The Effect of Frequency of Fresh Pasture Allocation on the Feeding Behaviour of High Production Dairy Cows

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dc.contributor.authorPollock, Jessica G.
dc.contributor.authorGordon, Alan
dc.contributor.authorHuson, Kathryn
dc.contributor.authorMcConnell, Deborah
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-31T13:34:08Z
dc.date.available2022-05-31T13:34:08Z
dc.date.issued2022-01-20
dc.descriptionPublication history: Accepted - 17 January 2022; Published - 20 January 2022.en_US
dc.description.abstractFor ruminants, grazing and ruminating activities are essential in nutrient capture and ultimately animal performance however these activities can demand significant time and energy. This study evaluated the effect of three different pasture allocation frequencies (PAF’s; 12, 24 and 36 h) on the feeding behaviour of grazing dairy cows. Eighty-seven spring calving dairy cows were divided into three treatments. Animals were rotationally grazed with fixed paddock sizes of 0.14 ha, 0.28 ha and 0.42 ha paddocks for the 12 h, 24 h and 36 h treatments, respectively. Animals (14 per treatment) were fitted with behaviour halters that monitored feeding activity. Diurnal feeding patterns were evident for all animals irrespective of PAF, concentrating the majority of grazing during daytime (90%) and ruminating activity during night (73%). Treatment significantly affected feeding behavior patterns. Peak grazing activity coincided with fresh pasture allocation in the 12 h and 24 h treatments. In the 36 h treatment, grazing was more evenly distributed over each 24 h period with peak grazing activity witnessed daily between 17:00 and 19:00 regardless of fresh pasture allocation, suggesting lack of anticipation of fresh feed delivery. In the 12 h treatment primiparous animals exhibited greater grazing and ruminating activity relative to multiparous animals in the 12 h treatment highlighting the impact of competition for resources within each feed on lower dominance animals.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was funded by AgriSearchNI grant number D-88-16. The APC was funded by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute.en_US
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12518/440
dc.identifier.citationPollock, J.G., Gordon, A.W., Huson, K.M. and McConnell, D.A. (2022) ‘The Effect of Frequency of Fresh Pasture Allocation on the Feeding Behaviour of High Production Dairy Cows’, Animals. MDPI AG. doi:10.3390/ani12030243.en_US
dc.identifier.issn2076-2615 (electronic)
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3390/ani12030243
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.rights© 2022 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).en_US
dc.subjectdairy cowsen_US
dc.subjectgrazing managementen_US
dc.subjectanimal behavioren_US
dc.subjectgrazingen_US
dc.subjectruminatingen_US
dc.subjectparityen_US
dc.titleThe Effect of Frequency of Fresh Pasture Allocation on the Feeding Behaviour of High Production Dairy Cowsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dcterms.dateAccepted2022-01-17
dcterms.dateSubmitted2021-12-16

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