A major cause of low silage intake is that some nutrients become available at different times than others i.e. asynchrony of supply. It is possible that, given a choice between foods with different nutrient profiles, animals will take meals at the times that optimise synchrony of supply. The observations reported here examine this concept where lactating cows were given access to concentrates high and low in digestible undegraded protein (DUP).

Six cows in peak lactation and six cows towards the end of lactation were housed in a straw yard where they were offered grass silage ad libitum. Limited access was given to two concentrate feeders containing differently flavoured compounds one high in DUP (28% total protein) and the other low in DUP (18% total protein). Feeders were monitored and controlled according to the LUCIFIR system (Forbes et al., 1986). The two Out of Parlour Feeders (OPFs) were set to dispense 1kg meals.