Comparison of protein and energy supplementation to mineral supplementation on feeding behavior of grazing cattle during the rainy to the dry season transition

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Table 4 Intakes of dry matter (DM) and neutral detergent fiber corrected for ash and protein (NDFap), times spent on grazing, rumination, idle and feeding at the trough, total feeding and chewing times and feeding and rumination times as a function of DM and NDFap intakes by steers on pasture receiving protein-energy or mineral supplementation

Item^a	Supplement		S.E.M^c	P value
Item^a	Protein-energy	Mineral	S.E.M^c	P value
	kg/day
DM intake	8.1	6.3	1.81	<0.001
NDFap intake	4.7	4.0	1.41	0.016

Item^a	Supplement		S.E.M^c	P value
	Protein-energy (Min/day)	Mineral	S.E.M^c	P value
Grazing^a	618.9	653.7	14.19	0.107
Idle^a	413.9	395.0	14.93	0.423
Rumination^a	376.4	385.0	16.80	0.768
Trough^a	30.9	6.2	7.79	<0.001
Total feeding time^a	649.8	653.7	14.34	0.852
Total chewing time^a	1026.1	1045.0	16.76	0.350

Item^a	Supplement		S.E.M^c	P value
	Protein-energy (Min/kg DM)	Mineral	S.E.M^c	P value
Feeding^b	80.1	103.1	8.70	<0.001
Rumination^b	46.4	60.7	8.37	0.044

Item^a	Supplement		S.E.M^c	P value
	Protein-energy (Min/kg NDFap)	Mineral	S.E.M^c	P value
Feeding^b	138.8	164.2	10.63	0.004
Rumination^b	80.4	96.7	10.71	0.129

^aThe behavioral variables were considered mutually exclusive, as defined by Pardo et al. (2003)
^bCalculated as a function of the intakes of DM and NDF
^cS.E.M = standard error of the mean