Automated Mastitis Detection for Dairy Farms Amanda Sterrett & Jeffrey Bewley University of Kentucky Dairy Systems Management

But how we monitor it is different…

Why do these people keep hanging stuff off of me? What else can we monitor?

 Because cows are routine-oriented, we can monitor their behavior and examine differences in:  Eating time / DMI  Standing / Lying time  Rumination time  Location within barn Take advantage of simplicity

 Body temperature  Ear, milk, reticulorumen, udder, vagina  Milk composition  SCC  Fat, lactose, protein, LDH, etc.  Electrical conductivity Physiological monitoring

Potential Benefits Early Mastitis Detection Early Treatment Improved Treatment Outcome Less Economic Loss Improved Prevention Program Less Production Loss Improved Animal Well- Being

Accuracy and Precision

Sensitivity and Specificity

 Ion concentration of milk changes during mastitis  Inexpensive and simple equipment  Wide range of sensitivity and specificity reported  Affected by sample time, milk viscosity, temperature, and sensor calibration  Most useful when combined with other data Electrical Conductivity

Automated CMT or WMT CellSense (New Zealand) r = 0.76 with Fossomatic SCC Alert based on EC Alert based on In- Line SCC Alert based on EC and SCC Alert time period Observ- ation period SensitivityFalse alert rate SensitivityFalse alert rate SensitivityFalse alert rate

Somatic Cell Count In-line detection of cell count, milk temperature, and electrical conductivity Uses ATP luminescence as an indicator of the number of somatic cells Sensor connected to the milk hose below the milking claw Reagent cassette attached below display

Spectroscopy Visible, near-infrared, mid-infrared, or radio frequency Indirect identification through changes in milk composition AfiLab uses near infrared – Fat, protein, lactose, SCC, and MUN

LDH Threshold (µmol min -1 | -1 )SensitivitySpecificity

modernmec hanix.com/r obot-cow- moos-and- gives-milk/

Temperature Limitations Not all cases of mastitis result in a temperature response Best location to collect temperature? Noise from other physiological impacts

Udder Thermography Udder temperature closely related to rectal temperature No early detection in LPS challenge (Hovinen et al., 2008) Potential use in dry cows Hovinen et al., 2008 Before Infection After Infection

Accelerometers Measures lying time and activity/motion index Well researched and applied to many areas Lying is a high priority behavior May change lying time around mastitis May decrease activity around mastitis Lying time decreased by 73 minutes on the day of challenge (P < 0.01, Cyples et al., 2012)

Rumination Behavior Cows with mastitis may ruminate less r = 0.93 for automated rumination with live observations in cows (Schirmann et al., 2009)

Animal Position Real Time Location System Cows may stay in same spot longer around mastitis

Multi-parameter Sensors Combination monitors may find a better market than those sensors only targeted at one parameter: – Temperature – Activity – Rumination – Feeding Time Multivariate analyses

 Economics  Positive return on investment  Producer satisfaction  What data is useful?  Reading frequency  What do we do with the data?  Culture, monitor, treat, ignore? Considerations

 Using technologies for mastitis monitoring is newer than using them for estrus detection  Algorithms are not yet perfected  Continued research is needed, particularly in naturally occurring mastitis Conclusions

Questions? Amanda Sterrett 408 WP Garrigus Building Lexington, KY Dr. Jeffrey Bewley 407 WP Garrigus Building Lexington, KY