Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy Cows
The careful monitoring of cows helps minimise pain and distress during calving; moreover, knowing the exact time of birth is important to ensure timely assistance and the adequate ingestion of colostrum by the calf. However, direct visual observation is time-consuming, and the continuous presence of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/8/11/182 |
| _version_ | 1818606340555145216 |
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| author | Marisanna Speroni Massimo Malacarne Federico Righi Piero Franceschi Andrea Summer |
| author_facet | Marisanna Speroni Massimo Malacarne Federico Righi Piero Franceschi Andrea Summer |
| author_sort | Marisanna Speroni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The careful monitoring of cows helps minimise pain and distress during calving; moreover, knowing the exact time of birth is important to ensure timely assistance and the adequate ingestion of colostrum by the calf. However, direct visual observation is time-consuming, and the continuous presence of an observer during stage two of calving can disturb cows. Video cameras or accelerometers recording the behaviour of cows can be integrated in systems using image analysis or locomotive activity to alert the farmer as to when calving is imminent. However, alerting systems require the input of benchmark information about behaviours and changes in behaviours that can be predictive of the time of calving. Eight cows in a calving barn were continuously video-monitored. The recordings of the 24 h before delivery were analysed by instantaneous time sampling to identify the behaviours associated with an imminent birth. The same were collected in an ethogram including lying, standing, walking, turning the head towards the abdomen, eating, ruminating, drinking, sniffing the ground, allogrooming, self-grooming, and posture-changing. In our conditions, the only behaviour that was significantly influenced by the distance to delivery was posture-changing (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). Two h before the delivery, the proportion of posture changes was different from all of the hourly proportions measured from −24 to −3 h relative to delivery (<i>p</i> < 0.005), resulting in 3.6 times the average of the previous 22 h relative to delivery. An increase of posture changes may be an indicator of calving approaching, but further studies are needed to input benchmark values in alerting systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T14:09:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c0228bf2b498434f8633633c5dfe0fc8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T14:09:18Z |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-c0228bf2b498434f8633633c5dfe0fc82022-12-21T22:28:50ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722018-11-0181118210.3390/agriculture8110182agriculture8110182Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy CowsMarisanna Speroni0Massimo Malacarne1Federico Righi2Piero Franceschi3Andrea Summer4Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, Centro di ricerca Zootecnia e Acquacoltura, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze Medico-Veterinarie, Università di Parma, 43126 Parma, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze Medico-Veterinarie, Università di Parma, 43126 Parma, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze Medico-Veterinarie, Università di Parma, 43126 Parma, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze Medico-Veterinarie, Università di Parma, 43126 Parma, ItalyThe careful monitoring of cows helps minimise pain and distress during calving; moreover, knowing the exact time of birth is important to ensure timely assistance and the adequate ingestion of colostrum by the calf. However, direct visual observation is time-consuming, and the continuous presence of an observer during stage two of calving can disturb cows. Video cameras or accelerometers recording the behaviour of cows can be integrated in systems using image analysis or locomotive activity to alert the farmer as to when calving is imminent. However, alerting systems require the input of benchmark information about behaviours and changes in behaviours that can be predictive of the time of calving. Eight cows in a calving barn were continuously video-monitored. The recordings of the 24 h before delivery were analysed by instantaneous time sampling to identify the behaviours associated with an imminent birth. The same were collected in an ethogram including lying, standing, walking, turning the head towards the abdomen, eating, ruminating, drinking, sniffing the ground, allogrooming, self-grooming, and posture-changing. In our conditions, the only behaviour that was significantly influenced by the distance to delivery was posture-changing (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). Two h before the delivery, the proportion of posture changes was different from all of the hourly proportions measured from −24 to −3 h relative to delivery (<i>p</i> < 0.005), resulting in 3.6 times the average of the previous 22 h relative to delivery. An increase of posture changes may be an indicator of calving approaching, but further studies are needed to input benchmark values in alerting systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/8/11/182calving predictionposture changesrestlessnessdairy cows |
| spellingShingle | Marisanna Speroni Massimo Malacarne Federico Righi Piero Franceschi Andrea Summer Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy Cows Agriculture calving prediction posture changes restlessness dairy cows |
| title | Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy Cows |
| title_full | Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy Cows |
| title_fullStr | Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy Cows |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy Cows |
| title_short | Increasing of Posture Changes as Indicator of Imminent Calving in Dairy Cows |
| title_sort | increasing of posture changes as indicator of imminent calving in dairy cows |
| topic | calving prediction posture changes restlessness dairy cows |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/8/11/182 |
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