Abstract

Shorter, more-frequent lying bouts (LB) could be used to predict calving and as an indicator of animal discomfort and ill-health. In this technical study, we reviewed the literature to describe criteria for removing false short LB, caused by minor movements, from accelerometer data using IceRobotics technology. Using an existing dataset of grazing cows, we compared unedited with edited accelerometer data after applying three different LB thresholds (LB <33 s, ≤2 min, and <4 min were removed) within IceQube and IceTag accelerometers. Daily lying time, LB (no./d) and LB duration were derived from either IceQube or IceTag devices for 146 and 159 multiparous cows, respectively. Very-short LB were more common in IceTag than IceQube data. Applying a shorter LB criterion (<33 s) to the IceQube dataset produced minimal differences between unedited (8.8±3.6 no./d; n=64,512 lying records) and edited data (8.3±3.4 no./d; n=60,463). In contrast, we observed large differences between unedited (307±293 no./d; n=2,305,693) and edited data (8.8±4.1 no./d; n=66,139) when a longer LB criterion (≤2 min) was applied to the IceTag dataset. Removing short LB that are unlikely to represent true behaviour will improve the interpretation of lying behaviour data; however, prospective studies are needed to determine the most-suitable LB criterion. Keywords: lying behaviour; grazing cows; accelerometer

SJ, Hendriks, CVC Phyn, S-A Turner, KR Mueller, B Kuhn-Sherlock, DJ Donaghy, JM Huzzey, and JR Roche

New Zealand Journal of Animal Science and Production, Volume 80, Online, 8-13, 2020