The objective of this trial was to compare different time intervals of chewing activity observation on lactating Saanen goats receiving diets containing cocoa meal or palm cake. Five goats averaging 41.6 of body weight were housed in individual pens and fed a diet containing corn and soybean meal as concentrate or diets in which corn and soybean meal was partially replaced by 15 and 30% of cocoa meal or palm cake (% DM). A 5 x 5 Latin square with […]

This trial aimed to describe and compare the feeding behavior of Jersey cows at the beginning of lactation and fed diets with different fat sources. Fat sources tested were tallow, calcium salts of palm oil and ground soybean, representing sources of mainly saturated, unsaturated-protected and unsaturated fats, respectively. Eight cows weighing 389±27 kg, with body condition score from 3 to 3.5 and yielding 21.8±3.5 L/day, were used. Animals were randomly allocated to treatments according to a replicated Latin square design, […]

This trial aimed to characterize the ingestive behavior of Jersey dairy cows during cool and warm seasons, and at 30, 60 and 90 days post-partum. Daily time spent eating, ruminating and idling was estimated through visual observations recorded by a well trained observer. Records were made intermittently, using 10 minutes interval during 24 hours, five days per period, totalizing 30 days of observations. Ingestive behavior was recorded for each individual animal. Daily eating and rumination times were larger at warm […]