1. Automating Health & Reproductive Management of Cattle
Magdalena Masello1, Martin Perez1, Yue Ren2, David Erickson2, Killian Weinberger3, Jerrie Gavalchin1, Daryl Nydam4, Julio Giordano1,
Dairy Cattle Biology and Management Laboratory, Department of Animal Science, CALS1
Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering2
Computer Science Department, College of Information Science3
Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Science, College Veterinary Medicine4

2. Health Management Problem Solution 1
Effective health monitoring programs:
Costly
Time consuming
Require qualified labor
Subjective
May affect cow performance & health
Solution

3. Parameters measured Automating Health Monitoring & Management
Cow behavioral, physiological, and productivity parameters
Level/Parameter
Sensor or Monitoring
Frequency
Units
Rumination, eating time
Accelerometer, Microphone
continuous
min/h
Physical activity, steps walked
Accelerometer
arbitrary units/h
Lying behavior (bouts and time)
Body temperature
Ruminal bolus °C
Water intake
L/X h
Milk yield
Milk meter
each milking kg
Milk conductivity
mS/cm
Body weight
Walk-in scale
Body condition score, weight change
3D-camera
units (1 to 5)
Cow features and parameters of performance (current and historical)
Age
Dairy management
software
once/lactation mo
Parity number
number
Previous lactation DIM1, days to pregnancy, and days dry
Previous milk, fat, and protein yield
Health events
type and number
Reproductive events
Season of calving
cool vs warm
Environmental and management factors
Daily barn THI
off the shelf loggers
THI2 units
Feeding time
Feeding software
daily
time of day
Stocking density
Dairy management software
cows/stall

4. Health Management Problem Solution 1
Effective health monitoring programs:
Costly
Time consuming
Require qualified labor
Subjective
May affect cow performance & health
Solution
Improved prediction of events & performance
Automated management
Disease: diagnosis, prognosis.
Reduce labor needs
Treatment: type, selective, supportive therapy
Reduce cow disruption
Improve cow welfare
Calving: timing, stillbirth, adjust mgt.
Reduce inputs
Profitability: biological/$$$ data driven decisions
Simplified & Improved Decision-making & Daily Tasks

5. Reproductive hormones
Problem
Solution
Reproductive Management
Automated Synchronization of Ovulation
TAI
16h 1
e-Synch 2
Electronic Reproductive and Ovarian Status Determination
Increased complexity of timed AI protocols
Compliance (timing + dosage)
PAGs: no ovarian status
ReproPhone
Reproductive hormones
Compliance P4
Intense/skilled labor
Sample
Cow welfare
PAGs
Vet. shortage
Delay from sample collection to results

6. Improve Decision-Making &
Future of Automated Monitoring & Management
Improve Decision-Making &
Simplify Daily Tasks
Improve prediction of events & performance
Disease – detection, type, treatment prognosis
Estrus – semen type, success, supportive therapy
Calving – timing, stillbirth, adjust management
Profitability – economic data driven decisions
Automated management
Reduce labor needs
Reduce cow disruption
Improve cow welfare
Reduce inputs
1-Improve understanding of sensed-data
2-Develop better and cheaper sensors and devices
3-Data INTEGRATION from multiple sources