. 2009 Apr 24;9:9. doi: 10.1186/1472-6785-9-9

Table 4.

Ingestive behavior of cows within alfalfa and tall fescue patches of three different size spaced with three different distances between patches. between patches.

	Patch size			Distance between patches

	Small	Medium	Large	1 m	4 m	8 m
Dry matter intake (g)
Alfalfa	18.3 ± 2.4^c	35.9 ± 2.3^b	58.47 ± 2.2^a	35.8 ± 2.3	36.5 ± 2.2	40.4 ± 2.4
Fescue	10.2 ± 4.7^c	23.0 ± 4.5^b	32.5 ± 4.3^a	17.9 ± 4.4	21.8 ± 4.3	26.0 ± 4.6
Bites cropped
Alfalfa	11.1 ± 1.2^c	25.6 ± 1.2^b	37.1 ± 1.1^a	22.1 ± 1.2^b	24.5 ± 1.1^ab	27.2 ± 1.2^a
Fescue	10.7 ± 3.8^c	27.6 ± 3.6^b	36.6 ± 3.4^a	19.5 ± 3.5^b	25.8 ± 3.4^ab	29.6 ± 3.7^a
Residence time (s)
Alfalfa	15.3 ± 1.5^c	34.2 ± 1.4^b	46.9 ± 1.3^a	28.8 ± 1.4^b	32.4 ± 1.3^ab	35.3 ± 1.5^a
Fescue	13.9 ± 4.2^c	34.6 ± 4.0^b	47.8 ± 3.9^a	25.5 ± 3.9^b	34.2 ± 3.8^ab	36.6 ± 4.2^a
Feeding stations (FS)
Alfalfa	2.1 ± 0.2^c	4.5 ± 0.2^b	6.5 ± 0.2^a	4.3 ± 0.2	4.5 ± 0.2	4.4 ± 0.2
Fescue	2.0 ± 0.2^c	4.3 ± 0.2^b	6.3 ± 0.2^a	4.0 ± 0.2^b	4.3 ± 0.2^ab	4.6 ± 0.2^a
Bites per FS
Alfalfa	5.1 ± 0.4	5.7 ± 0.4	5.7 ± 0.4	5.0 ± 0.4	5.5 ± 0.4	6.0 ± 0.4
Fescue	5.2 ± 0.5	6.2 ± 0.5	5.8 ± 0.5	4.6 ± 0.5^b	5.8 ± 0.4^ab	6.7 ± 0.5^a
Bite weight (g)
Alfalfa	1.65 ± 0.12^a	1.42 ± 0.12^b	1.57 ± 0.12^ab	1.61 ± 0.12	1.50 ± 0.12	1.53 ± 0.12
Fescue	0.97 ± 0.10	0.82 ± 0.10	0.87 ± 0.10	0.95 ± 0.10	0.85 ± 0.10	0.86 ± 0.10
Biting rate (bites/min)
Alfalfa	43.3 ± 1.5^b	44.8 ± 1.3^ab	47.5 ± 1.2^a	44.7 ± 1.3	45.2 ± 1.2	45.7 ± 1.5
Fescue	47.2 ± 2.1	47.6 ± 1.9	46.1 ± 1.7	45.8 ± 1.9	46.2 ± 1.7	48.9 ± 2.1
Intake Rate (g/min)
Alfalfa	71.5 ± 5.7^ab	63.7 ± 5.6^b	74.4 ± 5.5^a	72.3 ± 5.5	67.9 ± 5.4	69.4 ± 5.7
Fescue	46.2 ± 5.7	39.3 ± 5.7	39.6 ± 5.6	43.4 ± 5.7	39.8 ± 5.6	41.9 ± 5.7

Main effect least square means with different superscript are significantly different according to LSD _0.05. There were no significant interactions between patch sizes and distances