Activity and rumination monitoring systems -- precision cow monitoring -- can revolutionize the way a dairy manages its cows. Or they can pile up frustrations and create greater expense without adding value, according to Dr. Melissa Cantor, Assistant Professor in Precision Dairy Science at Penn State University. She noted the following requirements to make the systems worth the investment for dairies:
- A commitment to embracing technology – Successfully using precision cow monitoring requires a combination of common sense, cow sense, and tech sense. Cantor said it’s not necessary for anyone on the dairy to be a technological whiz, but at least one person must be committed to learning the system, monitoring the data, and making decisions based off of it. “A lot of times what happens is people will buy these systems for estrus detection. This is fine, but farmers often pay for the algorithms for transition cow monitoring too because it is also a really attractive feature,” she stated. “However, if no one is acting on that data, you’re paying for something and not using it. Make sure you allocate a worker to transition cow monitoring with the system for maximum benefit.”
- Customizing alerts – Cantor said many precision cow monitoring systems were developed in Europe. Thus, the default settings were validated in herds of less than 100 cows that are usually housed quite differently than typical U.S. herds. “A lot of people don’t realize that the software lets you play with the thresholds of alerts,” Cantor advised. “For heat detection, I advise to mostly leave those alone; they work really well. But for transition cows, see what thresholds fit best for your farm. If you’re being alerted and the cows look perfectly healthy, the software needs to be adjusted. The same is true if you’re not being alerted until the cows are really sick and could benefit from earlier intervention. Ask your equipment dealer for how to adjust the health alert settings before purchasing.”
Timely installation – Cantor shared that it takes most systems about a month for the algorithm to understand an individual cow’s activity behavior for estrus detection. Some health alert systems take at least 50 cattle to move through the system before timely health alerts are detected in the herd, and most take about 8-12 days to learn an individual cow’s behavior. This is highly dependent on which system is purchased so make sure to ask your equipment dealer about the system you are purchasing.
She said a common mistake is to put rumination monitoring collars on cows when they freshen, versus a few weeks before in the dry period. “Those first 10 days in milk are when a lot of problems happen, but those opportunities will be missed because the system doesn’t understand the cow yet,” she said. “Plus, the baseline is also off, because the system thinks those early fresh days are ‘normal’ for the cow, when that’s not the case at all.” Cantor recommends putting rumination tags on cows at 21 days before freshening for maximum results.
It isn’t commonly known, but cows at risk for metabolic disorders show changes in rumination patterns weeks before calving. Keeping an eye on rumination patterns in the dry close up period is fundamental to evaluate which cows have consistent rumination and which ones have high variation in rumination patterns (at least an hour of variation a day). The ones that aren’t consistent in their rumination patterns are the cows to keep a close eye on after calving.
- Maintenance minding – Just as a point person is needed to utilize the technology, another is needed to keep it functioning. That could be the same person or two different individuals. But someone needs to be in charge of ensuring batteries are still functioning; tags are in good repair and staying on the cows; and equipment pieces are cleaned regularly. Cantor said a common problem with precision technologies in general is that they are viewed as shiny new tools that are maintenance-free. “That’s definitely not true,” said Cantor. “Virtually every dairy that hates their automated milking system, for example, is not maintaining it.”
Cantor said the capabilities of activity and rumination monitoring systems extend beyond estrus detection; they are exciting and highly valuable -- especially when it comes to transition cows – once the system is understood and customized to the dairy. “I hope more people use activity and rumination monitoring to fine-tune their transition programs,“ stated Cantor. “It’s great when it works.”
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