Comparison of behavioral patterns of dairy cows with natural estrus and induced ovulation detected by an ear-tag based accelerometer

Abstract Dairy farms face many challenges and changes. With increasing herd sizes and fewer farmers or employees per cow, new strategies to maintain or improve reproductive management are required. One of the major challenges is to detect cows in estrus and to estimate the perfect time for artificial insemination (AI). Several estrus and ovulation synchronization programs with timed AI as well as estrus detection aids, e.g., tail-paint, pedometer, accelerometer, and others are available. A combination of ovulation synchronization programs and technical solutions, however, has rarely been tested. This study was designed to gain insights into behavioral patterns of cows subjected to an Ovsynch program and to test if behavioral data could be used to optimize the timing of insemination within an Ovsynch program. In this study, we used an ear-tag based 3D-accelerometer system (SMARTBOW, Smartbow GmbH, Weibern, Austria) to generate data of behavioral patterns, i.e., rumination and activity. In Part 1 of this study, behavioral patterns during the peri-estrus period were compared between cows with physiological estrus and cows subjected to an Ovsynch protocol. On the day before estrus and on the day of estrus/AI, cows with natural estrus showed a clear drop in rumination and “inactivity” and an increase in “high activity”, based on an algorithm of the accelerometer system, whereas, cows in the Ovsynch protocol showed only minor changes in behavioral patterns. In Part 2, we analyzed behavioral patterns between synchronized cows that became pregnant after AI and synchronized cows that remained open. As a result, no differences were detected between these two Ovsynch groups before AI. Thus, in this study we found no evidence that behavioral patterns can be used to improve conception rates within an Ovsynch protocol.