Effects of an individual cow concentrate strategy on production and behavior

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a concentrate strategy based on the individual cow partial mixed ration (PMR) intake compared with a flat rate. Half of the cows were fed the individual concentrate strategy, whereas the other half were fed the control strategy. The individually fed cows were offered a concentrate proportion equal to 30% of the ad libitum intake of the PMR in the automatic milking system, and the control cows were offered 3 kg of concentrate/d in the automatic milking system. The cows (83 Holstein and 64 Jersey), kept in 2 separate groups, were blocked between the treatments according to expected calving date, breed, and parity and were randomly divided between treatments. Lactation was divided into 3 periods (early, mid, and late lactation), and the MIXED and GLIMMIX procedures in SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC) were used to analyze the production and behavioral responses. The response trajectories during lactation were analyzed with a MIXED procedure fitted by Wilmink parameters. The individually fed cows had a higher concentrate intake and a lower PMR intake than control cows. Moreover, the total dry matter intake and energy-corrected milk yield did not differ between concentrate strategies. The actual average concentrate intake reached 19% of the PMR intake during mid lactation and not 30% of the PMR intake, as intended with the strategy. This was due to leftovers and lower allocation than intended. The cow behavior did not differ between concentrate strategies. However, variation in PMR intake and eating rate between cows fed individually was lower during mid lactation and lower for lying bouts during early lactation compared with control cows. This may indicate that an individual cow concentrate strategy results in a more stable PMR intake and time budget, which potentially could improve welfare, but this needs further investigation. The overall conclusion is that the cows were robust to adjustments in the concentrate allowance.

Invited review: Lying time and the welfare of dairy cows

“…Similarly, Vasseur et al (2012) report a complex interaction between parity, stage of lactation, and type of housing. The only longitudinal study reported to date found that lying times in both Holstein and Jersey cows were lower in first-parity cows during the first months of lactation, and then this difference between parities disappeared (Henriksen et al, 2019;Munksgaard et al, 2020). We found no evidence to help us decide whether these age-related changes reflect changes in the animal's welfare.…”

“…Thus, we will focus on milking and feeding in our review of time constraints. Friend et al (1977) reported sizable negative correlations (ranging from −0.61 to −0.85) between the daily durations of feeding and lying down for cows in freestall systems, but small increases in feeding time (<1 h/d) do not result in changes in lying time (Henriksen et al, 2019). As expected, larger increases in feeding time lead to a reduced time spent lying down.…”

“…Age and parity do not appear to influence lying time in a consistent way, and a direct comparison among studies is difficult, as some are experimental and others epidemiological in nature. However, some experiments (Sepúlveda-Varas et al, 2014;Westin et al, 2016;Stone et al, 2017;Henriksen et al, 2019) report more lying time with higher parity, varying between 0.5 and 1 h, whereas others report no difference (Chaplin and Munksgaard, 2001;Bewley et al, 2010) or slightly re-duced lying times for cows in third or higher parities (−12 min/d; Brzozowska et al, 2014). Solano et al (2016) found that among cows in freestalls, multiparous cows had longer lying times only early in lactation.…”

Changes to steps, lying, and eating behavior during lactation in Jersey and Holstein cows and the relationship to feed intake, yield, and weight

“…In both experiments, a control treatment was compared with experimental treatments with different types of adjustments in concentrate allowance in the robot (Henriksen, 2019). Treatment was included in the statistical analysis of the current study to adjust for variation due to treatment; however, a description of the exact treatments and effects of the treatments is provided by Henriksen (2019). Hence, for the current study, the cows were studied as a single cohort allocated to various treatments.…”

Individual dairy cow management: achievements, obstacles and prospects

“…ICS can be applied in many ways, and a variety of interpretations can be made regarding the variable or variables to which ICS is related. In some studies it is applied according to MY, BW and estimated food intake (Cassel et al ., 1982; Maltz et al ., 1991, 1992 a , 1992 b ; Spahr et al ., 1993; Bossen and Weisbjerg, 2009; Bossen et al ., 2009) or as a percentage of the basic measured mixture consumed (Henriksen et al ., 2018). Neither stage of lactation nor reproduction status have been included in these ICS decision-making processes.…”