title: Evaluation of a system for monitoring rumination in heifers and calves.
abstract: The Hi-Tag electronic rumination-monitoring system (SCR Engineers Ltd., Netanya, Israel), based on capturing audio recordings, provides a reasonable measure of rumination time in dairy cows, but has not been validated for milk-fed or weaned heifers. The objective of this study was to validate the Hi-Tag rumination-monitoring system in heifers and calves and to assess whether suckling from a teat interfered with recording from this system. Assessments of 2 independent observers were highly correlated (r=0.99, n=20), indicating that direct visual observations provide a useful standard. Measures from the Hi-Tag system were validated by comparing values with those from a single human observer, using observations from three 2-h intervals from 35 Holstein calves and heifers aged 4, 6, and 9 wk and 3, 6, and 9 mo, respectively. In 9-mo-old heifers, rumination times obtained from the electronic system were highly correlated with visual observations (r=0.88, R2=0.77, n=15), and the mean difference was minor (-4±8 min/2-h interval). The accuracy of data from the automated system decreased when used on heifers less than 9 mo old. Suckling did not interfere with the electronic system (r=-0.1, n=18). These results indicate that the Hi-Tag system is an accurate tool for monitoring rumination behavior in Holstein Friesian heifers from the age of 9 mo.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Animal Reproduction, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, 14163 Germany.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Burfeind
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schirmann
authors.forename: M A G
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: von Keyserlingk
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Veira
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Weary
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heuwieser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002417:Cattle / Q000502:physiology*; D003612:Dairying / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000662:veterinary; D012417:Rumen / Q000502:physiology*