Evaluation of the Level of Length of Eating Time, Chewing and Parameters of Daily Increased Activity Depending on the Breed, the Lactation Number and the Period of the Year

Abstract

Eating time, rumination and activity is affected by many factors. Evaluation of the parameters obtained from Vitalimeter 5P was performed on 719 dairy cows Czech fleckvieh cattle and Holstein cattle and their hybrids within one farm. Data collecting took place for one year. As part of a detailed evaluation using the GLM procedure, the lactation number, the period of the year and the pedigree (P < 0.001) had a significant effect on the time of rumination, eating, increased activity and the sum of activities. The highest values in all monitored parameters were reached by H 51–87. Within the effect of the lactation number was evident a certain discrepancy when the longest eating time was observed in cows at the first lactation (293.20 min.), while the longest rumination time in cows at 3, resp. 4 and further lactation (484.82 and 482.46 min, respectively). The lowest values were monitored for these two parameters in exactly the opposite order, the lowest eating time in older cows and the shortest rumination time in the youngest cows. Results of evaluated periods of the years confirmed mainly the differences in the time of eating and rumination in the summer months compared to the rest of the year (P < 0.01). These results, both individually and within the interactions of factors, confirm the effects of the body framework in the case of breeds, the age of the animals within the lactation order and the importance of assessing heat stress in assessing the effect of the year.