An Automatic System for Quantification of Eating and Ruminating Activities of Dairy Cattle Housed in Stalls

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Abstract
A system for quantifying eating and ruminating activities of dairy cows was developed and tested. A transducers was constructed using two strain gauges to transform cow jaw movements into electrical signals. The analog signals were processed into discrete jaw movements by a computerized data acquisition system. An interpretative program classified the input data into one of three categories: eating, ruminating, or idling. The accuracy of the system was tested using five cows for 5 d by comparing visual records to chart recorder and computer records. Estimates of time spent eating and ruminating produced by the computer and recorder during 24-h intervals were similar. However, recorder estimates of eating and ruminating were 17.6 and 4.7% longer than visual records, respectively, and computer estimates were 19.4 and 1.3% longer. Eating was overestimated by both automatic systems because the transducer was unable to distinguish between jaw movements caused by eating and grooming activities. In contrast, ruminating was estimated accurately by monitoring jaw movements.