In the world of dairy farming, understanding and managing calving is crucial for farm success, since it influences milk production and the overall health of your animals.
At the centre of this understanding is smaXtec, a powerful tool that combines modern technology with traditional farming knowledge.
Healthy cows are essential for a smooth calving process, so early detection of any health issues plays a decisive role.
With smaXtec, farmers can detect diseases as they develop, long before external symptoms, or changes in eating and ruminating behaviour become visible.
This proactive approach enables timely intervention and proactive management of the herd.
The unique bolus technology measures important health parameters directly from inside the cow, such as inner body temperature (± 0.01° accuracy), drinking cycles, rumination and activity.
The precise measurement data is transformed into practical insights and actionable message alerts for farmers.
This combination of accurate data and early warning has proven itself many times in practice as a valuable tool.
Supporting farmers with calving
Regular monitoring during the period around calving is not only a ‘nice-to-have’, but a ‘must-do’. Not doing so can cause many problems.
This is where smaXtec comes in. The system not only monitors the health status of the cows, but also reliably informs farmers about each upcoming calving.
Thanks to the highly precise measurement, the system recognises an upcoming calving by the characteristic drop in temperature and sends a message via app or PC an average of 15 hours before calving.
This is early enough to ensure farmers can take care of necessary preparations, e.g., to take a cow into the separate calving area or give nutritional supplements for cows that need it.
The system already notices if it might be a twin or a difficult birth before calving, due to specific behavioural patterns.
Besides the calving alerts, smaXtec also supports with accurate heat detection. Not only does smaXtec detect cows in heat, but it also indicates the optimal insemination time.
This results in a higher conception rate, better calving index and, ultimately, improved fertility.
Identifying and preventing problems
Since the system measures not only the temperature, but also other parameters, it reliably detects emerging problems in this critical phase and informs the farmers immediately.
This provides certainty for farmers, so they can take action at the right moment to support a smooth calving.
The continuous monitoring of all cows by smaXtec, in turn, helps to reduce the risk of stillbirths, retained placenta and metritis.
Other health issues, e.g., feverish illnesses and infections such as mastitis, are also detected early by the smaXtec system, due to the precise measurement of the inner body temperature.
In the case of milk fever, which often occurs after calving, the system already recognises early signs of it before calving and sends an alert.
This enables the farmer to react quickly and, e.g., administer a calcium bolus against milk fever at an early stage.
This early treatment can prevent a clinical case of the disease, a number of subsequent problems such as fertility problems, secondary diseases and permanent performance decreases.
Especially in the important first 72 hours after calving, ‘the golden hours’, the smaXtec system can be of immense help, because the animal is exposed to numerous health risks in this phase; the immune system is weakened, body condition and energy levels are low.
In this critical stage, precise monitoring by smaXtec can be the deciding factor for an early treatment.
Increased herd health and efficiency through technology
How technologically advanced and helpful smaXtec is in monitoring the health of cows is also demonstrated by the latest innovation of the health management system – TruAdvice.
By combining data measured by smaXtec’s unique bolus technology with artificial intelligence, TruAdvice revolutionises health monitoring by indicating specific suspected diseases – in the first step, mastitis – at an early stage.
What makes TruAdvice special is the years of high-quality data collected by smaXtec from hundreds of thousands of cows and cases.
The system continuously learns from its growing database, the research results and the insights of experts.
In addition, TruAdvice makes the farmer’s work easier and is a great help for farm managers who often already have difficulties finding experienced staff.
With these innovative characteristics and its optimal animal monitoring, early detection and practical recommendations for action, the smaXtec health system helps farmers to optimise their health management and ensure a good start for cow and calf.
Learn more about how early detection through smaXtec can support you during calving by clicking here.
