Friday, May 3, 2013

Drinking Activity of Calves on ad lib Feeding
 
 Interesting facts on standing and drinking.
See below. In this trial the ad lib calves (N=9) drank 54% of their total day's food between 6am and 8am and 44% between 4:00pm and 6:00pm. In an additional trial with ad lib feeding of acidified milk replacer these calves (N=22) had a similar drinking pattern with highly concentrated feeding behaviors. Was this drinking behavior stimulated by worker activity in the barn feeding the control calves? Does anyone know of similar information on drinking behavior of calves fed 24/7 ad lib?

Ad lib group





Time Minutes Minutes Percent time

Standing Interval Standing
600-800 50 120 0.42
800-1200 74 240 0.31
1200-1600 72 240 0.30
1600-1800 36 120 0.30
1800-0600 83 720 0.12

315 1440 0.22




Control group  fed at 600 and 1600
Time Minutes Minutes Percent time

Standing Interval Standing
600-800 63 120 0.53
800-1200 73 240 0.30
1200-1600 104 240 0.43
1600-1800 26 120 0.22
1800-0600 75 720 0.10

341 1440 0.24    

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