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Variation in Forage Preference in Dairy Cattle¹

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted to study the magnitude of variation and consistency of forage preference in dairy cattle. In experiments 1 and 2, cows had a continuous choice of two excellent forages in three comparisons: a) corn silage and hay crop silage, b) hay and hay crop silage, and c) corn silage and hay, in a latin square arrangement of three forage comparisons and three periods. Cows were relatively consistent in their choice of forages after the first week, but selection by different animals varied considerably. When permitted to consume hay, cows consumed slightly larger amounts of total forage although hay was not the preferred forage.

Experiment 3 was an 18-week continuous study in which the same three forage options were allowed but one forage was offered am, the other pm. Although restricted to one forage at a time, cows expressed strong individual preference for the forage of choice regardless of whether the preferred forage was offered am or pm.

¹ This study was supported in part through a grant from Agway, Inc., Syracuse, New York. The authors also wish to express their appreciation for technical help to R. E. Smith in Experiment 1 and to G. B. Lake in Experiments 2 and 3.

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