The objective of this trial was to compare different time intervals of chewing activity observation on lactating Saanen goats receiving diets containing cocoa meal or palm cake. Five goats averaging 41.6 of body weight were housed in individual pens and fed a diet containing corn and soybean meal as concentrate or diets in which corn and soybean meal was partially replaced by 15 and 30% of cocoa meal or palm cake (% DM). A 5 x 5 Latin square with 13 days for adaptation and two days for data collection was used. Chewing activities included time spent eating, ruminating and idle. Intervals of 10, 15 and 20 minutes of chewing activity observation were compared against the standard approach: observation at every five minutes. Increasing levels of cocoa meal or palm cake in the diet did not significantly change chewing behavior at any time interval. No significant difference was observed on the mean time spent eating, ruminating and idle at the different time intervals indicating that chewing activity of dairy goats fed increasing levels of dietary cocoa meal or palm cake can be measured at every 20 minutes rather than at every five minutes intervals.
eating; idle; observation; rumination
