Estimation of Energy Expenditure of Free Living and Growing Domesticated Ruminants by Heart Rate Measurement
Authors: Brosh Arieh , Robertshaw David , Aharoni Yoav , Holzer Zvi , Gutman Mario , Arieli Amichai 
Published: December 2021

Research objectives were: 1) To study the effect of diet energy density, level of exercise, thermal conditions and reproductive state on cardiovascular function as it relates to oxygen (O2) mobilization. 2) To validate the use of heart rate (HR) to predict energy expenditure (EE) of ruminants, by measuring and calculating the energy balance components at different productive and reproductive states. 3) To validate the use of HR to identify changes in the metabolizable energy (ME) and ME intake (MEI) of grazing ruminants. Background: The development of an effective method for the measurement of EE is essential for understanding the management of both grazing and confined feedlot animals. The use of HR as a method of estimating EE in free-ranging large ruminants has been limited by the availability of suitable field monitoring equipment and by the absence of empirical understanding of the relationship between cardiac function and metabolic rate. Recent developments in microelectronics provide a good opportunity to use small HR devices to monitor free-range animals. The estimation of O2 uptake (VO2) of animals from their HR has to be based upon a consistent relationship between HR and VO2. The question as to whether, or to what extent, feeding level, environmental conditions and reproductive state affect such a relationship is still unanswered. Studies on the basic physiology of O2 mobilization (in USA) and field and feedlot-based investigations (in Israel) covered a , variety of conditions in order to investigate the possibilities of using HR to estimate EE. In USA the physiological studies conducted using animals with implanted flow probes, show that: I) although stroke volume decreases during intense exercise, VO2 per one heart beat per kgBW0.75 (O2 Pulse, O2P) actually increases and measurement of EE by HR and constant O2P may underestimate VO2unless the slope of the regression relating to heart rate and VO2 is also determined, 2) alterations in VO2 associated with the level of feeding and the effects of feeding itself have no effect on O2P, 3) both pregnancy and lactation may increase blood volume, especially lactation; but they have no effect on O2P, 4) ambient temperature in the range of 15 to 25°C in the resting animal has no effect on O2P, and 5) severe heat stress, induced by exercise, elevates body temperature to a sufficient extent that 14% of cardiac output may be required to dissipate the heat generated by exercise rather than for O2 transport. However, this is an unusual situation and its affect on EE estimation in a freely grazing animal, especially when heart rate is monitored over several days, is minor. In Israel three experiments were carried out in the hot summer to define changes in O2P attributable to changes in the time of day or In the heat load. The animals used were lambs and young calves in the growing phase and highly yielding dairy cows. In the growing animals the time of day, or the heat load, affected HR and VO2, but had no effect on O2P. On the other hand, the O2P measured in lactating cows was affected by the heat load; this is similar to the finding in the USA study of sheep. Energy balance trials were conducted to compare MEI recovery by the retained energy (RE) and by EE as measured by HR and O2P. The trial hypothesis was that if HR reliably estimated EE, the MEI proportion to (EE+RE) would not be significantly different from 1.0. Beef cows along a year of their reproductive cycle and growing lambs were used. The MEI recoveries of both trials were not significantly different from 1.0, 1.062+0.026 and 0.957+0.024 respectively. The cows' reproductive state did not affect the O2P, which is similar to the finding in the USA study. Pasture ME content and animal variables such as HR, VO2, O2P and EE of cows on grazing and in confinement were measured throughout three years under twenty-nine combinations of herbage quality and cows' reproductive state. In twelve grazing states, individual faecal output (FO) was measured and MEI was calculated. Regression analyses of the EE and RE dependent on MEI were highly significant (P<0.001). The predicted values of EE at zero intake (78 kcal/kgBW0.75), were similar to those estimated by NRC (1984). The EE at maintenance condition of the grazing cows (EE=MEI, 125 kcal/kgBW0.75) which are in the range of 96.1 to 125.5 as presented by NRC (1996 pp 6-7) for beef cows. Average daily HR and EE were significantly increased by lactation, P<0.001 and P<0.02 respectively. Grazing ME significantly increased HR and EE, P<0.001 and P<0.00l respectively. In contradiction to the finding in confined ewes and cows, the O2P of the grazing cows was significantly affected by the combined treatments (P<0.00l ); this effect was significantly related to the diet ME (P<0.00l ) and consequently to the MEI (P<0.03). Grazing significantly increased O2P compared to confinement. So, when EE of grazing animals during a certain season of the year is estimated using the HR method, the O2P must be re measured whenever grazing ME changes. A high correlation (R2>0.96) of group average EE and of HR dependency on MEI was also found in confined cows, which were fed six different diets and in growing lambs on three diets. In conclusion, the studies conducted in USA and in Israel investigated in depth the physiological mechanisms of cardiovascular and O2 mobilization, and went on to investigate a wide variety of ruminant species, ages, reproductive states, diets ME, time of intake and time of day, and compared these variables under grazing and confinement conditions. From these combined studies we can conclude that EE can be determined from HR measurements during several days, multiplied by O2P measured over a short period of time (10-15 min). The study showed that RE could be determined during the growing phase without slaughtering. In the near future the development microelectronic devices will enable wide use of the HR method to determine EE and energy balance. It will open new scopes of physiological and agricultural research with minimizes strain on animals. The method also has a high potential as a tool for herd management.