The objective of the current study was to measure energy requirements and intake profiles for grazing dairy cows in early lactation. Cows were offered a daily herbage allowance to achieve a post-grazing sward height of 4 cm with 3 kg concentrate/cow/day. They were offered silage supplementation when necessary during periods of high rainfall which reduced intake due to difficult grazing conditions. Individual energy (UFL; unité fourragère lait) requirements were calculated based on energy required for milk production, maintenance and growth (< 40 months); UFL supply was calculated based on measured dry matter intake and the UFL content of the feeds. Week of lactation and parity had a significant effect on UFL requirement, primiparous (parity 1) animals had the lowest UFL requirement (15.9 UFL cow–1 day–1), followed by second (parity 2) and third parity (parity 3) animals (17.8 and 19.0 UFL cow–1 day–1, respectively). The UFL supply followed the same trend with parity 1, 2 and 3 animals consuming 12.0, 15.4 and 16.4 UFL cow–1 day–1, respectively. This difference in energy intake and demand resulted in cows being in a state of negative energy balance and led to bodyweight loss of 1.05 kg/cow/day over the first 12 weeks of lactation.