By Catalina Mejia-Bonilla, DVM, The Dairy Authority
Animal care has always been priority number one on farm. And the introduction of wearable cow monitoring systems has significantly improved how we manage fresh cows.
These systems monitor animals 24/7 and provide alerts when cows deviate from normal — for example, in rumination time or activity level. Today’s most successful dairy operations rely on a combination of both technology and human observation to closely monitor fresh cows.
The result is that many of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) have changed. Gone are the days of daily physical exams of every cow in the fresh pen. While effective, those programs also limited cows’ time to eat and rest. Today, the daily SOP for the fresh cow pen in a herd that uses wearable monitoring systems might look something like this:
- Walk the fresh pen once or twice a day. Observe the animals to see if any need immediate attention. Survey the cows’ environment. Check to make sure there is fresh feed and clean water available and comfortable and dry bedding.
- Review the system data. Create a list of cows flagged for abnormal behaviors, such as drops in rumination, or changes in activity level or milk production.
- Perform physical exams. All cows flagged by the system should be examined to identify the cause of the deviation. Provide treatment if indicated.
- Create a 5-days-in-milk list of cows. This is done easily with most herd-management software programs. Do it daily to assess cows for ketosis and metritis. Identifying both clinical and subclinical ketosis is key to evaluating the effectiveness of the transition program at the dairy. Also, check these cows for any signs of metritis, and evaluate their manure to determine if the cows have been eating properly or might need additional support.
While monitoring technologies provide early detection of issues at the individual-cow level, they also present a valuable opportunity to analyze data across entire groups or cohorts. By examining the behavior and metrics of fresh cows as a whole, we can assess the overall success of the transition program, from dry to close-up, calving, and the fresh period.
For example, high rates of disease in a specific month may suggest that cows were not adequately prepared during the close-up period. This could have been caused by a variety of factors including feed delivery issues, overcrowding, or a diet formulation problem.
Similarly, if many cows exhibit a significant drop in rumination time immediately after calving, this could indicate excessive stress during calving or inadequate comfort in the maternity and fresh pens. Ask your veterinarian to help you interpret and learn from the data.
It is critically important to leave monitoring collars on cows during the dry period. By recording data year-around, the systems continuously learn each animal’s “normal” behavior. Then it is able to accurately flag cows when behavior deviates from their baseline after calving. Not using them during the dry period misses an important opportunity for the system to calibrate and learn the specific animal’s normal behavior.
Today the most effective fresh-cow programs combine the precision of technology with skilled human oversight to ensure that no health issues go undetected. If you would like to learn more about cow monitoring technologies and the capabilities for use in your herd, contact one of The Dairy Authority veterinarians at info@dairymd.com
