Effects of varying feeding time on diurnal calving patterns in
dairy cows
K.L. Macmillan, M.G. Pearce, P.J.A. Copeman, K.A. Macdonald and
R. Kilgour
Ruakura Animal Research Station, Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries, Hamilton
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production.
1985, 45: 35-38
Normal calvings among 527 cows in a Ruakura Research Station
herd (No.1) were not evenly distributed throughout the 24 hours. They
were most frequent in the early morning (0100 h to 0600 h, 39%) and
afternoon (1300 h to 1900 h, 29%). This diurnal pattern was consistent
between years. Altering feeding time from 0700 h to either 1600 h or
1900 h did not increase the frequency of daylight calvings. Feeding at
1900 h did produce 2 periods of intensive grazing each 24 h instead of
only one. If a beneficial change in calving pattern is to be produced,
it may be necessary to disrupt the period when most cows rest (0100 h to
0600 h) by feeding at around 0300 h.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
Dairy cows; calving times; feeding times; grazing times
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Last Updated 03-05-1997
