Reliable calving alerts and continuous health monitoring help dairy producers to improve management, animal health and thus economic success during calving season.
The smaXtec health system provides helpful features for dairy producers to improve health management and farm results. This is especially valuable during calving season. Knowing the exact time of calving is crucial in dairy farming: It enables farmers to make all the necessary preparations in time for a trouble-free birth and to keep a close eye on the cow during and after calving. smaXtec sends a calving alert on average 15 hours before calving begins. How it works? Inner body temperature decreases when the calving process starts. Due to its unique bolus technology and precise temperature measurement (±0.018 °F relative accuracy), smaXtec can reliably detect this temperature change and informs the herd manager via smart phone or PC.
Optimized calving preparation thanks to early detection
The continuous health monitoring and reliable calving alerts allow producers to observe all animals very closely during the critical period around calving and to take all necessary measures to ensure a problem-free birth. Important steps such as taking the cow to a separate calving box, administer a calcium bolus to prevent milk fever eventually, or assisting during birth and contacting the vet if needed, can be taken at a very early stage due to smaXtec’s continuous monitoring. Another great advantage: smaXtec also detects calvings that occur earlier than expected. This allows farmers to save the lives of calves and cows – especially, but not only, in the case of twin births. But the smaXtec calving alert is by far not the only benefit for farmers.
Prevent milk fever and health problems around calving
The continuous and precise measurement of inner body temperature, drinking behavior, rumination and activity allows early detection of diseases long before visible symptoms appear. This way, herd managers immediately know if any health problems occur post-calving. With smaXtec, dairy producers even manage to avoid milk fever completely. Milk fever is one of the most common metabolic diseases in dairy cows. Triggered by calcium deficiency or a disturbance in the calcium metabolism, milk fever often develops in the difficult phase after calving. While a drop in temperature in a highly pregnant cow usually indicates the impending calving, a further drop in temperature after calving is a characteristic sign of milk fever. smaXtec monitors all important parameters such as inner body temperature, rumination, drinking behavior and activity, through which early detection of milk fever is possible. smaXtec recognizes the slightest changes of these parameters and alerts the farmer, allowing him to intervene and prevent a severe disease progression or avoid the disease outbreak altogether.
Unique technology pays off
The smaXtec health system helps producers to improve their management and to increase their operation’s success with healthier cows – throughout the year and especially during calving season. Michael Colwell, smaXtec customer from the UK, reports that the system made calving a lot less stressful for him and his 300 cows: “Calving cows in the calving shed instead of the cubicles and scrape passages is far more preferable! We use less straw and need less space in the calving shed as we now only have the cows that are calving in the next 36 hours in there.” smaXtec also pays off financially. According to Michael Colwell, the yearly savings related to calving are about £1500 (~$1830) thanks to the reduced number of dead calves and another £1500 (~$1830) due to the reduced amount of straw used.
Moreover, smaXtec now offers the only technology worldwide that measures water intake of every individual cow. Especially after calving, adequate water intake is crucial for the cow’s health, sufficient feed intake and thus milk yield. With smaXtec TruDrinking, dairy producers are always up to date on each cow’s drinking behavior and can thus ensure optimal water supply.
Overall, smaXtec enables producers to take the right action at an early stage. In this way they benefit from easier calvings and avoid risks during this critical period, such as retained placentas or uterine infections. This leads to fewer post-natal problems as well as milder disease progression and reduced usage of antibiotics. The result: A good start for cow and calf, a healthier herd and a consistent milk production.
Visit smaXtec.com to learn more!
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