lasted for 30–45 min after delivery of
fresh feed. This experimental observation
suggests that, relative to group size, bunk
space must not be limited, or that feed
availability should not be limited to avoid
reductions in feed intake for non-combative
and the more submissive cows.
Bunk space and feeding behaviourGrant and Albright (1995) recently reviewed
the literature pertaining to competition,
bunk space and feeding behaviour. When a
competitive situation exists at the feed
bunk, dominant cows typically spend more
total time eating than cows of lower social
rank, resulting in greater feed intake.
Recently, Swedish researchers (Olofsson,
1994) evaluated the effect of increasing
competition per TMR feeding station from
one to four cows. As competition per
feeder increased, cows exhibited shorter
average eating times and accelerated eating
rates. Similarly, visits to the feeding station
increased in direct proportion to greater368 R.J. Grant and J.L. Albright
Table 17.1.Summary statistics for milk production and feeding behaviour of six primiparous and six
multiparous lactating Holstein cows measured for 10 daysa,b.
Primiparous Multiparous All cowsVariable x– (%) CV x– (%) CV x– (%) CV
Milk production, kg day1c 28.7 15.5 37.5 13.7 33.1 19.7
DMI, kg day1c 20.0 13.6 24.8 11.3 22.8 16.1
NDF intake, kg day1c 6.2 13.8 7.6 11.4 7.0 16.1
Meal size, kg
DM 1.8 17.0 2.5 29.8 2.2 30.6
NDF 0.56 17.3 0.75 29.7 0.67 30.5
Eating bouts per day 11.3 17.3 10.8 25.4 11.0 22.1
Eating bout length, min 25.9 22.2 31.1 33.4 28.8 31.3
Eating time
min day^1284 16.5 314 16.8 301 17.3
min kg^1 of DM 15.9 23.7 13.6 14.1 14.6 21.0
min kg^1 of NDF 51.1 22.4 44.3 14.4 47.2 20.1
Eating chews per day 18,276 22.8 19,256 16.9 18,832 19.6
Eating chew rate, chews min^1 62.7 7.4 60.8 8.7 61.6 8.3
Ruminating bouts per day 15.4 17.5 12.9 13.3 14.0 17.8
Ruminating bout length, minc 29.7 15.9 36.0 19.9 33.3 20.9
Ruminating time
min day^1453 18.3 460 14.8 457 16.3
min kg^1 of DM 22.9 21.1 18.7 18.9 20.5 22.5
min kg^1 of NDF 74.1 20.8 60.9 19.0 66.6 22.3
Ruminating chews per day 29,645 21.5 28,946 17.6 29,248 19.3
Ruminating chew rate, chew min^1 64.4 10.7 61.8 7.2 62.9 9.1
Total chewing time
min day^1738 13.9 774 11.4 758 12.6
min kg^1 of DMc 37.2 15.9 31.4 13.6 33.9 17.1
min kg^1 of NDFc 120.7 15.6 102.0 13.8 110.1 17.0
Total chews per day 47,921 19.1 48,201 14.3 48,080 16.4
Water intake, l day1c 63.2 19.5 89.5 15.0 77.6 23.8
Drinking bout size, l 5.4 33.2 7.2 43.8 6.4 43.1
Drinking bouts per day 13.0 35.9 14.9 41.9 14.0 40.2
Drinking time, min day^1 17.7 37.4 19.1 20.0 18.5 28.7
Drinking time, l min^1 3.9 31.0 4.6 11.0 4.3 22.4
aStatistics calculated from daily total or daily mean for each cow and day combination.
bTable from Dado and Allen (1994).
cMeans differ between parities (P< 0.05).