Seasonal and interannual variations in feeding station behavior of cattle: effects of sward and meteorological conditions

作者：Masahiko Hirata, Yuka Matsumoto, Seiichi Izumi, Y. Soga, F. Hirota, Manabu Tobisa · 发表于：animal · 年份：2014 · DOI：10.1017/s1751731114002869 · 被引用次数：10 · 研究领域：Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology、Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock、Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock

A feeding station is the area of forage a grazing animal can reach without moving its forefeet. Grazing behavior can be divided into residence within feeding stations (with bites as benefits) and movement between feeding stations (with steps as costs). However, relatively little information has been reported on how grazing animals modify their feeding station behavior seasonally and interannually in response to varying environmental conditions. The feeding station behavior of beef cows (Japanese Black) stocked on a tropical grass pasture (bahiagrass dominant) was monitored for 4 years (2010 to 2013) in order to investigate the association of feeding station behavior with meteorological and sward conditions across the seasons and years. Mean air temperature during stocking often exceeded 30°C during summer months. A severe summer drought in 2013 decreased herbage mass and sward height of the pasture and increased nitrogen concentration of herbage from summer to autumn. A markedly high feeding station number per unit foraging time, low bite numbers per feeding station and a low bite rate were observed in summer 2013 compared with the other seasons and years. Bite number per feeding station was explained by a multiple regression equation, where sward height and dry matter digestibility of herbage had a positive effect, whereas air temperature during stocking had a negative effect (R 2=0.658, P<0.01). Feeding station number per minute was negatively correlated with bite number pe...