0063 Variability in feeding behavior between individual dairy cows fed under different levels of competition
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of differing levels of competition for feed access on group-housed dairy cows and on the variation in feeding behavior between individuals within the group. We hypothesized that, as competition increases, (1) cows will consume feed faster and in larger meals, and (2) individuals within the group will experience greater variability in feed consumption patterns. Eighteen lactating Holstein dairy cows with average DIM of 77 ± 20 d and production of 46 ± 7 kg/d at the start of the trial, were divided into groups of three, and fed three times per day. Groups were exposed to each of three competition levels: high (3 cows: 1 feed bin), moderate (3 cows: 2 feed bins), and low (3 cows: 3 feed bins). Treatments were assigned in random order according to a modified Latin Square design and applied for 10 d. DMI and feeding behavior (feeding time, feeding rate, and meal patterns) for each cow were recorded using an automated feed intake system on d 6 to 10 of each period. Data were summarized by group and treatment period, and analyzed in a general linear mixed model. DMI (29.1 kg/d) was found to be similar (P = 0.63) across treatments. Increased competition resulted in a reduction in feeding time (low = 202.6, moderate = 194.9, high = 83.6 min/d; SED = 4.49; P = 0.015), especially following fresh feed delivery and milking. Rate of feed intake increased with greater competition (low = 0.16; moderate = 0.18; high = 0.20 kg DM/min; SED = 0.01; P = 0.01). Meal frequency (8 meals/d) and size (4.0 kg DM/meal) were unaffected by treatment (P > 0.40), while meal length increased under high competition (low = 37.0; moderate = 36.6; high = 47.3 min/meal; SED = 3.7; P = 0.046). This was due to greater within-meal nonfeeding time, which at the high competition level, was approximately double that of the other treatment levels (low = 10.0; moderate = 10.8; high = 20.3 min/meal; SED = 2.3; P = 0.008). Analysis of individual within group variability, calculated as the daily SD of each group averaged across d 6 to 10, revealed treatment differences in variability of meal length (low = 12.0; moderate = 13.9; high = 29.0 min/meal; SED = 5.56; P = 0.04) and within-meal nonfeeding time (low = 6.4; moderate = 8.3; high = 21.5 min/meal; SED = 4.57; P = 0.03). These results suggest that at elevated competition levels, cows modify their feeding behavior to consume more feed in a shorter period of time and devote a large portion of their meal time toward waiting to gain feed access. Further, there is greater variability in meal patterns within groups at higher levels of competition for feed access.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".