Harnessing precision livestock farming technology for monitoring ruminants in zoological settings

Citation

D’Amato-Anderson JL, Ellorin J, and Fidgett A. 2021. Harnessing precision livestock farming technology for monitoring ruminants in zoological settings. In Brooks M, Koutsos E, and Henry B Eds. Proceedings of the Fourteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition Foundation and AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Virtual.

Abstract

Precision livestock farming technology specifically related to animal health care monitoring and animal tracking could be leveraged for zoological applications. Example technologies include ear tags with sensors such as accelerometers (e.g. Smartbow, Zoetis; CowManager, CowManager BV, NL; Sense Flex, Allflex, USA) and rumen bolus technology (e.g. eBolus, eCow, UK; Smart Rumen Bolus, Moonsyt, HU; Roland et al., 2018; Reynolds et al., 2019; Caja et al., 2020; Pereira et al., 2020; Stygar et al., 2021). Ear tag sensors provide information on activity, real-time location, feeding behavior, grazing, and rumination (Roland et al., 2018; Pereira et al., 2020). Rumen boluses provide information on temperature and rumen pH (Stygar et al., 2021). Advantages of using these technologies include automatic and real-time monitoring allowing for early detection of concerns. For example, a decrease in intake and rumination has been associated with metabolic disorders (Reynolds et al., 2019). Disadvantages include limited validation of available technologies with most validation studies focused on dairy cattle, inappropriate bolus size for smaller ruminants, limited lifespan of bolus function, and investment in software. Rumination data from ear tag sensors is also less well correlated with visual observations (Reynolds et al., 2019).

12_D’Amato-Anderson.pdf     147 KB