Dry-cow Rumination Could be a Helpful Predictor for Postpartum Health

The advent of rumen activity monitoring has provided a window into the inner functions of dairy-cow digestion and allowed for early identification of important health and behavior events.

Research using rumen activity monitoring has shown that reductions in rumination time (RT) can be predictive of events such as calving; painful illness (such as acute clinical mastitis and pneumonia); heat stress; and estrus. Now, researchers are investigating whether rumination behavior in the dry period could serve as a reliable indicator for predicting common diseases in the early postpartum period.

Several studies have examined variations in dry-cow rumination time and the subsequent outcomes tied to that activity after calving. Among them are:

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