The effects of the use of activity meter for estrous detection on reproductive performance of early lactation dairy cows

Heat detection in dairy farms is a major component of profitability. Activity meters that monitor the movements of cows are increasingly used to detect estrus. This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of using an activity meter to determine estrus on reproductive performance in dairy cows in early lactation in a family type farm. 88 healthy Holstein cows were used in the study. Cows were randomly allocated into observation (n=44) and automated estrus detection (n=44) groups. Voluntary waiting period was determined as 49 days postpartum andcows detected at estrus were artificially inseminated in following 119 days. The detection of estrus in the observation group was carried out by observation of cows for 20 minutes, 3 timesa day. In automated estrus detection group, the activity of the cows was automatically monitored with an activity meter (Actimoo, Turkey) attached to the neck of the animals. Pregnancy examination was performed using transrectal ultrasonography at 40±7 days after insemination, pregnancy losses were checked on days 60-80. Reproductive data obtained were analyzed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality and Levene test for homogeneity of variances. Statistical determination of the difference between the groups was used in cases where the parametric assumptions of the variables were met, and the Mann-Whitney U test was used when the assumptions were not met. In all statistical analyses, the limit of significance was p<0.05. The calving interval was 377.97±26.82 days in the observation group and 365.77±27.04 days in the automatic oestrus detection group (p=0.076). The number of open days was determined as 97.83±25.36 and 85.89±26.41 days (p=0.072) in the observation and automatic oestrus detection groups, respectively. Postpartum first estrus detection was 77.23±15.31 in the observation group; in the automatic oestrus detection group, it was 72.86±21.74 days (p=0.283). The number of estrus determined per animal (1.75±0.97) in the automatic oestrus detection group was higher than that of the observation group (1.45±0.59; p=0.256). It was concluded that the use of activity meters would be beneficial in estrus detection in family type dairy cattle farms.