Dairy cow feeding behaviour: Basic

concepts and practical implications

Third DairyCare Conference

October 5, 2015

Trevor DeVries

tdevries@uoguelph.ca

Why consider behaviour at the

feed bunk?

Changes in intake must be mediated

through changes in feeding behaviour

DMI

(kg/d)

Feeding time

(min/d)

Feeding rate

(kg/min)

Meal length

(min/meal)

Meal frequency

(meals/d)

Meal size

(kg/meal)

Nielsen . B. L. 1999. Appl. Anim. Beh. Sci. 63:79-91

Why consider behaviour at the

feed bunk?

Changes in intake must be mediated

through changes in feeding behaviour

◦ These changes may also be reflective of the

health status of the cow (Weary et al., 2009)

Why consider behaviour at the

feed bunk?

Feeding behaviour can have a direct

impact on rumen digestion, health,

efficiency, and productivity

◦ how feed is consumed

◦ when feed is consumed

◦ what feed was actually consumed

How do cows eat?

Eating behaviour impacts rumen

function…

◦ Fewer, larger meals

Larger declines in rumen pH (Allen, 1997)

Data from Dohme et al. 2008 J. Dairy Sci. 91:3554–3567

Large declines in rumen pH following

feed consumption…

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 0:00 3:00

rum

en

pH

Time (h)

How do cows eat?

Eating behaviour impacts rumen

function…

◦ Fewer, larger meals

Larger declines in rumen pH (Allen, 1997)

◦ Longer feeding times, slower feeding

rate

Increased salivary secretion (Beauchemin et al.,

2008)

Improved digestibility (Aikman et al., 2008)

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 0:00 3:00

Time (h)

rum

en

pH

Data from Dohme et al. 2008 J. Dairy Sci. 91:3554–3567

Minimal declines in rumen pH following

feed consumption…

When do cows eat?

% c

ow

s e

ating

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

04:00 08:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 00:00

Time (h)

Tucker et al., 2007. J. Dairy Sci. 90:1692-1703

Feeding behaviour on pasture…

Delivery of TMR at the same time

as milking

0

20

40

60

80

100

4:00 7:00 10:00 13:00 16:00 19:00 22:00 1:00 4:00

Time (h)

% o

f cow

s a

t th

e f

eed b

unk

DeVries and von Keyserlingk, 2005; J. Dairy Sci. 88: 3553-3562

0

20

40

60

80

100

4:00 7:00 10:00 13:00 16:00 19:00 22:00 1:00 4:00

Time (h)

% o

f cow

s a

t th

e f

eed b

unk

DeVries and von Keyserlingk, 2005; J. Dairy Sci. 88: 3553-3562

Delivery of TMR 6 hours after

milking

Not only may important how she eats to

achieve her DMI…but the composition of

the dry matter consumed!

What do cows actually

consume?

y = 0.02x + 4.42

R2 = 0.46

5.0

6.0

7.0

80.0 90.0 100.0 110.0 120.0

Sorting of long particles (%)

Max

imu

m r

um

en

pH

Sorting for Sorting against

More sorting against long particles =

lower rumen pH

DeVries et al. 2008 J. Dairy Sci. 91:3958-3967

What effects does feed soring

have?

At a cow level…

◦ Lower milk fat %

For every 10% refusal of long particles milk fat % dropped by…

0.15% DeVries et al. 2011. J. Dairy Sci. 94:4039-4045

Fish and DeVries. 2012. J. Dairy Sci. 95:850-855

0.10% Miller-Cushon and DeVries. 2015. J. Dairy Sci. E-Suppl. 2

98:13.

What effects does feed soring

have?

At a herd level…

◦ Every 2% refusal of long particles =

-0.9 kg/d 4% fat corrected milk

2% decrease in production efficiency

Sova et al. 2013. J. Dairy Sci. 96:4759-4770

How do we use this knowledge to

optimize cow health, welfare, and

productivity?

Make sure dairy cows eat their feed

in a manner which is good for them

◦ dietary composition

◦ feeding management

◦ social environment

How do we accomplish this?

Provide feed that encourages

consumption of small, frequent

meals & difficult to sort

DeVries et al, 2007; J. Dairy Sci. 90:5572-5579

Other opportunities to impact

eating behaviour…

Utilize feed additives which stabilize

rumen conditions

◦ Monensin (Erickson et al., 2003; Lunn et al., 2005; Mullins

et al., 2012)

◦ Sodium bicarbonate (Gonzalez et al., 2008)

◦ Yeast supplements (Bach et al., 2007; DeVries and

Chevaux, 2014)

Greater frequency of smaller meals

with live-yeast supplementation…

0

2

4

6

8

10

Control Yeast

Meal fr

equency (

#/d

)

0

1

2

3

4

5

Control Yeast

Meal siz

e (

kg/m

eal)

Data from DeVries and Chevaux. 2014. J. Dairy Sci. 97:6499-6510

How do we accomplish this?

Provide feed that encourages

consumption of small, frequent

meals

Ensure cattle are stimulated to

access their feed throughout the

day

How do we stimulate cows to access

their feed throughout the day?

Deliver feed more often…

◦More time at the bunk

◦ Less feed sorting

DeVries et al, 2005; J. Dairy Sci. 88: 3553-3562

Feeding 3x/d improved intake…but did

not benefit feeding patterns!

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00

DM

I (k

g)

Time (h)

1x feeding

2x feeding

3x feeding

3x feeding

1x, 2x & 3x feeding

2x & 3x feeding

Hart et al. 2014. J. Dairy Sci. 97:1713-1724.

How do we accomplish this?

Provide feed that encourages

consumption of small, frequent

meals

Ensure cattle are stimulated to

access their feed throughout the

day

Minimize competition at the feed

bunk

0

1

2

3

4

69 25 112 91 59 352 90 109 19 52 5 60

Cow I.D.

Num

ber

of

Choic

es

With Dominant

Alone

Subordinate cows given choice to

trade-off feed quality with feeding alone

or next to dominant cow

Rioja-Lang et al. 2009. Appl. Anim. Beh. Sci. 117:159-164

0

20

40

60

80

100

0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00

Fresh Feed

Fresh Feed

Push Up

Push Up

Push Up

Milking

Milking

Time (h)

% o

f co

ws

feedin

g

What happens when we increase

stocking density?

Huzzey et al., 2006. J. Dairy Sci. 89:126-133

0.41 m/cow

0.61 m/cow

0.21 m/cow

0.81 m/cow

Results from cross-sectional study

of free-stall herds in Canada

Greater bunk space (per cow):

◦ +0.06% milk fat per 10cm increase

◦ -13% SCC per 10cm increase

Sova et al. 2013. J. Dairy Sci. 96:4759-4770

Insight into feeding behaviour should

improve our ability to develop feeding

management systems

◦Optimize and balance nutrient intake

◦ Prevent disease

◦Meet behavioural needs

◦ Improve welfare

Take home messages:

Further discussion???

Thank you to NSERC, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food

Canada, the Canadian Dairy Commission, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, Lallemand

Animal Nutrition, Westgen, the Investment Agriculture Foundation of British

Columbia, the Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network, the Ontario

Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, the University of Guelph, and the

University of British Columbia Animal Welfare Program for their financial

support.