Date Available
10-4-2018
Year of Publication
2018
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College
Agriculture, Food and Environment
Department/School/Program
Animal and Food Sciences
Advisor
Dr. James Matthews
Abstract
Precision dairy monitoring technologies can be used to monitor changes in physiology and behavior associated with transition period postpartum diseases and heat stress. Research Objective One was to evaluate how traditional visual examination, body condition, and locomotion with and without blood, milk, and urine variables and precision dairy monitoring technologies determine variable association with hyperketonemia, metritis, mastitis, hypocalcemia and retained placenta,. This was accomplished by monitoring cows 2 weeks before calving to 3 weeks after calving for any postpartum diseases using daily visual examination and automatically detected variables including activity, milk yield, milk components, lying behavior, feeding behavior, rumination time, and reticulorumen temperature. Deviations in reticulorumen temperature, milk production, eating time, lying time, and activity were detected by precision dairy monitoring technologies among cows with postpartum diseases. Research Objective Two was to determine the association between automatically detected variables and heat stress. This objective was accomplished by monitoring cows under natural ventilation, fans, and fans plus sprinklers for variations under each condition. Changes in physiology and behavior as detected by precision dairy monitoring technologies was associated with postpartum diseases and heat stress. Using precision dairy monitoring technologies and visual examinations may aid producers in identifying postpartum disease and heat stress.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.379
Funding Information
Cargill Inc. (Wayzata, MN, USA) funded this project.
Recommended Citation
Lee, Amanda Renee, "AN EVALUATION OF PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL INDICATORS OF POSTPARTUM DISEASES AND HEAT STRESS IN DAIRY COWS" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences. 91.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/animalsci_etds/91