Machine-learning-based calving prediction from activity, lying, and ruminating behaviors in dairy cattle

The objective of this study was to use automated activity, lying, and rumination monitors to characterize prepartum behavior and predict calving in dairy cattle. Data were collected from 20 primiparous and 33 multiparous Holstein dairy cattle from September 2011 to May 2013 at the University of Kentucky Coldstream Dairy. The HR Tag (SCR Engineers Ltd., Netanya, Israel) automatically collected neck activity and rumination data in 2-h increments. The IceQube (IceRobotics Ltd., South Queensferry, United Kingdom) automatically collected number of steps, lying time, standing time, number of transitions from standing to lying (ly-. ing bouts), and total motion, summed in 15-min increments. IceQube data were summed in 2-h increments to match HR Tag data. All behavioral data were collected for 14 d before the predicted calving date. Retrospective data analysis was performed using mixed linear models to examine behavioral changes by day in the 14 d before calving. Bihourly behavioral differences from baseline values over the 14 d before calving were also evaluated using mixed linear models. Changes in daily rumination time, total motion, lying time, and lying bouts occurred in the 14 d before calving. In the bihourly analysis, extreme values for all behaviors occurred in the final 24 h, indicating that the monitored behaviors may be useful in calving prediction. To determine whether technologies were useful at predicting calving, random forest, linear discriminant analysis, and neural network machine -learning techniques were constructed and implemented using R version 3.1.0 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria). These methods were used on variables from each technology and all combined variables from both technologies. A neural network analysis that combined variables from both technologies at the daily level yielded 100.0% sen-sitivity and 86.8% specificity. A neural network analysis that combined variables from both technologies in bihourly increments was used to identify 2-h periods in the 8 h before calving with 82.8% sensitivity and 80.4% specificity. Changes in behavior and machine-learning alerts indicate that commercially marketed behavioral monitors may have calving prediction potential

A participatory approach to design monitoring indicators of production diseases in organic dairy farms

Production diseases have an important negative effect on the health and welfare of dairy cows. Although organic animal production systems aim for high animal health levels, compliance with European organic farming regulations does not guarantee that this is achieved. Herd health and production management (HHPM) programs aim at optimizing herd health by preventing disease and production problems, but as yet they have not been consistently implemented by farmers. We hypothesize that one reason is the mismatch between what scientists propose as indicators for herd health monitoring and what farmers would like to use. Herd health monitoring is a key element in HHPM programs as it permits a regular assessment of the functioning of the different components of the production process. Planned observations or measurements of these components are indispensable for this monitoring. In this study, a participatory approach was used to create an environment in which farmers could adapt the indicators proposed by scientists for monitoring the five main production diseases on dairy cattle farms. The adaptations of the indicators were characterized and the farmers’ explanations for the changes made were described. The study was conducted in France and Sweden, which differ in terms of their national organic regulations and existing advisory services. In both countries, twenty certified organic dairy farmers and their animal health management advisors participated in the study. All of the farmers adapted the initial monitoring plan proposed by scientists to specific production and animal health situation on their farm. This resulted in forty unique and farm-specific combinations of indicators for herd health monitoring. All but three farmers intended to monitor five health topics simultaneously using the constructed indicators. The qualitative analysis of the explanations given by farmers for their choices enabled an understanding of farmers’ reasons for selecting and adapting indicators. This is valuable information for scientists involved in the design of HHPM programs. Advisors in the field also can benefit from this participatory approach because it transforms monitoring tools provided by scientists into farm-specific tools

Calf welfare in organic herds - planning for the future

These proceedings contain papers based on presentations and discssions at the workshop "Calf welfare in organic herds - planning on the future" held March 31st to April 1st 2008 in Stange, Norway

A Study of Time and Labour Use on Irish Suckler Beef Farms

End of project reportLabour is one of the four factors of production and an increasingly costly and scarce input on farms. The attractiveness of non-farming employment, the nature of farm work and the price received for farm outputs are resulting in falling levels of hired and family labour

A novel model to explain dietary factors affecting hypocalcaemia in dairy cattle

Most dairy cows exhibit different degrees of hypocalcaemia around calving because the gestational Ca requirements shift to the disproportionately high Ca requirements of lactation. Ca homeostasis is a robust system that effectively adapts to changes in Ca demand or supply. However, these adaptations often are not rapid enough to avoid hypocalcaemia. A delay in the reconfiguration of intestinal Ca absorption and bone resorption is probably the underlying cause of this transient hypocalcaemia. Several dietary factors that affect different aspects of Ca metabolism are known to reduce the incidence of milk fever. The present review describes the interactions between nutrition and Ca homeostasis using observations from cattle and extrapolations from other species and aims to quantitatively model the effects of the nutritional approaches that are used to induce dry cows into an early adaptation of Ca metabolism. The present model suggests that reducing dietary cation–anion difference (DCAD) increases Ca clearance from the blood by dietary induction of systemic acidosis, which results in hypercalciuria due to the loss of function of the renal Ca transient receptor potential vanilloid channel TRPV5. Alternatively, reducing the gastrointestinal availability of Ca by reducing dietary Ca or its nutritional availability will also induce the activation of Ca metabolism to compensate for basal blood Ca clearance. Our model of gastrointestinal Ca availability as well as blood Ca clearance in the transition dairy cow allowed us to conclude that the most common dietary strategies for milk fever prevention may have analogous modes of action that are based on the principle of metabolic adaptation before calving

Evaluation of on-farm labour saving strategies for optimisation of herd size that could be managed by one operator

End of project reportAlternative milking frequencies Once a day (OAD) milking throughout lactation of a herd (over 2 years, incorporating 24% heifers) resulted in loss in milk solids (MS) production of 17% per cow. Milking cows OAD in their 1st lactation does not adversely impact on milk production in the second lactation, when changed to twice a day (TAD) milking but may lead to a higher mastitis incidence. Changeover in milking frequency in mid lactation resulted in a similar yield of MS per cow for TAD milking for the full lactation (474 kg) and the TAD OAD group (TAD for the first 110 days and OAD for the remainder of the lactation) (469 kg). Thirteen times weekly milking in late lactation (omitting the Sunday evening milking) compared to twice daily milking every day had no effect on milk yield or composition and maximum SCC observed during the trial was 270x103 cells/ml. Once daily milking did not adversely affect the processability of milk. Once daily milking did not significantly increase milk SCC levels. Alternative calf rearing systems The improved efficiency increased herd size may be due to less use of buckets for calf feeding together with more frequent use of teat feeding from a container, automatic feeders and ad libitum feeding A study on OAD calf feeding (whole milk) demonstrated that calves can be reared with a OAD milk feeding system and weaned early (42 days) without adversely affecting performance There was no difference in the live-weight gain of calves on once daily feeding, twice daily feeding or once daily feeding going outdoors after 28 days Calf liveweight gain was greater with once daily feeding with milk replacer compared to once daily feeding with whole milk or once daily feeding with milk replacer going outdoors after 28 days Economic analysis of alternative milking systems When deciding on the type, size and level of technology in the milking parlour, the trade-off between labour requirement and cost and the initial capital investment requirement should be key in making the decision

Conversion to Organic Milk Production (OF0103)

This is the final report from the Defra project OF0103 In the UK fewer than 50 dairy farms were registered as organic in June 1995. The slow increase of farmers willing to convert to organic milk production was seen as one impediment for development of the organic milk market. The overall objective of this joint 3-year project was to monitor the physical, environmental and financial implications of conversion to organic milk production on a research farm (Ty Gwyn) and ten commercial farms in southwest England and Wales, in order to provide policy makers and farmers with more information about the consequences of conversion. Although the size of the sample is comparably small it represents about 20% of all organic dairy farms in the UK and an even larger proportion of farms converting in the South Western region at the time. The report has substantial section on the following themes: • Land use and farm management, including the varying degrees of enterprise specialisation, conversion in stages or all at once, and motives for conversion • Soil nutrients, including nutrient budgets and balances, in which organic management generally produced lower nutrient surpluses • Herbage production trends after conversion and related to other factors such as soil type; generally herbage production fell sharply initially but then recovered substantially in the second and third years, also with increased herbage quality • Biodiversity studies, showing that there were few weed problems and that species richness of small mammals and birds tended to increase after conversion • Animal production, showing increasing milk from forage per cow and initial sharp falls in stocking rate, which then increased to within 90% of the period before conversion by year 4 of organic management. • Animal health, where the main features were reduced use of antibiotics, increased use of alternative remedies, only slightly higher rates of clinical mastitis, and only low incidence of bloat even with clover rich grazing • Economic performance, where initial milk sales were substantially reduced as premiums could not be obtained in the first three years when stocking rates were so much reduced, although gross margins per cow were increased due to reduced variable costs; this was followed by a recovery of revenue levels, to an extent which varied with farm type, but the small sample size requires caution in interpreting the results. The attached main report starts with a more detailed executive summary

IMPORTANCE OF INCOME IN COW-CALF MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY

The USDA's National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) collected data on management practices and cow-calf herds as a source of family income from a representative sample of cow-calf producers from 23 of the leading cow-calf states. Overall, 2,713 producers with one or more beef cows participated in the NAHMS Beef '97 Study, representing 85.7 percent of the beef cows and 77.6 percent of the beef cow operations in the United States as of January 1997. Producers whose cow-calf herds were the primary source of family income were more productive than those whose herds were a supplemental source of income. Cow-calf herds were the primary source of income for 14 percent of the producers and provided supplemental income for 69 percent of the producers. While average herd size was larger for primary income herds, nearly half of the herds with 100 or more cows were non-primary income herds. Producers whose herds were a primary source of income were more likely to dehorn cattle, castrate bull calves, and practice artificial insemination and semen testing than producers whose herds were not a primary source of income. Primary income producers were also more likely to vaccinate preweaned calves. Due to greater weaning rates and a higher weaning percentage, primary income producers produced more pounds of weaned calf per exposed cow than did non-primary income producers (440 vs. 400 pounds). Contact for this paper: Stephen OttNAHMS, beef, cattle, cow-calf, epidemiology, economics, marketing, management, production, income, dehorning, castration, vaccinations, breeding, calving, semen testing, Livestock Production/Industries,

Herd health status and management practices on 16 Irish suckler beef farms

peer-reviewedBackground: There have been few studies published internationally which document herd health management practices in suckler beef herds and no published Irish studies. The study objective was to document herd health status and management practices on sixteen Irish suckler beef herds over a two year period (2009–2010). The farms used in the study were part of the Teagasc BETTER farm beef programme. The mean (s.d.) herd size, stocking rate and farm size was 68 cows (27.6), 2.0 LU/ha (0.3) and 64.3 (21.6) adjusted hectares, respectively. Two questionnaires were designed; 1) a farmer questionnaire to collect information on farm background and current herd health control practices and 2) a veterinary questionnaire to collect information on the extent of animal health advice given by veterinarians to their clients and identification of any on-farm herd health issues. Results: Dystocia, calf pneumonia, and calf diarrhoea, in that order, were identified as the primary herd health issues in these Irish suckler beef herds. In addition, substantial deficiencies in biosecurity practices were also identified on these farms. Conclusions: The findings of this study may serve as the focus for future research in animal health management practices in Irish suckler beef herds