Intake behaviour of black Bengal kids reared under cafeteria feeding system vis-a-vis total mixed ration

The effect of different feeding systems (cafeteria and total mixed ration/TMR feeding) on the voluntary intake and intake behavior of Black Bengal kids was evaluated in this study. Twelve Black Bengal growing kids were housed indoors and were allocated to two age groups (six kids each): 3-6 months (AGE 1) and 9-12 months (AGE 2) and were fed on four treatments/diets such as T1(Free choice Paddy straw, Berseem, Oats, Jackfruit leaves, Guinea grass), T2 (Free choice Paddy straw, Berseem, Oats, Jackfruit leaves, Guinea grass and Concentrate mixture (@ 1.25% of BW)), T3 (Five fodders offered in T1 mixed together as TMR) and T4 (Five fodders and concentrate mixture offered in T2 were mixed together as TMR). Feeds were offered for two hours during the morning (9 am to 11 am) and during the evening (5 pm to 7 pm). The study lasted 41 days and was conducted in 3 cycles/batches when a representative sample of feeds and residue was collected every day throughout the experimental period. Observations of each animal under each treatment/diet were recorded using CCTV cameras for further analysis of recorded data. The total number of bouts per day taken by kids and total time spent (in minutes) per day was significantly (p