Sensor technology to support herd health monitoring: Using rumination duration and activity measures as unspecific variables for the early detection of dairy cows with health deviations

Assessment of the Relationship between Postpartum Health and Mid-Lactation Performance, Behavior, and Feed Efficiency in Holstein Dairy Cows

“…While mid-lactation total active time and lying time were unaffected by health status in the present study, DIS cows spent less time being highly active ( p = 0.01; Table 6 ) than their HLT contemporaries. Recent work using the same sensor system as the present study found that highly active time was lower in the week before and week after calving for cows that would develop health disorders relative to healthy cows, indicating this metric is capturing true differences in behavior outside of estrus behavior [ 59 ]. The current work aligns with the findings of Gusterer et al [ 59 ] in which highly active behavior was reduced in cows with health disorders.…”

“…Recent work using the same sensor system as the present study found that highly active time was lower in the week before and week after calving for cows that would develop health disorders relative to healthy cows, indicating this metric is capturing true differences in behavior outside of estrus behavior [ 59 ]. The current work aligns with the findings of Gusterer et al [ 59 ] in which highly active behavior was reduced in cows with health disorders. Although highly active time is sensor-specific, it is possible that the reduction in time spent being highly active is a long-term impact of postpartum health disorders.…”

“…Neave et al [ 57 ] reported longer lying times in the two weeks before calving, as well as longer duration of lying bouts without differences in total lying time in the week after calving, for cows diagnosed with metritis. Other studies indicated longer lying times in the week after calving for cows diagnosed with health disorders [ 58 , 59 ], and Stevenson et al [ 60 ] reported greater resting times from two weeks before through three weeks after calving for cows with health disorders. These inconsistencies in the timing of altered behaviors could partly be due to differences in the corresponding health disorders experienced, as well as the severity and length of the duration.…”

“…Both studies utilized primiparous and multiparous animals and noted differences in rumination behavior between parity groups. In another study that used only multiparous cows, the rumination time did not differ in the two weeks before and one week after calving between healthy animals and those with health disorders, but the rumination times were lower in the days before and after diagnosis for those with health disorders [ 59 ]. These studies did not classify lactation number beyond primiparous and multiparous; therefore, differences in rumination time during the transition period between second, third, and fourth or greater lactation cows were not available.…”

Validation of NEDAP Monitoring Technology for Measurements of Feeding, Rumination, Lying, and Standing Behaviors, and Comparison with Visual Observation and Video Recording in Buffaloes

“…Rumination is the most important and effective behavior in buffaloes and other livestock animals [ 5 ]. In rumination, the size of the feedstuff is reduced in the rumen degradation and takes soluble content from the ration (feed) [ 6 ]. Moreover, in rumination behavior, the utilization of forage in animals is highly associated with production, health status, and welfare of animals [ 7 ].…”