Influence of the addition of water to total mixed rations on the feeding behaviour, feed intake and milk performance of high-yielding dairy cows

2021 ◽  
pp. 104743
Author(s):  
J. Denißen ◽  
S. Beintmann ◽  
S. Hoppe ◽  
M. Pries ◽  
J. Hummel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Milk Performance

scholarly journals Association of Feed Efficiency, Feeding Rate, and Behaviour with the Milk Performance of Dairy Cows

Dairy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-694
Author(s):  
Lenka Krpálková ◽  
Niall O’Mahony ◽  
Anderson Carvalho ◽  
Sean Campbell ◽  
Gerard Corkery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Feed Efficiency ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Feeding Time ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Milk Performance

Identification of the associations of cow feed efficiency with feeding behaviour and milk production is important for supporting recommendations of strategies that optimise milk yield. The objective of this study was to identify associations between measures of feed efficiency, feed intake, feeding rate, rumination time, feeding time, and milk production using data collected from 26 dairy cows during a 3 month period in 2018. Cows averaged (mean ± standard deviation) 2.2 ± 1.7 lactations, 128 ± 40 days in milk, 27.5 ± 5.5 kg/day milk, 1.95 ± 0.69 kg feed/1 kg milk—the measure used to express feed conversion ratio (FCR), 575 ± 72 min/day rumination time, and 264 ± 67 min/day feeding time during the observation period. The coefficient of variation for rumination time (min/d) was 12.5%. A mixed linear model was selected for analyses. The most feed inefficient cows with the highest FCR (≥2.6 kg feed/1 kg milk) showed the lowest milk yield (24.8 kg/day), highest feed intake (78.8 kg), highest feeding rate (0.26 kg/min) and BCS (3.35 point). However, the relative milk yield (milk yield per 100 kg of body weight) was the highest (4.01 kg/day) in the most efficient group with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk). Our study showed that the most efficient cows with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk) had the highest rumination time (597 min/day; p < 0.05), feeding time (298 min/day; p < 0.05), rumination/activity ratio (4.39; p < 0.05) and rumination/feeding ratio (2.04; p < 0.05). Less active cows (activity time 164 min/day; p < 0.05) were the most efficient cows with the lowest FCR (≤1.4 kg feed/1 kg milk). The behavioural differences observed in this study provide new insight into the association of feed behaviour and feed efficiency with milk performance. Incorporating feeding behaviour into the dry matter intake model can improve its accuracy in the future and benefit breeding programmes.

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

2015 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Halli ◽  
C. Koch ◽  
F.-J. Romberg ◽  
S. Hoy
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Fresh Matter ◽  
Oestrus Cycle ◽  
Number Of Visits ◽  
Time Spent Feeding ◽  
Daily Milk Yield ◽  
Daily Milk

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.

scholarly journals Feeding behaviour in dairy cows with and without the influence of clinical diseases or subclinical disorders

2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-159
Author(s):  
J. Dollinger ◽  
O. Kaufmann
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Behaviour Pattern ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Feeding Time ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Fresh Matter

Abstract. The objective of this study was to describe and compare circadian pattern of feed intake and feeding behaviour in healthy and diseased dairy cows. Test animals (n=138) were separated into two groups according to their health status. Health and management data were used to exclude cows with clinical or subclinical diseases. Fifteen cows of the test herd complied with the defined criteria and formed the reference group »healthy«. The behaviour of the remaining 123 cows was compared with the reference group. Both groups were used to analyse the feed intake and feeding behaviour on a daily base and in the course of 24 h. During a defined time range from day 28 post-partum to day 56 post-partum behavioural differences within these groups were analysed. There were no significant differences in daily feed intake (40.7 vs. 41.9 kg fresh matter per day, P=0.42). However, feeding behaviour pattern differed between the two groups (daily feeder visits, daily feeding time, number of daily feeder visit, number of daily meals, meal duration, feeding time within a meal, feeder visits per meal). For example, average feeder visit was shorter in the group with subclinical/ clinical health disorders than in the reference group (7.2 vs. 8.1 min, P=0.024). Differences in circadian feeding behaviour could be detected by analysing the feed intake and feeding time over the course of the day. Linear regression analyses showed strong correlations between feeding time and feed intake on hourly base (R² = 0.8) and on daily base (R² = 0.7).

Feed intake and milk performance of dairy cows fed fodder beets together with grass silage

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Birkenmaier ◽  
F.J. Schwarz ◽  
H.L. Müller ◽  
M. Kirchgessner
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Grass Silage ◽  
Milk Performance

scholarly journals Variations in feeding behaviour of high-yielding dairy cows in relation to parity during early to peak lactation

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Azizi ◽  
L. Hasselmann ◽  
O. Kaufmann
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Meal Size ◽  
Sensor Technology ◽  
Technical Requirements ◽  
Period 2 ◽  
Number Of Visits ◽  
Peak Lactation

Abstract. The objective of this study was to compare the feeding behaviour of high-yielding dairy cows in relation to parity during early to peak lactation and to determine whether or not there was any relationship between variables describing their feeding behaviour and total feed intake. Information concerning feed intake of each individual dairy cow is especially valuable for the herd management, particularly in early lactation. However, technical requirements for implementation are rarely given. Therefore, relationships between feed intake and time-related feeding behaviour parameters are of special interest. Time-related parameters could be recorded on farm conditions adapted sensor technology. Seventy high-yielding lactating dairy cows in different parities (23 in the 1st lactation, 17 in the 2nd lactation, and 30 in the 3rd-and-more-lactation) with an average of 11 000 kg milk yield per year were fed using automatic feeders from the 2nd to the 15th week of lactation. 222 231 recorded visits were analysed in three equal periods (period 1 = 7–39, period 2 = 40–72, and period 3 = 73–105 days in milk [DIM]) during early to peak lactation. Visits were clustered in meals based on the estimated meal criterion (28.5 min). The present study yielded the following values for meal frequency, number of visits per meal, meal duration, meal size, daily mealtime, daily dry matter intake (DMI), and feeding rate over the course of the study were 7.61 ± 1.7 (mean ± SD) meals/d, 4.02 ± 1.68 visits/meal, 37.07 ± 13.77 min/meal, 2.96 ± 0.92 kg DM/meal, 272.18 ± 82.14 min/d, 21.46 ± 4.29 kg DM/d, and 85.56 ± 28.77 g DM/min, respectively. Younger cows had more meals per day, more number of visits per meal, longer daily mealtime but a smaller meal size, lower daily DMI, and lower feeding rate compared to older cows (P<0.001). Meal duration and meal size were highly related to the number of visits at feeder per meal (R2=0.55–0.63; P<0.001, R2=0.25–0.39; P<0.001 respectively). In addition, meal size was highly related to meal duration (R2=0.59–0.72; P<0.001). Results from this study, which analysed data based on meal criterion, showed a higher correlation between the selected parameters of feeding behaviour and feed intake. The high correlation between meal duration and meal size could be used to estimate feed intake.

The effect of compound composition and silage characteristics on silage intake, feeding behaviour, production of milk and live-weight change in lactating dairy cows

1991 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Jackson ◽  
C. L. Johnson ◽  
J. M. Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Weight Change ◽  
Milk Fat ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Productive Performance ◽  
Lactating Dairy Cows ◽  
Principal Energy ◽  
Friesian Cows

ABSTRACTAn experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of compound composition and silage characteristics on silage intake, feeding behaviour and productive performance of dairy cows during the first 25 weeks of lactation. Over a period of 3 years, 36 lactating British Friesian cows (12 per year), in their third or later lactations, were divided into two groups. The cows in each group received either compound S, in which the principal energy source was cereal starch, or compound F containing a mixture of high quality digestible fibre. Cows given compound F ate 2·2 kg more silage dry matter per day (P < 0·05). The type of compound had no effect on the frequency of silage feeding and the time spent eating was significantly different only over weeks 10 to 25 of lactation (P < 0·05), with cows on compound F spending on average 20 min longer feeding per day. Cows on compound F produced 1·7 kg more milk per day than cows on compound S. Although there were no significant differences in the concentration of milk constituents, compound F was associated with higher yields of milk constituents. Significant differences were found between the years of experiment in the frequency of feeding (P < 0·05) and also in the concentration of milk protein and milk fat. There were no significant differences in the magnitude of live-weight change between treatments or year of experiment.

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