Predicting morbidity and mortality using automated milk feeders: A scoping review

Abstract

Automated milk feeders (AMF) are computerized systems that provide producers with a tool that can be used to more efficiently raise dairy calves and allow for easier implementation of a high plane of nutrition during the milk feeding phase. Automated milk feeders also have the ability to track individualized behavioral data, such as milk consumption, drinking speed, and the number of rewarded and unrewarded visits to the feeder, that could potentially be used to predict disease development. The objective of this scoping review was to characterize the body of literature investigating the use of AMF data to predict morbidity and mortality in dairy calves during the preweaning stage. This review lists the parameters that have been examined for associations with disease in calves and identify discrepancies found in the literature. Five databases and relevant conference proceedings were searched. Eligible studies focused on the use of behavioral parameters measured by AMF to predict morbidity or mortality in preweaned dairy calves. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts from 6,675 records identified during the literature search. After title and abstract screening, 382 studies were included and then assessed at the fulltext level. Of these, 56 studies fed calves using an AMF and provided some measure of morbidity or mortality. Thirteen examined AMF parameters for associations with morbidity or mortality. The studies were completed in North America (n = 6), Europe (n = 6), and New Zealand (n = 1). The studies varied in sample size, ranging from 30 to 1,052 calves with a median of 100 calves. All 13 studies included enteric disease as an outcome and 11 studies evaluated respiratory disease. Of the studies measuring enteric disease, 8 provided disease definitions (n = 8/13, 61.2%); however, for respiratory disease, only 5 provided a disease definition (n = 5/11, 45.5%). Disease definitions and thresholds varied greatly between studies, with 10 using some form of health scoring. When evaluating feeding metrics as indicators of disease, all 13 studies investigated milk consumption and 6 and 7 studies investigated drinking speed and number of rewarded and unrewarded visits, respectively. Overall, this scoping review identified that daily milk consumption, drinking speed, and rewarded and unrewarded visits may provide insight into early disease detection in preweaned dairy calves. However, the disparity in reporting of study designs and results between included studies made comparisons challenging. In addition, to aid with the interpretation of studies, standardized disease outcomes should be used to improve the utility of this primary research.

Daily behavioral measures recorded by precision technology devices may indicate bovine respiratory disease status in preweaned dairy calves

“…(1) use of technology to increase farm efficiency and (2) use of wearable precision technology devices to manage production parameters, or monitor the behavior of livestock (Eckelkamp and Bewley, 2020). For calves, automated feeders have been used, feeding behaviors such as drinking speed, milk intake, and visits have been associated with BRD status in calves as reviewed by Morrison et al (2021). Accelerometers have also been used in calf research, lying time, lying bouts, and step counts have been associated with BRD status in calves as reviewed by Costa et al (2021).…”

A Systematic Review of Automatic Health Monitoring in Calves: Glimpsing the Future From Current Practice

“…The decreasing cost and increasing implementation of electronic tools allows for the application of "sensing solutions" to animal farming. Behavioral and physiological parameters can nowadays be automatically recorded at individual animal level, continuously and over long periods of time (27,28). During the past decade, various sensor data models have been proposed for automatic health-monitoring systems in dairy and veal calves.…”

“…During the past decade, various sensor data models have been proposed for automatic health-monitoring systems in dairy and veal calves. To date, however, there has been no systematic review presenting the associated gaps in research, while literature reviews have previously been done for pigs (29,30), dairy cows (31,32), dairy sheep (33), and dairy calves (27,28). The objectives of this literature review were hence: to investigate previously applied sensor validation methods and gold standards; to identify sensors used on calves, the parameters these sensors monitor, and the statistical tools applied to identify diseases; and to explore potential research gaps to point to opportunities for future research.…”

Associations between Feeding Behaviors Collected from an Automated Milk Feeder and Neonatal Calf Diarrhea in Group Housed Dairy Calves: A Case-Control Study

“…Furthermore, there was a NCD status x day interaction for rewarded visits, which were less for NCD calves on day −1 and day 0, but greater on day 3 compared to control calves. Milk intake has been associated with NCD in other studies as highlighted by a scoping review [ 18 ]. Our findings highlight that the onset of NCD in calves leads to sickness behavior and anorexia which are the first behavioral changes that occur when the immune response is activated [ 13 ].…”

“…These studies suggest that feeding behaviors are likely associated with NCD status in calves. However, as reported in a scoping review, very few studies have used abnormal fecal consistency scoring as their diagnostic criteria [ 18 ], and this is imperative since it is one of the only validated metrics for diagnosing diarrhea on farm [ 19 , 20 ]. Furthermore, since NCD development occurs quickly [ 21 , 22 ], and many studies only health scored calves biweekly, it is imperative that calves are health scored by trained researchers daily.…”