Feeding Behavior of Dairy Cattle

Abstract

Feed accessibility may be more important to cows than the actual amount of nutrients provided. Competition for feed, water, and space can be reduced by fenceline feeding of TMR, which allows all cows to eat at once. Holstein cows that were fenceline fed a TMR of corn silage and concentrates ate 26% longer following feeding than the same size group eating from bunks around which they traveled. Many dairies practice fenceline feeding during which cows’ heads are in the natural grazing position. Cows eating with their heads in the downward position produce 17% more saliva, which directly affects rumen function, than cows eating with heads held horizontally. When fed in shallow, elevated bunks, 10% of cows exhibited year-round rooting, sorting, feed tossing behavior, and feed wastage (0 to 5%). Groups fed at ground level or in headlocks showed little or no feed tossing behavior. This apparent livestock engineering problem is remedied easily by feeding cows in the natural head down position. Concrete mangers renovated with epoxy-type finishes, wood, or tile aid feed consumption. Social facilitation strongly influences eating bouts and feed consumption in cows reared in group housing compared with isolated cows. Palatability has a major influence on feed intake in ruminants, and the sense of taste is highly developed in cattle. Pasturing supposedly would reduce stocking density, environmental pollution (waste disposal, odor, nuisance), energy costs, and use of housing. Detailed observations, using intact and ruminally cannulated cows, suggest a behavioral need for the cow to rest and to ruminate on her left side. © 1993, American Dairy Science Association. All rights reserved.