CONTINUOUS COMPUTER ACQUISITION OF FEED AND WATER INTAKES, CHEWING, RETICULAR MOTILITY, AND RUMINAL PH OF CATTLE

The monitoring of feeding, chewing, and ruminal activity was integrate d into one data acquisition system for continuous measurement of 12 da iry cows. Feed mangers were hung from single-point load cells for meas urement of feed disappearance from individual stalls. Water flow meter s, inserted in supply lines for each stall, generated pulse output for electronic summation of water intake. Jaw movements were detected wit h a water-filled tube connected to a pressure transducer under the cow 's jaw to determine chewing activity. Similar tubes were used to detec t contractions in the reticulum. Ruminal pH was monitored continuously with an electrode and pH transmitter. All signals were processed and recorded on a microcomputer using commercially available computer hard ware and software. One file was written for each cow monitored. Data w ere interpreted using algorithms developed with SAS software. Two stud ies were conducted with 10 lactating cows to evaluate the performance of acquisition hardware, protocols, and interpretation algorithms. Use of only one algorithm to interpret behavior of many cows sacrificed a ccuracy of bout time borders for some individual cows. Nonetheless, hi gh correlations (r greater-than-or-equal-to .85) between computer-inte rpreted and manually determined variables indicated that performance o f the acquisition system was acceptable. With continuous measurement o f many cow feeding variables, a more complete understanding of dietary effects on digestive function and performance is possible.