Influence of feeding flavouring-appetizing substances on activity of cows in an automatic milking system

Abstract

Cow behaviour and milk production were evaluated depending on the presence or absence of flavouring and appetizing substances in the diet. Fifty-two Italian Friesian cows were blocked according to parity, DIM, milk yield and average number of previous visits during a two-week period before the start of the trial and divided into two groups. The experimental design was a change over, with two groups and two periods lasting four weeks. The compared treatments were: concentrate with addition of flavouring and appetizing substances (FAS) or without (C). Each experimental group including low (L) (<21 kg/d), mid (M) (21-28 kg/d), and high (H) (>28 kg/d) yielding cows at which were offered 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 kg/d of concentrate, respectively, in the automatic milking system (AMS) throughout the experiment. The cows generally consumed all the distributed FAS or C concentrate. The experiment showed that cow’s behaviour was modified through the use of a appetizing component of the concentrate fed in the automatic dispenser of the AMS. Cows fed FAS concentrate increased the weekly visits without milking and milking frequency and decreased milking interval. Moreover, the use of the FAS concentrate reduced the number of milkings with intervals >11 hours by 5%. The greater milk yield of cows fed FAS could be a consequence of behaviour shift.