Automatic monitoring of cow behaviour to assess the effects of variations in feeding delivery frequency

Feeding cows in modern dairy farms is an important economic, animal welfare and technological consideration. The objective of this study was to use electronic monitoring systems to determine the effect of feed delivery frequency on the behavioural patterns and productivity of lactating dairy cows. Ninety three lactating cows were subjected to each of 2 treatments. Feeding treatments consisted of 2 different frequencies (6 7/d and 11 7/d) replicated in 2 different 7 d periods. Lying behaviour of 8 cows randomly selected was electronically monitored, whereas video recording was used to quantify the feeding time of all cows. All individual-cow milking-related data were automatically collected. Frequency of feed delivery had no effect on daily feeding time, lying time and the lying bouts, but high feed delivery frequency did affect the distribution of the length of the lying bouts throughout the day, decreasing the number of bouts that lasted from 150 to 200 min (P < 0.01), and increasing the number of bouts that lasted from 100 to 150 min (P < 0.05). Feeding frequency affected the lying time (P < 0.05) and feeding time (P < 0.001) around the provision of fresh feed. Cows fed 6 7/d tended to have a higher milk yield than those fed 11 7/d, whereas dry matter intake and utilization of the automatic milking system did not vary by treatment. Based on these results, high feed frequency can be beneficial for even distribution of feeding time through the day, but very high feeding frequencies may disturb the lying behaviour (length of lying bouts) of cows