Eating

Ideally cows should be eating 12 identical meals spread throughout the day. They should chew a lot and they should not feed selectively (‘sorting’). The more milk they are producing, the more important this is. For cows to be able to eat a large number of meals and chew calmly, the eating place must be easily accessible and they must be able to eat stress-free. The feed must always be palatable, and the fact that they are fed often (≥ 2x) and feed is pushed up means that they never eat extremely large meals. New feed delivery always encourages the cows to go and eat. And in order to eat a lot, they also need to drink a lot.

Small meals, lots of chewing

A cow should eat a large number of meals spread evenly throughout the day. This way each meal is small, the rumen is kept full and drops in pH are minimised. In good barn conditions dairy cows eat around 10-14 meals per day. The most productive animals eat 14 times per day.

A cow is eating optimally if:

• she can get to palatable food easily

• she doesn’t have to rush

• she can eat in comfort

• she is healthy and free from pain and stress

• she has regularity and a routine

• she can eat at the same time as the other cows.

Eating together, lying together

A cow that can’t eat at the same time as the rest of the group will eat more hurriedly and will often eat less. She will also lie down less, which puts extra pressure on her feet.

As long as there is always plenty of palatable feed with the correct composition available, you can limit the consequences of having too few eating places. But if feed is limited or diffi cult to access, or if cows eat selectively, they will start to fi ght for dominance and the weaker or lower ranking animals will suffer. This will result in more problem animals, which in turn means more work for you, higher costs and lower production. This has the greatest impact on dry cows and the least on low-production cows.

With her ears back and a slight head movement, the black cow sends a ‘threatening’ message to the white cow. The white cow does not threaten back, so she is confirming the dominant position of the black cow. Confirming social ties and dominance is a very important part of eating and drinking.

Animals that don’t eat with the main group will eat when the main group is resting. They will eat more quickly, resulting in more rumen acidosis and poorer feed utilisation. They will also often eat slightly less, which can lead to greater weight loss and ketosis.

The cow mainly uses her nose to decide whether food is palatable – i.e. by smelling it.

Eating mixed feed

If cows don’t eat a mixture of all the feed together, they will tend to eat meals consisting of rapidly digestible feed. This can cause the pH in the rumen to drop temporarily and the feed to pass through to the small intestine more quickly. Later meals will usually digest slowly because they contain less readily available energy or protein for the rumen fl ora.

Selective feeding , or sorting also produces more friction between the cows, particularly if not all cows can eat at the same time.

Feeding more often, less selective feeding

Feeding more often reduces the occurrence of sorting. The feed components will remain more palatable because the cows do not contaminate them with saliva and less heating will take place. Cows can’t pick out large quantities of concentrate to eat when there is less feed in the trough. The length of time cows have to eat has no impact on sorting of feed.

Eating as much dry matter as possible

Whether a cow eats the maximum quantity of dry matter she can eat is determined by:

1. The digestibility of the ration

More rapidly digestible feed disappears quickly from the rumen.

2. The volume of feed Rations that are very wet or very bulky, such as a dry-off ration, a parlour ration with less than 30-35% dry matter or grass that is soaking wet, will fi ll up the rumen before the cow has satisfi ed her hunger.

3. The taste of the feed

Feed that is even more appetising will not make the cows eat more, but feed that does not taste good will make them eat less. Supplying fresh feed entices the cows to come and eat.

4. Rumen problems, illness and pain

All causes of discomfort, stress and anxiety reduce feed intake.

This cow is standing with her hind legs too far forwards. They are also pointing outwards and she seems to be taking the weight off her right rear foot. These are hoof signals that point very strongly to sole haemorrhages (bruising). Underlying causes are rumen acid-osis and severe weight loss (reduced hoof quality) combined with uncomfortable cubicles and long standing times (high load). Treat the cow and tackle the causes.