An operant-conditioning technique for the automatic measurement of feeding motivation in cows
There are few methods for measuring the motivation that livestock have to obtain resources. The objective of this work was to develop and test a prototype automatic system to measure feeding motivation in cattle. The system described arranges for individual cows to make a behavioural response of a round trip of 40m in order to obtain silage feed reward. A microcontrolled moving electric fence signals the end of a reward period and guides the animal 20m down a visually isolated race to the home end. Once the fence has travelled 20m, it stops and returns to a position that allows access to the feeder. The feeding interval and subsequent fence movement are initiated by a successful electronic identification of the animal's presence at the reward feed bin. The size of the reward can be controlled by the feeding interval at the reward feed bin. The cows were given an allowance of silage feed at the home end of the race and they could consume this without doing any work. In tests lasting approximately 23h, four cows made an average of 40 trips per cow, per test. The measurement system was used in four 23h training sessions and 19 tests of similar duration. During these 23 periods the system failed twice and was broken by the cow once. This work demonstrates the potential of the system to measure the motivation that cows have to obtain resources. There is ongoing work at AgResearch Ruakura to further develop the system to facilitate its more widespread use.
feeding motivation cattle behaviour operant welfare