feed between 2400 and 0600 h (AL + P); (3) standard feed offered at a restricted rate, with quantity varying between each feeding period (20:10:30:60%, respectively) as a proportion of the (previously) measured daily ad libitum intake (VA); (4) as per VA, with preferred feed replacing standard feed between 2400 and 0600 h (VA + P). Eight non-lactating dairy cows were used in a 4 × 4 Latin square design. During each experimental period, treatment cows were fed for 7 days, including 3 days habituation and 4 days data collection. Total daily intake was approximately 8% greater (P < 0.001) for the AL and AL + P treatments (23.1 and 22.9 kg DM/cow) as compared with the VA and VA + P treatments (21.6 and 20.9 kg DM/cow). The AL + P and VA treatments had 21% and 90% greater (P < 0.001) dry matter intake (DMI) between 2400 and 0600 h, respectively, compared with the AL treatment. In contrast, the VA + P treatment had similar DMI to the VA treatment. Our experiment shows ability to increase cow feeding activity at night by varying feed type and quantity, though it is possible that a penalty to total DMI may occur using VA. Further research is required to determine if the implementation of variable feed allocation on pasture-based AMS farms is likely to improve milking robot utilisation by increasing cow feeding activity at night.

Keywords

automatic milking systemruminantfeeding behaviourvariable allocationad libitum
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 13 , Issue 11 , November 2019 , pp. 2519 - 2526
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2019 

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