Know which cows need attention before putting on your boots

Imagine starting each day with a list of cows that need attention. You wake up and open an app on your phone, tablet or computer, and the list is waiting for you.

Activity and feed intake for cows numbered 215, 114 and 408 suddenly dropped, which could be an early sign of mastitis. Chewing activity for cows number 345 and 102 has suddenly dropped, which could be early warning signs for ketosis or hypocalcemia.

You can start your day with forward-looking insights like these before you step one foot out of your bed in the morning.

“Nedap CowControl collects data on every cow 24/7,” said Arnold Harbers, data analyst at Nedap Livestock Management. Besides heat signs, the system monitors eating, rumination and inactive behaviour.

“The system compares live data to past data on the animal and the rest of the herd. When incoming data is different than what would be expected based on previous data, the system can send an alert to your phone or laptop for intervention.”

Cow and herd trends

Here are a few ways Nedap CowControl gives you useful information on individual cows and herd trends:

1. Reduce treatment time of mastitis

What if you could detect acute mastitis and other common diseases earlier? Mastitis is among the most contagious and costly diseases affecting dairy farms. In fresh cows, a case results in an average loss of €390.

On average, Teagasc shows, mastitis costs Irish farmers €60/cow/year. Nedap CowControl can help you detect early signs of disease and intervene faster, improving outcomes and preventing diseases from spreading throughout your herd.

One of the first signs of acute mastitis, for example, is a lack of appetite. And, when monitoring data indicates a sudden drop in chewing time compared to cow or herd historical data, the system alerts you that the affected cow needs attention.

If a cow does have acute mastitis, the health alert can help you identify and diagnose it before more obvious symptoms appear like swelling, hardness, redness and heat.

“There are two categories of health attentions,” said Harbers. “One category is ‘urgent attention’ and means this cow requires immediate attention.

“The second category includes cows with more subtle, less sudden changes in behaviour. These are the animals that you can focus on during your regular field walks.”

Cows on health attention lists should be evaluated and sent into treatment protocols or isolation for monitoring.

Brian Mooney, a dairy farmer in Kill, Co. Waterford, commented on Nedap CowControl, saying: “The system contacts me if something is off form.”

Brian Mooney gets a notification on his mobile phone if a cow has a serious health problem.

“Even last night, I got a notification at 9:00pm that a cow was off form. So I went out and checked her and yes she was off form. I brought her in and treated her for grass tetany.

“Now I don’t know if she ever had grass tetany or not but this morning she is a 100% going around again and maybe otherwise I could have a cow down in the field this morning or maybe a dead cow or whatever.

“So, that was good – a good sign,” he said.

2. Drive transition period success

Nedap CowControl can also provide useful insights into the transition period from 60-days pre-calving to 30-days post-calving. Cow chewing activity, including eating and rumination, can be used to detect early symptoms of ketosis and hypocalcemia. It can also help determine future reproductive success.

“Cows that eat less during the dry period and the fresh period are at higher risk of ketosis and hypocalcemia,” said Harbers.

When chewing activity suddenly drops, the system will generate an alert and add her to a list of cows in need of attention. And, by identifying cows with a higher probability of ketosis, you can intervene and prevent lower milk production and lost body condition throughout lactation.

A multi-year study on transition cow activity data has also uncovered benchmarks for future reproductive success. Cows with higher eating times three to four weeks after calving are ready to be bred back sooner.

If a cow isn’t eating as often as she should, you can check on her and treat her accordingly. If multiple cows are experiencing similar issues, you can evaluate your feeding management and environment.

Making the necessary adjustments can help cows get bred back sooner.

3. Stay ahead of feeding issues

Activity monitoring data can help identify symptoms of feeding and grazing issues, including lethargy (increased inactivity), reduced feed intake and reduced rumination.

Data collected on individual cows and overall herd averages enable you to determine when an issue – like a lack of taste in grass or reduced grass supply after pasture change – is affecting a group of cows or the entire herd.

Nedap CowControl triggers a group alert when a certain percentage of the cows is showing abnormal behaviour of any kind. Reports on the group’s eating pattern as well as eating, rumination and inactivity day totals provide insight into grazing and nutritional issues and management.

“The goal of Nedap CowControl is to alert you when there’s an issue before visual signs appear,” commented Harbers.

“We want to be able to pinpoint cows and groups in need of attention faster and more accurately, so that intervention can happen sooner.”