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The Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802
Abstract
The design and operation of a system for monitoring feeding behavior of individual, free-feeding sheep is described. Eating and drinking activities of the animal are monitored by use of photoelectric relays coupled to event recorders. Feed is eaten from one of 10 removable pans located on the periphery of a turntable. After the animal has completed a meal and has remained outside the feeding area for a given time interval, a timer, which receives input from the photoelectric relays, activates the turntable. As the sheep reenters the feeding area, the turntable rotates removing the pan containing the remainder of the previous meal and replacing it with another pan containing a pre-weighed amount of feed. Combination of behavior data from event recorders and measurements of meal size enables quantitation of meal numbers and durations and eating rates for individual meals. Sheep maintained in the system consumed an average of 8.48 meals per day and 135.2 g of a complete ration (80% concentrate, 20% hay) per meal. Means for overall meal duration (time from start to finish) and actual meal duration (time spent consuming feed) were 21.6 and 12.6 min, respectively. Overall and actual eating rates were 7.5 and 11.7 g per min, respectively. Eating rate, however, varied with meal size. As sheep consumed larger meals, both meal duration and eating rate increased. For meals >275 g, meal duration increased further but eating rate plateaued.
1 Authorized for publication July 10, 1975 as Paper No. 4895 in the journal series of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station.
2 Department of Animal Science.
3 Present address: Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850.
4 Present address: Department of Animal Science, MacDonald College of McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
5 Department of Electrical Engineering.
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