The study was the subject of a PhD thesis by Sydney University student Alex John which sought to understand how cows feed when subjected to different feed times both in daylight or at night,
The results will help provide answers to how they can be robotically milked.
In his study, dry cows were placed in feeding pens in three groups.
Some were allowed to feed at will over a 24-hour period, another fed at night while the third during daylight hours.
«We saw a really interesting difference,» Mr John said.
«If we split the 12 hours into two lots of six hours, the day cows were splitting their intakes (feeding) pretty much evenly.
«The night cows were consuming around 75 per cent of their daily intake in that first six-hour period and only 25 per cent in the last six hours.
«What that shows is that cows have a real strong urge to be resting at that period and not be active at all feeding.»
«That will have a massive impact on the flow through the dairy.»
To spread the cows feeding and therefore going through the automated system there needs to be a «manipulation» of the cows.
«Do we give more feed during the night time to encourage the cows to be feeding then more actively?»
He said there might be the need to in fact give them less feed at a certain time, therefore encouraging them to go looking for feed at a different time.
The conclusion is not surprising whether it be cows, or other animals including humans.
«Do we offer them something that is more enticing to the cows at night time? Would this encourage them to move around more the system.»
Once the results are known and it is learnt what works, Mr John said this would be applied to milking cows on a dairy farm.
The cows which were subject to the program were aged between two and six.
There were nine cows in each group, all penned individually.
«The cows adapted really quickly to a change in feeding strategy,» Mr John said.
«For a commercial farm this shows cows were able to adapt quite quickly.»
Source: ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-28/day-night-dairy-feeding-robotic-milking/7551636
