Behavioural needs and feeding behaviour

Cows are social, grazing, ruminating prey animals. It is rumination that sets cows apart from other animals: thanks to the fermentation processes in the rumen, cows can turn low quality forage into high quality food – milk and meat.

Tailoring your feeding, housing and care to the needs and attributes of the cow and her digestive system enables you to optimise production, health and welfare. And that leads to sustainability and a good income.

Social behaviour and eating together

Cows eat, lie and walk together in groups. Stress and food aggression occur if not all the animals in a group can eat at the same time. An animal that can’t eat or lie at the same time as the rest of the group will eat her meals faster and will eat less.

Cattle use eating to confi rm group relationships and dominance. This is usually demonstrated with very short, rapid signals. Dominant cows make it clear that they are the boss and low-ranking cows indicate that they know their place. This also happens at drinking places. It is essential for the animals.

Grazing cows fill their rumens with grass and then go and lie down in a dry, safe place to chew their cud. They do everything in groups, and all the animals in a group eat and rest at the same time.

Rumen flora make the menu

Vegetable material contains a lot of cellulose. Animals can’t digest this, but microorganisms such as bacteria can. Ruminants have two stomachs in which microorganisms break up the feed they have eaten. This process is called fermentation, the stomachs are called the rumen and reticulum, and all the microorganisms are collectively known as the rumen fl ora.

Sufficient chewing

Suffi cient chewing and, in particular, chewing the cud are a sign of a healthy ration that contains the right amount of fi bre. Chewing well keeps the rumen healthy and encourages plenty of ruminal activity, which is also necessary for a healthy rumen. Feed containing too little fi bre gives rise to abnormal behaviour among calves, such as udder sucking, navel sucking and urine drinking, and forms hairballs in the rumen. With older cows this can lead to rumen problems, gastric ulcers, intestinal problems, pica (eating things they shouldn’t) and diarrhoea.

A high-producing lactating cow eats for 14 to 16 hours a day on average. On an indoor ration she chews for 4 to 6 hours and ruminates for 9 to 11 hours. With 100% grazing it is roughly the other way round.

Cows need rest and peace

Prey animals always keep an eye on each other and their surroundings and react immediately to any threats, other animals’ reactions and unfamiliar situations. A nervous cow eats more quickly. But this also means that she eats less. And she stays standing up instead of lying down. In a relaxed herd all the cows eat at ease, but this is not the case in a nervous herd. Calm is created by giving the cows a sense of safety and certainty. Nervousness can quite easily be prevented if every cow can react safely.

Nervousness can be caused by many things, such as confl icts with other cows, fear of people or equipment, and unexpected, frightening events. Not being able to lie down enough also causes a lot of nervousness and stress – this happens when there are not enough lying places, or when the lying places are not comfortable.

Walking is healthy

Cows don’t have an overwhelming desire to walk around, but walking is very benefi cial to their vitality. If they have enough space to walk in, they will also have enough personal space, room to avoid confl icts and room to escape. In their natural environment cows walk from 5 to 15km (3 to 9 miles) a day, depending on the amount of grass and the distance to water. In a cubicle house, a dairy cow not in heat walks 1.5 to 2.5 km (1 to 1.5 miles) a day.

Anatomy of the digestive system, overview

Rectum

• absorbs water to reduce loss of fluids

Pancreas, gallbladder, small intestine

• increase pH

• add digestive enz ymes

• small intestine absorbs nutrients

Anus and vagina

• average of 70 litres (19 US gallons) of urine and manure a day with 8-9% dr y matter

Caecum, large intestine

• gut flora ferment the remaining fibres and nutrients

• absorb volatile fatty acids and water

Abomasum

• adds gastric acid and enz ymes

• digests rumen flora and other nutrients

• absorbs nutrients

Water and saliva

Around 300 to 400 litres (80 to 105 US gal.) of water pass through the rumen of a lactating HF cow every day. Feed contains about 50 litres (13 US gal.) of water. A dairy cow drinks 4 to 5 litres of drinking water per kilogram of dry matter that she eats (0.5 to 0.6 US gal. per lb). This amounts to 80 to 120 litres (20 to 32 US gal.) of water a day at an ambient temperature of below 22 to 25°C (72 to 77 °F). And the animal produces 200 to 250 litres (53 to 66 US gal.) of saliva a day. This saliva:

• moistens the feed and adds to the rumen fluid

• prevents the rumen pH dropping too low

• circulates nitrogen (urea) for protein production, as well as phosphorus and sodium.

A lot of the water in the feed pulp is absorbed again by the omasum and the large intestine. Cows lose water in their milk, urine and manure, and it evaporates in their breath.

Half of a cow’s saliva is produced when she chews, and the other half is produced continuously. If a cow doesn’t swallow or has a blockage in the oesophagus, saliva immediately starts drooling out of her mouth.

Omasum orifice

• blocks the floating mat and lets digested feed through

Rumen

• contracts to mix contents

• rumen flora break down the feed for their own energy and growth, producing volatile fatty acids

• rumen wall absorbs volatile fatty acids and minerals

Volatile fatty acids meet 50-70% of the cow’s energy needs. Rumen content: 180-200 litre (48-53 US gal.)

Throat, oesophagus

• direct feed to the rumen

• regurgitate the cud. Feed intake per day: 15-23 kg (33-51 lbs) dr y matter = 30-90 kg (66-198 lbs) fresh weight

Omasum

• absorbs large amounts of water, volatile fatty acids and cer tain minerals

• pumps feed pulp through

Reticulum

• regurgitates cud

• pumps rumen contents around and to the omasum

Rumen flora and free fatty acids as a food source

So a cow feeds itself from the rumen flora, the residual products from fermentation and nutrients that pass through the rumen and rumen flora. Volatile fatty acids are what is left over from the fermentation of carbohydrates (sugars, starch, cellulose). A dairy cow’s total volatile fatty acid production meets 50 -70% of her energy needs. She gets the rest from starch in the small intestine, fat and protein. The feed pulp is fermented again in the caecum and large intestine. The volatile fatty acids produced there provide 10 -15% of her energy

Mouth, tongue, teeth

• reduce and crush feed

• add saliva (200-250 l/ day, 53-66 US gal./day)

Nose, eyes, tongue, muzzle

• select feed and take it in

Feed intake:

• at pasture: 1 kg dry matter per hour

• feed fence: 1.5-2 kg (3.3-4.4 lbs) dm per meal of approx. 1/2 hour