Effect of time of day on grazing behaviour by lactating dairy cows

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to examine the effect of time of day on the rate of intake of herbage by grazing dairy cows. Eight unsupplemented Holstein Friesian cows in their fourth month of lactation grazed grass swards maintained at a sward surface height of 6·5 cm. Commencing at 07.00, 11.30, 16.00 and 19.00 h, intake rates were estimated by measuring the liveweight change, corrected for insensible weight loss, over a period of 1 h while grazing. During the period of grazing, recordings of jaw movement activity were made to determine total eating time, number of grazing jaw movements (GJMs) and bites. Total eating time over 24 h was measured: once before and once after determination of intake rate.Although time of day did not affect GJM rate, it had a quadratic effect on the proportion of GJMs represented by biting and non‐biting jaw movements, resulting in a significant effect on bite rate. Bite rate showed a quadratic effect of time, decreasing between 07.00 and 11.30 h, and then increasing by 16.00 h to reach a maximum at 19.00 h (52·6, 47·5, 51·6 and 59·4 bites min−1 respectively). Bite mass (mg fresh matter bite−1) was greatest at 07.00 h because of the lower dry‐matter (DM) content of the herbage and the presence of surface moisture at that time, but the effect of time of day was not significant. Mean bite mass measured as DM or organic matter (OM) differed significantly between the different times of day (332, 384, 481 and 402 mg DM and 302, 348, 438 and 367 mg OM bite−1 respectively). The net result of these differences in bite rate and bite mass was a linear increase in DM and OM intake rate over the day. The magnitude of such differences will have profound effects on mean daily intakes when calculated as the product of total eating time and intake rate.