Effect of Feeding Space on the Inter-Cow Distance, Aggression, and Feeding Behavior of Free-Stall Housed Lactating Dairy Cows

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to determine whether doubling the amount of feeding space from 0.5 to 1.0 m per cow leads to increased spacing between cows at the feeder, fewer aggressive social interactions among cows, and ultimately increased feeding activity. Twenty-four lactating Holstein cows were provided with 0.5 and 1.0 m of feeding space per cow in a 2 x 2 crossover design replicated over time. Time-lapse video was used to quantify the inter-cow distance and incidence of aggressive displacements at the feed alley. An electronic feed alley monitoring system was used to monitor the feeding behavior of the cows. When animals had access to 1.0 m per cow, there was at least 60% more space between animals and 57% fewer aggressive interactions while feeding than with access to 0.5 m of feeding space. These changes in spacing and aggressive behavior in turn allowed cows to increase feeding activity throughout the day, especially during the 90 min after providing fresh feed (an increase of 24%). This increase in feeding activity was particularly evident for subordinate cows. These results indicate that increasing space allowance at the feeder increases feeding activity and reduces competition among lactating dairy cows.

Feeding amount affects the sorting behavior of lactating dairy cows

“…With a zero-orts feeding system, it is reasonable to believe there still may be sorting throughout the day (DeVries et al 2005;Hosseinkhani et al 2008). In situations of feed bunk competition, this may result in those subordinate animals with poor feed bunk access at peak feeding periods (DeVries et al 2004) having to wait to feed at later hours in the day after the feed has already been sorted, thus increasing their risk of consuming a ration that is not designed to meet their nutritional requirements (Hosseinkhani et al 2008).…”

Avaliação de indicadores em estudos com ruminantes: estimativa de consumos de concentrado e de silagem de milho por vacas em lactação

“…O consumo individual de suplemento tem sido estimado utilizando-se indicadores inorgânicos, como o lítio (Kahn, 1994), o itérbio (Earley et al, 1999) e mais recentemente, o óxido crômico e o dióxido de titânio (Kincheloe, 2004;Marcondes et al, 2006).…”

Review: Feeding behaviour of dairy cattle: Meaures and applications

“…Reducing the space available for cows to eat increases competition (Mentink and Cook 2006). For example, DeVries et al (2004) showed that doubling feeding space from 0.5 m to 1.0 m per cow reduced by half the number of aggressive interactions while feeding. This reduction in aggressive behaviour allowed cows to increase feeding activity by Fig.…”