Feeding behaviour in dairy cows. Motivational aspects

Lindstrom, T. 2000. Feeding behaviour in dairy cows. Motivational aspects. Doctoral thesis. ISSN 1401-6249, ISBN 91-576-5761-0. In this thesis I summarise and discuss the results of studies regarding motivational aspects on feeding behaviour in dairy cows. Questions addressed concern how feeding duration and rumen fill in cattle influence some behavioural variables reflecting frustrated feeding motivation, such as stereotypies and behaviours related to feed-searching, and also how rumen fill and feeding duration relate to oxytocin and cortisol. We have also investigated if operant conditioning is a useful method to measure and quantify the motivational strength to obtain roughages with different characteristics and sensory qualities. The aim was to test the hypothesis that oral manipulation of feed is a behavioural need in cattle, irrespective of rumen load. Low rumen content and long eating time had the effect that the cows spent a rather short time with behaviours related to feed-searching and showed low levels of stereotypies. Th