A SIMPLE APPARATUS FOR COUNTING THE NUMBER OF CHEWINGS IN CATTLE

A simple apparatus for counting the number of chewings in cattle was d eveloped to count the daily total chewing number during the eating and ruminating processes. It was possible to count the number of chewings continuously for more than 2 months without any difficulty. The daily total chewing number or time spent chewing was estimated accurately b y only reading the number once a day. When four heifers were fed a con stant amount of hay for 3 weeks, the coefficients of variance of the c hewing counts for days and animals were 7.3 and 8.8%, respectively. Te mporary increase of intake affected the chewing counts for more than 4 days after the feeding.