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The effect of sward surface height on grazing behaviour by lactating holstein-friesian cows

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

M. J. Gibb
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
A. J. Rook
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
C. A. Huckle
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
R. Nuthall
Affiliation:
Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, North Wyke, Okehampton, Devon EX20 2SB
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Extract

Sward surface height (SSH) has been shown to have an effect on the performance of dairy cows. However, to understand precisely how cows adapt to such differing sward conditions, it is necessary to study the interactions between bite mass, biting rate, and thus intake rate, and time spent grazing. An experiment was therefore designed to examine grazing behaviour and intake by lactating cows at three sward heights.

Type
Milk Production II
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1995

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References

Huckle, C.A., Clements, A.J. and Penning, P.D. (1989). A technique to record eating and ruminating behaviour in dairy cows. In New techniques in cattle production(ed. Phillips, C.J.C.), pp. 236237. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Huckle, C.A., Nuthall, R, Gibb, M.J. (1994) The use of short-term weight changes to measure intake rates in grazing dairy cattle. Research Meeting No. 4, British Grassland Society, September 1994, Session VII, Poster 5, 2pp.Google Scholar