Fig 3. Latency and time spent using each trough.

Back-transformed means and 95% confidence intervals are shown for the latency to use the (A) gated and (B) open trough after the 0800 h feed delivery and means ± SEM for the total time heifers spent using the (C) gated and (D) open trough. All heifers were fed 200 g/d of Sudan grass hay behind a gate that must be pushed to gain access, and to which additional weight was added daily until cattle no longer used it. In the unrestricted open trough, heifers had free access to either a total mixed ration with 12% forage (as fed, low roughage, n = 6) or 100% Sudan grass hay (high roughage, n = 6). To allow for consistent comparisons among heifers, behavior was evaluated on 5 d (relative to the day they pushed the maximum weight), and data are presented across days. Day was included in the model as a continuous variable, but was summarized as categorical for graphing purposes.