Cowscout

In a perfect world, all cows on a dairy would behave in an ideal manner, thereby producing the maximum quantity of milk possible. However, in practice, there are many factors preventing that ideal situation from being achieved. By monitoring and analysing the behaviour of cows, the well-being of a cow or group of cows can be determined in an extremely precise way and the analysis can be used to identify bottlenecks.

Behaviour monitoring is something that dairy farmers, herd managers, veterinarians and consultants have been doing for years. The use of sensor technology means that cow monitoring can now be streamlined and performed automatically. Insight and information can now be obtained and evaluated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Optimum cow behaviour per day:

• 4-6 hours eating
• 9-14 meals
• 7-10 hours ruminating
• 12-14 hours lying down
• 11 periods of lying down
• 2.500-3.000 steps

Optimizing the health, fertility, nutrition and management of each individual cow and the entire herd is key to dairy farm profitability. GEA CowScout is the all-in-one herd monitoring and management system that empowers dairy farmers, herd managers and farm staff with automated Health Monitoring, Heat Detection, Identification and management insights. The CowScout Neck measures four aspects – and their mutual interaction - of the cow’s behaviour related to her health: eating, rumination, inactivity and other activity. The actionable information and valuable insights they provide contribute to optimal dairy farm performance and profitability.