Instead of waking up before dawn to milk cows manually, many dairy farmers now use robots to milk — and those robots do more than just milk cows. They can also provide valuable information about the animals’ overall health.
Instead of waking up before dawn to milk cows manually, many dairy farmers now use robots to milk — and those robots do more than just milk cows. They can also provide valuable information about the animals’ overall health.
University of Guelph researchers tracked data captured by robotic milking systems to monitor cattle health, and found indicators of illness in the data days and even weeks before the animal was diagnosed.
Having information on their animals’ health as soon as they become sick or injured, or even at risk of those problems, is vital to farmers and the animals.
“Generations ago, there may have been maybe a dozen cows, so the farmer would be more aware of subtle changes in individual cows and be able to intervene before an illness or injury became serious,” said study co-author Trevor DeVries, an animal biosciences professor whose family has a history of dairy farming.
Continue reading at University of Guelph.
Image via University of Guelph.
