Automatic Supplement Weighing Units for Monitoring the Time of Accessing Mineral Block Supplements by Rangeland Cattle in Northern Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Time spent feeding by grazing cattle is an important predictor of intake and feed efficiency. This study examined the use of automatic supplement weighing (ASW) units for monitoring voluntary access of breeding cows (<i>n</i> = 430) to mineral block supplements in an extensive rangeland of northern Australia. The ASW units (<i>n</i> = 10) were located within each of experimental sites (5 units per site; <i>Bore and Eldons</i>). Over the 62 days of data collection, 85%, 13%, and 2% of cows spent <600, 600–1200, >1200 min accessing supplements, respectively, with between-animal variation (CV) of 107%. A total of 133 cows visited both sites while 142 and 155 cows visited only <i>Bore and Eldons</i>, respectively. Most visits (80–90%) were recorded during the day (800–1700 h), 7–17% during the night (1800–2300 h), and 3% during the dawn (0–700 h). Time spent accessing supplements differed between ASW units across the two sites (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and varied according to the day of visits (<i>p</i> < 0.001). There was a significant relationship between time spent at the ASW units and supplement intake on a herd basis (<i>p</i> < 0.001; R²_adj = 0.70). The results showed that the ASW units were capable of monitoring access to mineral block supplements that may reflect the supplement intake of rangeland cattle.