Features of concentrate feeding in an automatic milking system with free cow traffic

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study the main factors influencing the consumption of concentrate depending on the daily milk yield in an automatic milking system (AMS) with free cow traffic. The researchers obtained data by visiting AMS from 227 lactating Holstein dairy cows for 30 days. For a more complete characterization of milking activity and feeding concentrate during milking in the AMS, the cows were divided into 6 groups: with a milk yield less than 20.0 kg, 20.1–25.0, 25.1–30.0, 30.1–35.0, 35.1–40.0 and more than 40.1 kg per day. With an increase in milk production, the allocation of concentrate in the milking box increases (P<0.001). So, with a daily milk yield of 17.6 ± 0.5 kg, 4.93 ± 0.13 kg of concentrate was allocated, 23.0 ± 0.3 kg – 6.10±0.11 kg of, 27.9 ± 0.2 kg – 6.93 ± 0.09 kg, 32.7 ± 0.2 – 7.50 ± 0.15 kg, 37.3 ± 0.3 – 7.68 ± 0.29 kg and with a daily milk yield of 42.9 ± 0.4 kg allocated 8.00 ± 0.30 kg of concentrate. Wherein, the milking frequency between groups increases from 2.9 ± 0.1 to 3.1 ± 0.1 times a day. Box-visiting time has a significant impact on the consumption of concentrate. So, when visiting a milking box with a duration of 6.09 ± 0.42 min, cows consumed 4.53 kg of concentrate, with 6.96 ± 0.27 min (P<0.05) – 5.89 kg, 7.09 ± 0.22 min (P<0.05) – 6.51 kg, 7.25 ± 0.26 min (P<0.05) – 6.83 kg, 8.06 ± 0.40 min (P<0.01) – 7.08 kg and when the duration of the visit was 8.07 ± 0.31 min (P<0.01), animals consumed 7.39 kg of concentrate. Thus, we found that the cows of all productivity groups did not completely consume the concentrate allocated in AMS.