Stocking Density and Feed Barrier Design Affect the Feeding and Social Behavior of Dairy Cattle

Huzzey, J.M.; DeVries, T.J.; Valois, P.; Keyserlingk, M.A.G. von

doi:10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(06)72075-6

Cited by 250 publications

(262 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Furthermore, the lowest average number of visits to the feeding trough found by Proudfoot et al (2009) was 23, and was recorded for multiparous cows 1 week after calving under noncompetitive feeding treatments (1 : 1 (cows : feed bin)). It has already been proven that competitive feeding situations such as a reduced feeding space per cow at the feed bunk (Huzzey et al, 2006) or a cow : feed bin ratio of 2 : 1 instead of 1 : 1 (Proudfoot et al, 2009;Harb et al, 1985) can have a reducing effect on the time spent feeding per day (min). Considering the fact that cows were housed in tie-stall barns and were fed ad libitum, the feeding situations were noncompetitive in both of the studies of Vasilatos and Wangsness (1980) and Dado and Allen (1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigations on automatically measured feed intake amount in dairy cows during the oestrus period

Halli

Koch²,

Romberg

et al. 2015

Arch. Anim. Breed.

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Abstract. The aim of this study was to determine whether feed intake amount and feed intake behaviour could be related to oestrus in dairy cows. Furthermore, we investigated whether oestrus had an effect on daily milk yield. A total of 138 oestrus cycles, leading to conception of 100 cows, were analysed. The parameters "daily fresh matter intake amount (kg)", "daily number of visits to the feeding trough" and "time spent feeding per day (min)" were electronically measured and recorded. For a sub-quantity of all animals, daily milk yield (kg) was recorded continuously and stored in the herd management software. Special attention was given to the day of oestrus, which was defined as the day of successful insemination. All remaining days of the oestrus cycle were considered as the reference period. Among all animals and cycles, fresh matter intake amount per day, number of visits per day, and time spent feeding per day were reduced by 10.3, 9.1 and 20.8 %, respectively, on the day of oestrus. Fresh matter intake was significantly lower in primiparous cows than in multiparous cows. However, number of visits to the trough and time spent feeding per day were significantly higher in primiparous cows compared to multiparous cows. Day of oestrus did not have a significant effect on daily milk yield, as this parameter was characterized by high variation among all days of the oestrus cycle. In conclusion, if an RIC system is used, monitoring of feeding behaviour appears to be a potential auxiliary aid in oestrus detection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigations on automatically measured feed intake amount in dairy cows during the oestrus period

Halli

Koch²,

Romberg

et al. 2015

Arch. Anim. Breed.

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“…Nonetheless, an increase in interference interactions associated with feeding space restrictions has been well documented not only in confined calves and adult cattle (Olofsson, 1999;DeVries et al, 2004;Huzzey et al, 2006) but also in pastoral environments. For example, Walker and Heitschmidt (1989) reported that reductions in grazing space allowance (30 ha v. 10 ha paddocks) Table 3 Mean number of bowls visited 6 s.e.m.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does feeding area restriction inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in cattle?

Jackson

Cibils

Gould

et al. 2010

Animal

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Social learning from peers can trigger herd-wide intoxication with white locoweed ( Oxytropis sericea), an alkaloid-synthesizing herbaceous legume that grows on rangelands of western North America. We conducted an experiment to test the hypothesis that restriction of the area allocated to animals to feed in would inhibit social facilitation of locoweed ingestion in yearling heifers. Eight heifers that avoided white locoweed (LA) and eight heifers that readily consumed it (LE) were selected from a pool of 40 cross-bred heifers and were randomly assigned to the social facilitation or social interference treatment groups. We conducted 200 10-min feeding trials in three 5-day phases (pre-treatment, treatment, post-treatment) during which animals were presented with a set of bowls arrayed in a test arena, some of which contained ground wheat straw and others contained air-dried ground white locoweed. During the pre-treatment (days 1 to 5) and the post-treatment phases (days 11 to 15) non-social trials were conducted in which the feeding behavior of individual animals was investigated in an 80 m 2 arena containing 12 feeding bowls. During the treatment phase (days 6 to 10) social learning trials were conducted in which LA 1 LE pairs from the social interference group were exposed to 12 bowls of food distributed in an 80 m 2 arena intended to induce social interference, and LA 1 LE pairs from the social facilitation group were exposed to 36 bowls of food distributed in a 240 m 2 arena intended to permit social facilitation. During pre-treatment phase, LA heifers consumed detectably less locoweed and wheat straw and exhibited lower preference for locoweed than LE ( P < 0.05) although wheat straw preference of LA and LE was similar. During social learning trials (treatment phase), LA in the social interference group visited similar number of locoweed bowls (mean 6 s.e.m.: 0.2 6 0.12) as they had during non-social learning (0.2 6 0.20). Conversely, LA heifers in the social facilitation group visited detectably more locoweed bowls during social learning trials (1.6 6 0.46) compared with the pre-treatment phase (0.2 6 0.16). Correlation between daily number of locoweed bowls visited by LA and LE during social learning trials was detected in the social facilitation (r 5 0.70; P , 0.01), but not in the social interference group (r 5 0.15; P 5 0.52). During testing trials (post-treatment phase), locoweed and wheat straw intake and preference of LA and LE in both treatment groups was similar. Manipulation of the feeding environment delayed, but did not inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in this study.

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“…This difference was likely due to positive effects of the headlock barriers in reducing competitive interactions; there were 21% fewer displacements at the feed bunk when cows accessed feed by the headlock barrier compared with the post-and-rail barrier. Huzzey et al (2006) retested the effects of these two types of feed bunk barriers over a range of stocking densities: 0.81, 0.61, 0.41 and 0.21 m/cow (corresponding to 1.33, 1.00, 0.67 and 0.33 headlocks/cow). Daily feeding times were higher and the duration of inactive standing in the feeding area (waiting to gain access to the feed bunk) was lower when using a post-andrail compared with a headlock feed barrier.…”

Section: Physical Design Of the Feed Barriermentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Feeding behaviour of dairy cattle: Meaures and applications

Keyserlingk

Weary²

2010

Can. J. Anim. Sci.

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. 2010. Feeding behaviour of dairy cattle: Meaures and applications. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 90: 303Á309. There is growing scientific interest in feeding behaviour of dairy cattle, in part because dairy nutritionists are now becoming interested in how changes in feed intake are mediated by changes in behaviour and, in part, because changes in feeding behaviour are increasingly recognized as useful indicator of cow health. In this review we describe key methodological approaches to the study of feeding behaviour in dairy cattle. We also review empirical work addressing how changes in management and housing can affect this behaviour. We show how cows divide their daily intake into several discrete feeding events made up of a number of visits or ''meals'' that are separated by longer periods with little feeding activity. Feeding behaviour can be described using several measures, including the number and duration of meals, as well as intake and feeding rate. Feeding behaviour within a group of intensively managed cows is often highly synchronized, similar to that seen in extensively housed cattle, with delivery of fresh feed appearing to be the primary factor stimulating feeding by housed dairy cows. Competition at the feed bunk can affect feeding behaviour, increasing the feeding rate and reducing intake, especially for subordinate animals. We also review empirical work showing that feed intake, feeding times, and feeding rate are altered when cows are ill. Feeding behaviour changes in the days before calving, and these changes are greatest among cows at greatest risk of succumbing to disease in the early post partum period. These results suggest that monitoring changes in feeding behaviour may be useful in early detection and prevention of disease in transition cows. Les chercheurs s'inte´ressent de plus en plus aux habitudes alimentaires des bovins laitiers, en partie parce que les nutritionnistes souhaitent voir de quelle manie`re les changements de comportement affectent l'ingestion des aliments et en partie parce qu'on voit de plus en plus dans la modification des habitudes alimentaires un indicateur utile de la sante´de l'animal. Dans cet article, les auteurs de´crivent les principales approches me´thodologiques a`l'e´tude du comportement des bovins laitiers sur le plan de l'alimentation. Ils passent e´galement en revue les travaux empiriques indiquant de quelle manie`re les modifications au niveau des pratiques d'e´levage et du logement des animaux affectent ce comportement. Les auteurs montrent comment les vaches divisent leur alimentation journalie`re en segments compose´s de visites ou « repas » que se´parent de plus longues pe´riodes d'inactivite´. On peut de´crire les habitudes alimentaires en recourant a`diverses mesures, notamment le nombre et la dure´e des repas ainsi que le taux d'ingestion et d'alimentation. Dans les groupes de vaches laitie`res e´troitement e´leve´es, le comportement alimentaire s'ave`re souvent synchronise´, un peu comme cela se produit chez les bovins en claustration, l'arrive´e de n...

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Stocking Density and Feed Barrier Design Affect the Feeding and Social Behavior of Dairy Cattle

Cited by 250 publications

References 14 publications

Investigations on automatically measured feed intake amount in dairy cows during the oestrus period

Investigations on automatically measured feed intake amount in dairy cows during the oestrus period

Does feeding area restriction inhibit social learning of toxic weed ingestion in cattle?

Review: Feeding behaviour of dairy cattle: Meaures and applications

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