Abstract
Records were made on the feeding activity of eight water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) individually penned in the animal house at Nanjing Agricultural University during June-August 1996, fed ad libitum with Leymus chinensis hay. The weight of the food container suspended from load cells was continuously monitored for 30 days through a portable computer reading data from a multiplexed serial analog-to-digital converter. Processed records provided a list of meals for each buffalo on each day. Meals taking place over many days for each animal at similar times of day were grouped into clusters by maximizing the distance between clusters and minimizing the distance within. Intake parameters analyzed in each cluster included number of meals, starting time, meal duration, meal weight, rate of eating, hunger ratio, and satiety ratio. All the individuals showed a strong stimulation of intake at the time when fresh hay was offered, taking a first meal which lasted an average of two hours at the highest intake rate of the day. Just before a night-time resting period a second big cluster was found. Satiety ratios were shown to increase as the day proceeded, reaching a maximum in the evening. It is concluded that cluster analysis is a useful tool for summarising feeding behaviour and that the feeding behaviour of buffaloes is similar to that of cattle kept under similar conditions.

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