Temperature monitoring bolus gives heads up to herd health The bolus temperature probe could provide farmers with the opportunity to better manage overall herd health with earlier and more targeted intervention and treatment.
New precision farming technology in the form of a temperature probe implant will give cattle managers early warning to any health problems affecting their herd. Dominic Kilburn writes. A cattle health monitoring system now available to livestock producers in the UK could deliver production benefits of between 10–20 per cent, claims its developer. ActiveHerd – a bullet-shaped bolus implanted in an animal’s rumen, constantly monitors body temperature and transmits live information direct to the farmer or stock manager, providing them with early detection of disease or stress before outward signs of illness are showing in their herd. This, says livestock marketing co-operative AQM, which is working in partnership with ActiveHerd developer New Forest Communications (NFC), provides farmers with the opportunity to better manage overall herd health with earlier and more targeted intervention and treatment, as well as reducing the spread of infection. “Bacterial diseases such as bovine viral diarrhoea, pneumonia and bovine respiratory disease all come at a big cost to the UK cattle industry,” says AQM livestock communication and development manager, James Doel (right). “And at a time when the industry faces numerous challenges and uncertainties, and businesses need to push production to the maximum to remain profitable, anything that can provide farmers with a better health monitoring facility to improve
their livestock production is a welcome addition,” he comments.
Radio device Made from medical grade plastic, the 110mm-long bolus contains a battery-operated radio device which as soon as it is implanted in to the rumen (with a bolus gun/applicator), begins to transmit temperature data to the herd manager’s hand held device or office PC at preset intervals. Data is transmitted instantly via NFC’s high speed and easily installed ‘Gateway’ network hub which has an operating range of up to 5km from a simple roofmounted antenna. With a battery life expectancy of five years, the bolus is carefully weighted with a specific density of between 2–3 to ensure it remains in the rumen. Any lighter and it can too easily be regurgitated with the cud, any heavier and it is likely to be digested through the animal. According to manufacturer NFC, only about 1 per cent of boluses are regurgitated once inserted, and the advice is to ensure the bolus is inserted prior to cattle feeding, rather than after when it is more likely to sit on top of the food and be regurgitated with the cud. After slaughter, the bolus is relocated by scanner, retrieved and fitted with a new battery for re-use on the farm with the potential to have a 10-year lifespan.
“Temperature changes in cattle are very normal, when drinking water for example, but that alone won’t trigger an alert from the device,” continues Mr Doel. “Algorithms establish a temperature baseline eliminating normal fluctuations so that only unusual temperature changes or spikes that last beyond three hours – typically the first sign of a bacterial disease – triggers an alert,” he explains. “This early detection results in faster diagnosis and treatment and, importantly, reduces the dependence on antibiotics,” he adds, pointing out that the herd’s vet can also have remote access to data. However, Mr Doel reckons that with a temperature monitoring accuracy of within 0.1ºC, ActiveHerd can deliver other management benefits aside from disease prevention, such as accurately determining calving times and lactation periods, monitoring heat stress and an overall better use of farm labour. Priced at £50–£80/head depending upon volume, he suggests the bolus may not be suited to smaller herd sizes (ie of 30-head), where stockmen have the ability to monitor each animal closely. However for larger herd sizes of 50head or more, where time pressures are more acute, there is likely to be interest. “ActiveHerd would typically suit large dairy or beef enterprises, as it would mixed farms where the stock person may have other duties to attend to away from the herd and therefore be more reliant on remote monitoring,” he says. “We’re trying to bring the efficiency benefits of precision farming that have become established on the arable side of the
An example of a 110mm-long bolus.
industry, over to the livestock side. And while it’s up to each individual how much information and data they want to receive, the key to this system is that it’s allowing a stock person to have far more of an informed view of the herd,” concludes Mr Doel. (AQM is exhibiting at this month’s Suffolk Show (stand White 556), and the Royal Norfolk Show in June (stand 390) if visitors want to discuss the ActiveHerd bolus with the company).
A clever concept Eric Reid farms 400 head plus of beef cattle outside the village of Richhill in Northern Ireland, 40 miles west of Belfast between Portadown and Armagh and, for the past four to five years, all trials work involving the ActiveHerd bolus have been undertaken on his farm. “I was originally given a device whereby a small temperature probe was fitted to the ear of young cattle, however as the animals grew in size it affected how the probe operated,” explains Mr Reid. “So it gave us the idea of placing a bolus inside the animal, to prevent any outside interference,” he added. Working with Northern Irelandbased PLM (owned by Countryside Services Ltd, nutrition company Devenish and Mr Reid) and supported technically by New Forest Communications in England, he says the bolus project is now ready for final validation ahead of commercial use on farms in the UK and further afield. “The key to this system is that, while it’s not a cure, it’s an early warning system for stockmen providing them with two to three days’ advanced warning of disease, injury or infection. It allows them to treat the animal ahead of time which, in turn, dramatically improves herd performance. “Getting an accurate core temperature is the critical thing here – it is the single best indicator of an animal’s wellbeing – early intervention when an animals is sick helps drive efficiency on the farm,” he adds. Mr Reid points out that beef cattle should average 1.5kg of live weight gain per day in an efficient system, but an animal that has a sore foot, or lung infection for example, can end up losing up to 45kg of gain in one month. “This system can make a real
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