A note on the effect of social rank on the feeding behaviour of young cattle on self-feed maize silage

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Abstract
In two experiments young British Friesian cattle were allowed restricted access to maize silage on a self-feed system. Restrictions were imposed by either limiting the width of feed face per animal or by reducing the time available for feeding. The social order of each group of cattle was determined by observing dominance-submission interactions between pairs of individuals. Dominance rank and angular dominance values were calculated for individuals in each group and related to silage intake, feeding time and rate of eating. Silage intake and rate of eating increased significantly with dominance value, and feeding time decreased although not significantly.
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