Since energetic deficits in dairy cows can only be reduced at an animal level, the objective of the present study was to determine the extent of variation in intake behavior within and between animals during early lactation, to explore the magnitude of interactions between feed intake, intake behavior and nutrient digestibility, and to identify levers for maximizing feed intake at the individual animal level. Feeding behavior, intake and nutrient digestibility of 28 German Holstein dairy cows, fed TMR with 7.0 MJ NEL, were studied between the 2nd and 15th week after calving. Dry matter intake was assessed daily and nutrient digestibility weekly, with iNDF₂₄₀ as an intrinsic marker. Results showed high intra- and inter-individual variation in intake behavior parameters with coefficients of variation (CV) up to 0.58 in meal frequency. Nutrient digestibility varied only slightly with CV values up to 0.10 in crude protein. Milk yield, meal frequency, feeding time, feeding rate and meal size had significant positive effects on DMI (p < 0.01). To achieve long-term improvements in feed intake, it is important to optimize feed intake and feeding behavior of individual animals by improving feeding conditions and develop technical tools to identify animals with insufficient feed intake.

Traditionally, the energy supply of dairy cows is based on the average performance of the herd. Because this contradicts the great variation in requirements between individual animals, the objective of the present study was to quantify both the extent and consequences of variation in the relevant sub-variables used to calculate the energy balance (EB) on an individual animal basis. Total energy supply (TES) and requirements (TER) of 28 multiparous German Holstein dairy cows fed TMR with 7.0 MJ NEL were studied between the 2nd and 15th week after calving. TES, mainly influenced by DMI, increased from 100.1 (week 2) to 152.1 MJ NEL/d (week 15; p < 0.01). Weekly coefficients of variation (CV) ranged between 0.10 and 0.16 and were similar to the CV of DMI (0.09 to 0.17). TER, as the sum of energy requirement for maintenance (body weight) and production (milk yield), decreased from 174.8 (week 2) to 164.5 MJ NEL/d (week 15; p < 0.01) and CV varied between 0.16 (week 2) and 0.07 (week 11). EB increased from −74.8 (week 2) to −12.4 MJ NEL/d (week 15; p < 0.01) and CV varied from 0.32 (week 3) to 1.01 (week 10). The results indicate that calculating EB on an individual animal basis is a prerequisite to identify animals with an increased risk of failing to cope with their energy situation, which cause failure costs that drain the profit of affected cows.