Technology

Overview

Overview

VocalTag Technology is based on a novel idea of cow rumination monitoring for online health and feeding monitoring.

Why should we monitor rumination time?

High milk production is not necessarily an indication of a profitable dairy farm. On the contrary, in many cases these farms suffer from an inefficient feeding program that leads to metabolic disease resulting from a lack of real effective fiber content in the daily cows ration.

Rumination activity is critical for a ruminating animal’s health: Time spent chewing is directly related to saliva secretion, which helps buffer the rumen environment and optimizes fiber digestion. Saliva production can drop dramatically if the cow does not receive adequate effective fiber, which is defined as a combination of forage particle size and forage neutral detergent fiber intake.
Rumination activity is also a critical indicator for individual animal health. A sudden reduction of rumination activity, compared to its normal levels, will indicate that the animal has lost its appetite and is probably sick. Continued loss of appetite can be an indicator of a diseased state, such as sub-clinical ketosis or acidosis.

The challenge that faces modern dairy farming is to increase forage levels in the diet of dairy cows in order to prevent metabolic disease, while providing sufficient nutrients for the cows to meet requirements for high milk production.
Until VocalTag, there has never been an easy method of determining the quantity of the real fiber and its value to the rumen function. The present technology will provide the farmer daily, online information regarding each individual cow’s rumen function, which serves as both a health indicator and general information for feeding and management.

What influences the rumination rate?

Rumination Time Measurement by visual observation is an established tool used to research responses in feeding experiments. VocalTag uses state-of-the-art technology to effectively maximize the use of this measurement in the daily routines of the modern dairy industry.

Rumination rate is influenced by the followed conditions:

1. Fiber ratio, quality and quantity in the daily ration
2. The amount of feed consumed by the cow

Rumination activity is very stable so long as nothing has changed in the diet, the dairy farm management, and the cow’s overall health. When a general management failure occurs, the rumination rate of the herd will respond accordingly.
VocalTag measures the single cow’s performance in comparison to that of the total herd. When the cow is not feeling well, it will eat less and its rumination rate will decrease accordingly. The system continually measures each animal’s Rumination Time, and any deviation from the norm is brought to the farmer’s attention.

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