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Associations among body energy status, feeding duration and activity with respect to diet energy and protein content in housed dairy cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2022

Liveness Jessica Banda ,
Mizeck Gift Gibson Chagunda ,
Cheryl Joy Ashworth  and
David John Roberts
Liveness Jessica Banda*
Affiliation:
SRUC Research King's Buildings, Scotland's Rural College, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK The Roslin Institute and R (D) SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Penicuik EH25 9RG, UK Animal Science Department, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 219, Lilongwe, Malawi
Mizeck Gift Gibson Chagunda
Affiliation:
SRUC Research King's Buildings, Scotland's Rural College, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK Animal Breeding & Husbandry in the Tropics & Subtropics, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 17, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
Cheryl Joy Ashworth
Affiliation:
The Roslin Institute and R (D) SVS, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Penicuik EH25 9RG, UK
David John Roberts
Affiliation:
SRUC Research King's Buildings, Scotland's Rural College, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
*
Author for correspondence: Liveness Jessica Banda, Email: lbanda@luanar.ac.mw
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Abstract

The study in this research paper was undertaken with a hypothesis that accelerometer data can be used to improve monitoring of energy balance in dairy cows. Animals of high (select, S) and average (control, C) genetic-merit lines were allocated to two feeding systems, by-product (BP) and homegrown (HG). This culminated in four production systems referred to as BPS, BPC, HGS and HGC. Cows between their first and fourth lactations were included and a total of 8602 records were used. The target crude protein (CP) and metabolisable energy (ME) content in the BP diet was 185 g/kg DM and 12.3 MJ/kg DM while it was 180 g/kg DM, and 11.5 MJ/kg DM for the HG diet, respectively. Milk yield, body energy content (BEC) and animal activity were monitored while the animals were all housed for winter. Results showed that cows on homegrown feeds were significantly (P < 0.05) more active than cows on by-product feeds as indicated by higher motion index and number of steps per day. Feeding duration was not significantly different (P > 0.05) between cows under by-product feeding system irrespective of the energy balance of the cows. However, there were significant differences for cows under homegrown feeding system. Cows in negative energy balance had a longer feeding duration per day than cows in positive energy balance. Milk yield was negatively correlated (P < 0.05) to motion index and number of steps per day but not to lying time and feeding duration. The results showed differences in cow activity were related to diet content and body energy status. This is useful in precision farming where feeds are provided according to specific animal behaviour and feed requirements.

Keywords

Energy balancefeeding durationgenetic meritmotion indexproduction system
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 89 , Issue 2 , May 2022 , pp. 128 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hannah Dairy Research Foundation

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