University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers spent two years analyzing how cows’ behavior in the chute – the passageway where livestock receive medical attention or other treatments – could indicate their grazing behavior. By using a molasses feed, the study determined cows that stayed for the feed were more consistent grazers.
The study included 50 Angus and Hereford cows tracked with GPS collars, allowing the researchers to collect grazing metrics such as distance and elevation traveled. Kristina Horback, a UC Davis associate professor of animal science, explained that the cows motivated by the molasses tended to wander the range solo, as opposed to the ones eager to rejoin the herd.
“They have their social group there,” Horback said in a release.
Their future research will investigate whether grazing behavior can be passed down generationally and will include observations of fostered calves and whether they pick up behavior from adopted versus birth moms. Next up in the research is to see if grazing personalities pass down to later generations.
Horback is also working with fellow academics in New Zealand and New Mexico to collect an international dataset of grazing behavior.
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