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. 2016 May 10:3:37.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2016.00037. eCollection 2016.

Lameness Affects Cow Feeding But Not Rumination Behavior as Characterized from Sensor Data

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Lameness Affects Cow Feeding But Not Rumination Behavior as Characterized from Sensor Data

Vivi M Thorup et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Using automatic sensor data, this is the first study to characterize individual cow feeding and rumination behavior simultaneously as affected by lameness. A group of mixed-parity, lactating Holstein cows were loose-housed with free access to 24 cubicles and 12 automatic feed stations. Cows were milked three times/day. Fresh feed was delivered once daily. During 24 days with effectively 22 days of data, 13,908 feed station visits and 7,697 rumination events obtained from neck-mounted accelerometers on 16 cows were analyzed. During the same period, cows were locomotion scored on four occasions and categorized as lame (n = 9) or not lame (n = 7) throughout the study. Rumination time, number of rumination events, feeding time, feeding frequency, feeding rate, feed intake, and milk yield were calculated per day, and coefficients of variation were used to estimate variation between and within cows. Based on daily sums, using each characteristic as response, the effects of lameness and stage of lactation were tested in a mixed model. With rumination time as response, each of the four feeding characteristics, milk yield, and lameness were tested in a second mixed model. On a visit basis, effects of feeding duration, lameness, and milk yield on feed intake were tested in a third mixed model. Overall, intra-individual variation was <15% and inter-individual variation was up to 50%. Lameness introduced more inter-individual variation in feeding characteristics (26-50%) compared to non-lame cows (17-29%). Lameness decreased daily feeding time and daily feeding frequency, but increased daily feeding rate. Interestingly, lameness did not affect daily rumination behaviors, fresh matter intake, or milk yield. On a visit basis, a high feeding rate was associated with a higher feed intake, a relationship that was exacerbated in the lame cows. In conclusion, cows can be characterized in particular by their feeding behavior, and lame cows differ from their non-lame pen-mates in terms of fewer feed station visits, faster eating, less time spent feeding, and more variable feeding behavior. Further, daily rumination time was slightly negatively associated with feeding rate, a relationship which calls for more research to quantify rumination efficiency relative to feeding rate.

Keywords: accelerometer; animal; automation; behavior; dairy cattle; lameness; phenotyping.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Fresh matter intake (FMI, kilogram per visit) relative to visit duration (minute per visit) by cow with lameness category (lame: Y; non-lame: N) depicted before cow ID, n = 13,908 visits. Overall feeding rate is the slope of the regression line.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean fresh matter intake (FMI) per visit (kilogram per visit) relative to feeding frequency (visits/day) grouped by lameness category (lame: red; non-lame: black) with a line indicating the mean FMI of 35.6 kg/day, n = 311 cow days.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean feeding duration per visit (second per visit) relative to feeding frequency (visits per day) grouped by daily feeding rate (dayFR, gram per minute) with lines representing constant feeding times of 1 (dashed), 2 (solid), 3 (dotted), and 4 h/day (dot-dashed), n = 311 cow days.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Rumination time (minute per day) relative to milk yield (liter per day) grouped by daily feeding rate (dayFR, gram per minute) and lameness category (lame: red; non-lame: black), n = 285 cow days.

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