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. 2022 Aug 24;9(9):454.
doi: 10.3390/vetsci9090454.

Identification of Changes in Rumination Behavior Registered with an Online Sensor System in Cows with Subclinical Mastitis

Ramūnas Antanaitis  1 , Vida Juozaitienė  2 , Dovilė Malašauskienė  1 , Mindaugas Televičius  1 , Mingaudas Urbutis  1 , Arūnas Rutkaukas  1 , Greta Šertvytytė  1 , Walter Baumgartner  3
Affiliations

Identification of Changes in Rumination Behavior Registered with an Online Sensor System in Cows with Subclinical Mastitis

Ramūnas Antanaitis et al. Vet Sci. .

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to determine the relationship between subclinical mastitis and rumination behavior registered with an online sensor system. Based on the findings of the general clinical examination of 650 milking cows, 10 cows with subclinical mastitis (SCM) and 10 clinically healthy cows (HG) were selected (without clinical signs of any diseases). Rumination behavior biomarkers were registered with RumiWatch noseband sensors (RWS; ITIN + HOCH GmbH, Fütterungstechnik, Liestal, Switzerland). Sensors were implanted on the first day after calving. Data from the RWS 13 days before diagnosis of SCM and 13 days after diagnosis of SCM were compared with HG data from the same period. Healthy cows were checked alongside SCM cows on the same days. In our study, we found that healthy cows spent more time engaging in rumination and drinking (p < 0.05) and also had more boluses per rumination. Moreover, among cows with subclinical mastitis, rumination time from day 4 to day 0 decreased by 60.91%, drinking time decreased by 48.47%, and the number of boluses per rumination decreased by 8.67% (p < 0.05). The results indicate that subclinical affects time and rumination chews registered with sensor systems. However, additional studies with larger numbers of animals are required to confirm these results. Furthermore, the impact of heat stress, estrus, and other effects on rumination behavior biomarkers should be evaluated.

Keywords: activity; early diagnosis; precision agriculture; rumination; subclinical mastitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Measurement and data analyses: (A) RumiWatch sensors (RWS); (B) cows with RWS; (C) data visualization and analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Indicators of cow groups by days of experiment. (A). Rumination time; (B). Eating time; (C). Drinking time; (D). Rumination chews; (E). Eating chews; (F). Drinking gulps; (G). Bolus; (H). Activity; (I). Downtime; (J). Uptime; (K). Average temperature; HG: clinically healthy group; SCM: subclinical mastitis group (SCM). Error bars indicate standard deviation. The difference between the mean values of the groups is statistically significant at * = p < 0.05. The correlation coefficients of the HG group are presented above the diagonal. The group of SCM cows is shown below the diagonal.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Indicators of cow groups by days of experiment. (A). Rumination time; (B). Eating time; (C). Drinking time; (D). Rumination chews; (E). Eating chews; (F). Drinking gulps; (G). Bolus; (H). Activity; (I). Downtime; (J). Uptime; (K). Average temperature; HG: clinically healthy group; SCM: subclinical mastitis group (SCM). Error bars indicate standard deviation. The difference between the mean values of the groups is statistically significant at * = p < 0.05. The correlation coefficients of the HG group are presented above the diagonal. The group of SCM cows is shown below the diagonal.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Indicators of cow groups by days of experiment. (A). Rumination time; (B). Eating time; (C). Drinking time; (D). Rumination chews; (E). Eating chews; (F). Drinking gulps; (G). Bolus; (H). Activity; (I). Downtime; (J). Uptime; (K). Average temperature; HG: clinically healthy group; SCM: subclinical mastitis group (SCM). Error bars indicate standard deviation. The difference between the mean values of the groups is statistically significant at * = p < 0.05. The correlation coefficients of the HG group are presented above the diagonal. The group of SCM cows is shown below the diagonal.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Indicators of cow groups by days of experiment. (A). Rumination time; (B). Eating time; (C). Drinking time; (D). Rumination chews; (E). Eating chews; (F). Drinking gulps; (G). Bolus; (H). Activity; (I). Downtime; (J). Uptime; (K). Average temperature; HG: clinically healthy group; SCM: subclinical mastitis group (SCM). Error bars indicate standard deviation. The difference between the mean values of the groups is statistically significant at * = p < 0.05. The correlation coefficients of the HG group are presented above the diagonal. The group of SCM cows is shown below the diagonal.
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