Inline Reticulorumen pH as an Indicator of Cows Reproduction and Health Status.

Ramūnas Antanaitis,Vida Juozaitienė,Dovilė Malašauskienė,Mindaugas Televičius

doi:10.3390/s20041022

Ramūnas Antanaitis, Vida Juozaitienė + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/s20041022

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Abstract

Our study hypothesis is that the interline registered pH of the cow reticulum can be used as an indicator of health and reproductive status. The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship of pH, using the indicators of the automatic milking system (AMS), with some parameters of cow blood components. The following four main groups were used to classify cow health status: 15–30 d postpartum, 1–34 d after insemination, 35 d after insemination (not pregnant), and 35 d (pregnant). Using the reticulum pH assay, the animals were categorized as pH < 6.22 (5.3% of cows), pH 6.22–6.42 (42.1% of cows), pH 2.6–6.62 (21.1% of cows), and pH > 6.62 (10.5% of cows). Using milking robots, milk yield, fat protein, lactose level, somatic cell count, and electron conductivity were registered. Other parameters assessed included the temperature and pH of the contents of reticulorumens. Assessment of the aforementioned parameters was done using specific smaX-tec boluses. Blood gas parameters were assessed using a blood gas analyzer (EPOC (Siemens Healthcare GmbH, Erlangen, Germany). The study findings indicated that pregnant cows have a higher pH during insemination than that of non-pregnant ones. It was also noted that cows with a low fat/protein ratio, lactose level, and high SCC had low reticulorumen pH. They also had the lowest blood pH. It was also noted that, with the increase of reticulorumen pH, there was an increased level of blood potassium, a high hematocrit, and low sodium and carbon dioxide saturation.

Highlights

The first widely adopted application of precision livestock farming (PLF), years before the termPLF was introduced, was the individual electronic milk meter [1]
The main objective of this study is to examine the relationship of reticulorumen pH with indicators and compare the automatic milking system (AMS) and blood indicators to determine the reproduction and health status of dairy cows
The study findings indicate that dairy cows insemination than that of non‐pregnant cows

Summary

Introduction

The first widely adopted application of precision livestock farming (PLF), years before the termPLF was introduced, was the individual electronic milk meter [1]. The other most commonly used parameters in PLF include the use of commercialized behavior based on estrus detection [2], rumination tags [3], and the use of an online milk time analyzer [4]. The sensors in these applications provide useful data that can be used by farmers to identify livestock that need special care before health conditions worsen [5]. One of the most accurate data sources used for continuous monitoring of individual livestock health status is the reticuloruminal pH (RRpH). Various scientific investigations have used continuous measurements of ruminal pH to assess livestock health status [6]

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