Providing concentrate feed outside of the milking robot increases feed intake in dairy cows without reducing motivation to visit the robot

Abstract

Appropriate and adequate feeding is essential to maintaining good health, productivity and welfare of dairy cows. Within automatic milking systems, concentrate feed is offered inside the milking robot, and is thought to play a key role in motivating cows to visit the robot for milking. As concentrate feed delivery takes place during milking, the amount of concentrate a cow can consume is limited by milking duration and consumption rate. Thus, some cows may require supplementary feeding, but concerns exist regarding the potential negative effects of allocating concentrate outside of the milking robot on motivation to visit the robot for milking. The study’s primary aims were to assess the effects of providing 80% of the cows’ concentrate allocation inside the robot or inside an out-of-parlour feeder (OOPF) on (1) milking frequency, refused milkings, and OOPF visit frequency, (2) lying time, (3) milk yield, and (4) partial mixed ration (PMR) intake and amount of daily concentrate allocation not consumed by the cows, and (5) time spent in the robot and OOPF. Forty-eight mid-late lactation dairy cows were split into two treatment groups, one of which received 80% of their concentrate ration inside the milking robot and 20% inside the OOPF (robot high), whereas the other received 20% of their concentrate inside the milking robot and 80% via the OOPF (robot low). The study took place over a 4-week period. GLMMs assessed the effects of treatment and time on the dependent variables milking frequency, refused milkings, OOPF visit frequency, lying time, milk yield, PMR intake, and amount of concentrate feed left unconsumed. No effects of treatment on milking frequency, refused milkings, milking time, or lying time were found. As expected, ‘robot low’ cows visited more frequently and spent more time in the OOPF than ‘robot high’ cows. Finally, ‘robot high’ cows left more of their allocated concentrate ration unconsumed, which suggests that feed consumption may be limited by milking duration and may result in cows not meeting their energy targets. In conclusion, allocating a portion of concentrate feed outside of the milking robot does not affect motivation to visit the robot or time spent resting, only briefly affects PMR intake and milk yield, and may enable cows to better meet their concentrate feed targets, all of which may positively affect health, productivity and welfare.