A method to record the feeding behaviour of goats

We developed a method to record the feeding behaviour of up to four stall-housed goats simultaneously. It consists of a series of tests to monitor intake, rumination and idling in Alpine and Saanen dairy goats. We used two complementary systems to record simultaneously jaw movements and the weight of the ingested quantities. The recording apparatus was composed of a portable electronic device connected by a flexible pipe to another softer pipe fixed on the inside part of the lower strap of the halter, between the halter and the mouth of the animal. The portable device was placed on the back of the animal, fixed on a basal plastic part which neither disturbed the animal nor changed its behaviour. The portable device transforms air pulses generated from the compression of the halter pipe into binary signals recorded every 2.5 s. Weighing machines, fixed under the feeding pans of the four goats, transmit weights to an adapted electronic memorizer able to store data every 2 min. The results showed very little discordances between the two sets of recorded data. Video recordings were performed to test the reliability of the systems. Comparisons between filmed and recorded behaviours showed a non-significant difference which did not exceed 1% when the goats were clearly seen. This method seems well adapted to stall-housed goats and provides complete and exact data on intake, rumination and idling over a continuous period (48 h in our case) and also on intake level and rate, (C) Published by 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.