Technical note: Validation of a system for monitoring rumination in dairy cows

Increased rumination in dairy cattle has been associated with increased saliva production and improved rumen health. Most estimates of rumination are based on direct visual observations. Recently, an electronic system was developed that allows for automated monitoring of rumination in cattle. The ob...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of dairy science 2009-12, Vol.92 (12), p.6052-6055
Main Authors: Schirmann, K., von Keyserlingk, M.A.G., Weary, D.M., Veira, D.M., Heuwieser, W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
accuracy
Animal productions
Animals
Automatic Data Processing - instrumentation
Automatic Data Processing - standards
automatic detection
Biological and medical sciences
Cattle - physiology
dairy cow
dairy cows
Dairying - instrumentation
Dairying - methods
electronic equipment
equipment performance
feeding behavior
Female
Food industries
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Milk and cheese industries. Ice creams
monitoring
Pregnancy
Reproducibility of Results
Rumen - physiology
rumination
saliva
Terrestrial animal productions
validation
validity
Vertebrates
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Summary:Increased rumination in dairy cattle has been associated with increased saliva production and improved rumen health. Most estimates of rumination are based on direct visual observations. Recently, an electronic system was developed that allows for automated monitoring of rumination in cattle. The objective was to validate the data generated by this electronic (Hi-Tag, SCR Engineers Ltd., Netanya, Israel) rumination monitoring system. Assessments of 2 independent observers were highly correlated (r=0.99, n=23), indicating that direct human observations were suitable as the reference method. Measures from the Hi-Tag electronic system were validated by comparing values with those from a human observer for fifty-one 2-h observation periods from 27 Holstein cows. Rumination times (35.1±3.2min) from the electronic system were highly correlated with those from direct observation (r=0.93, R2=0.87, n=51), indicating that the electronic system was an accurate tool for monitoring this behavior in dairy cows.
ISSN:0022-0302
1525-3198
DOI:10.3168/jds.2009-2361