Repeatability and Predictability of Calf Feeding Behaviors-Quantifying Between- and Within-Individual Variation for Precision Livestock Farming.

ABSTRACT: Individual calves show substantial between- and within-individual variation in their feeding behavior, the existence and extent of which are not fully researched. In this study, 57,196 feeding records, collected by a computerized milk feeder from 48 pre-weaned calves over 5 weeks, were collated and analyzed for individual differences in three different feeding behaviors using a multi-level modeling approach. For each feeding behavior, we quantified behavioral variation by calculating repeatability and the coefficient of variation in predictability. Our results indicate that calves differed from each other in their average behavioral expression (behavioral type) and in their residual, within individual variation around their behavioral type (predictability). Feeding rate and total meals had

SUBMITTER: Carslake C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9009244 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature