Query: down cow

title: 'Down' cow management
abstract: Assessment and planned delivery of care for a 'down' cow can be very challenging, from initial identification of the primary problem through to preventing development of secondary compartment syndrome. Being able to take control of the initial management of a case such as utilisation of deep bedding on top of concrete to provide grip, along with having the confidence to take your time when hoisting an animal can all have a big impact on the final success of a case. This article will explore the different techniques that can be used on farm to care for and manage down cows, along with a discussion of the poor overall prognosis that down cows tend to have.

title: A down cow decision tree

title: A Novel Method of Assessing Floor Friction in Cowsheds and Its Association with Cow Health
abstract: The objective of this paper was to test a simple method of measuring the extent of the slipperiness of different types of floors in cow shelters. Excessively slippery floors, which are less abrasive, are known to reduce a cow's ability to walk, lie down, and get up without slipping and causing injury to herself. A moderate level of friction between the cows' hooves and the floor is required for cow comfort and prevention of foot disease and injuries. This study developed a rapid method that welfare assessors can use to measure the slipperiness of floors in cowsheds. The data obtained were then validated by comparing them with the various animal based and resource based welfare parameters assessed in each shelter. The analyses done in this study show that there is a link between excessively slippery floors and various parameters such as frequency of cleaning the floors, the gradient of floors, wounds on the bodies and joints of the cows, and the presence of dirty hind limbs. All of these ultimately affect the welfare of cows in shelters. These results suggest that this simple measure of floor friction could be useful in cow welfare assessments. Further work on the repeatability of this method is recommended.  Measurement of friction of cowshed floors to determine slipperiness potential is important for cow comfort. Existing methods require elaborate equipment and procedures. A quick method for assessment of friction characteristics is proposed. Friction was measured in 54 cattle housing and yard facilities with earth, brick, concrete, and stone floors, and its association with cattle health parameters was investigated through assessment of 30 animals per facility. A 156 g cuboidal wooden block attached to a spring balance was pulled over 3 m, and the coefficient of friction was recorded as the force required to move the block at a constant speed. The coefficient of friction ranged from 0.3 to 0.7 and was lowest for concrete and highest for earth floors. A multivariate analysis found that cows were standing more and could be more easily approached when they were on floors with high friction levels. The proportion of cows with dirty hind limbs declined with increasing friction of the floor, probably reflecting the fact that they felt more confident to stand rather than lie on high friction floors. This simple measure of frictional characteristics of cattle floors offers promise to be included in welfare measures as an indicator of cow welfare.

title: Prevention of Allergic Sensitization and Treatment of Cow's Milk Protein Allergy in Early Life: The Middle East Step Down Consensus
abstract: Allergy risk has become a significant public health issue with increasing prevalence. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first six months of life, but this recommendation is poorly adhered to in many parts of the world, including the Middle East region, putting infants at risk of developing allergic sensitization and disorders. When breastfeeding is not possible or not adequate, a partially hydrolyzed whey formula (pHF W) has shown proven benefits of preventing allergy, mainly atopic eczema, in children with a genetic risk. Therefore, besides stimulating breastfeeding, early identification of infants at risk for developing atopic disease and replacing commonly used formula based on intact cow milk protein (CMP) with a clinically proven pHF W formula is of paramount importance for allergy prevention. If the child is affected by cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA) expert guidelines recommend extensively hydrolyzed formula (eHF) or an amino acid formula (AAF) in case of severe symptoms. The Middle East region has a unique practice of utilizing pHF W as a step down between eHF or AAF and intact CMP, which could be of benefit. The region is very heterogeneous with different levels of clinical practice, and as allergic disorders may be seen by healthcare professionals of different specialties with different levels of expertise, there is a great variability in preventive and treatment approaches within the region itself. During a consensus meeting, a new approach was discussed and unanimously approved by all participants, introducing the use of pHF W in the therapeutic management of CMPA. This novel approach could be of worldwide benefit.

title: Functional analysis of the dairy cow mammary transcriptome between early lactation and mid dry period
abstract: In this research communication we used digital gene expression (DGE) analysis to identify differences in gene expression in the mammary glands of dairy cows between early lactation and the mid dry period. A total of 741 genes were identified as being differentially expressed by DGE analysis. Compared with their expression in dry cows, 214 genes were up regulated and 527 genes were down regulated in lactating cow mammary glands. Gene Ontology analysis showed that lactation was supported by increased gene expression related to metabolic processes and nutrient transport and was associated with decreased gene expression related to cell proliferation. Pathway mapping using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes showed that 579 differentially expressed genes had pathway annotations related to 204 pathways. Metabolic pathway related genes were the most significantly enriched. Genes and pathways identified by the present study provide insights into molecular events that occur in the mammary gland between early lactation and mid dry period, which can be used to facilitate further investigation of the mechanisms underlying lactation and mammary tissue remodeling in dairy cows.

title: Designing of a Smart Collar for Dairy Cow Behavior Monitoring with Application Monitoring in Microservices and Internet of Things Based Systems
abstract: In Indonesia there is still no monitoring system regarding the condition of cattle in real time, which is currently used is a microchip RFID Ear Tag which is planted in cattle ears but there is still no communication with the Internet of Things to facilitate cattle farmers in terms of monitoring. The current monitoring is still using human power, this is certainly not effective, especially if you have to monitor the condition of large numbers of cows in a large farm. The instrument of this study there are 3 main parts, namely building a (1) collar device can read body temperature (MLX90615) heart rate sensor(MAX30100) and movement in cattle(GY 25) (2) building a base station for local server management, and (3) web applications to visualize data and analytic health conditions. By collecting data from temperature sensors, heart rate sensors, and inertial measurement unit mounted on the neck of a dairy cow is sent via an internet connection. The collected data is stored and classified using machine learning to produce normal, less normal and abnormal health classification outputs. Moreover, based on the axis sensor produce a graphical output to find out the cows are standing, lying down and eating.

title: Cow Lying Behaviour and Bedding Quality Changes during Five Weeks on a Stand Off Pad
abstract: Simple Summary New Zealand dairy farmers place cows in uncovered off paddock facilities for a part (e.g. 18 h) of the day to reduce their impact on pasture during winter. Lying time is a key indicator of whether these hybrid pasture systems are meeting welfare requirements. While it is easy to measure lying time in a research setting using accelerometers, it is not yet common to measure it on farm, and more convenient indicators are needed. We investigated the lying behaviour of dairy cows as bedding quality deteriorated over a five week period to determine what measures may be useful as farmer friendly indicators of cow welfare. The daily lying time of the two groups of cows on bedding according to normal farm practice (NFP) declined over the five weeks and was significantly less than that of cows on fresh bedding during the last 10 days of the trial. The fresh woodchip bedding contained less than 65% moisture throughout the trial. By week 3 and week 4, the moisture content of the lying surface exceeded 75% for NFP Group 2 and Group1, respectively. A bedding moisture threshold of 75% assessed by a 'gumboot score' and cows lying rather than grazing when on pasture may be useful farmer friendly indicators of cow welfare because of their relationship with reduced lying time.  Bedding quality and cow lying time were measured during five weeks in a normal farm practice (NFP) off paddock system with no bedding refreshment. Two groups of 100 non lactating dairy cows were compared to groups of 8 cows with fresh bedding (FB) The cows were on a woodchip pad for 18 h/d at a space allowance of 5.4 m2/cow, with 6 h/d on pasture for 5 weeks. Lying times were recorded continuously for 60 cows per group using accelerometers. Bedding moisture content was measured weekly. Data for each NFP group were analysed and compared with those of their respective FB group using repeated measures. The lying time declined over five weeks from 11.6 h/day during the first week to 5.6 h/day during the fifth week (SED 0.3; F1,25 351.56; p 0.001) The moisture content of the bedding increased over the five weeks and was significantly higher for both NFP groups (NFP Group 1: F5,59 8.33; p 0.001; NFP Group 2: F5,61 5.54; p 0.001) than those of the respective FB groups. The percentage of total time lying when in the paddock increased for the NFP groups, reaching 15% in the last week of the trial. During five weeks on a stand off pad, bedding quality deteriorated, and cows lay down less, to such an extent that welfare was compromised.

title: Effectiveness of using an extensively hydrolyzed casein formula supplemented with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG compared with an extensively hydrolysed whey formula in managing cow's milk protein allergic infants.
abstract: To assess the comparative effectiveness of two hypoallergenic formulae in managing cow's milk allergic infants.  This study retrospectively analyzed the case records of 940 formula fed cow's milk allergic infants in the UK extracted from The Health Improvement Network database.  At 24 months after starting a formula, 77% of infants fed an extensively hydrolyzed casein formula supplemented with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (eHCF LGG; n 470) were estimated to have been successfully managed compared with 63% of matched infants who were fed an extensively hydrolyzed whey formula (eHWF; n 470; p 0.001) Additionally, significantly more eHWF fed infants were estimated to be experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms, eczema and asthma (7.1 vs 3.1% p 0.02) at 24 months.  First line management of newly diagnosed cow's milk allergic infants with eHCF LGG may slow down the allergic march seen in cow's milk allergic children.

title: IoT based measurement system for classifying cow behavior from tri axial accelerometer
abstract: A cow behavior monitoring system based on the Internet of Things (IoT) has been designed and implemented using tri axial accelerometer, MSP430 microcontroller, wireless radio frequency (RF) module, and a laptop. The implemented system measured cow movement behavior and transmitted acceleration data to the laptop through the wireless RF module. Results were displayed on the laptop in a 2D graph, through which behavior patterns of cows were predicted. The measured data from the system were analyzed using the Multi Back PropagationAdaptive Boosting algorithm to determine the specific behavioral state of cows. The developed system can be used to increase classification performance of cow behavior by detecting acceleration data. Accuracy exceeded 90% for all the classified behavior categories, and the specificity of normal walking reached 96.98% The sensitivity was good for all behavior patterns except standing up and lying down, with a maximum of 87.23% for standing. Overall, the IoT based measurement system provides accurate and remote measurement of cow behavior, and the ensemble classification algorithm can effectively recognize various behavior patterns in dairy cows. Future research will improve the classification algorithm parameters and increase the number of enrolled cows. Once the functionality and reliability of the system have been confirmed on a large scale, commercialization may become possible.

title: LPS induced reduction of triglyceride synthesis and secretion in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells via decreased SREBP1 expression and activity.
abstract: Sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1) has a central regulatory effect on milk fat synthesis. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) can induce mastitis and cause milk fat depression in cows. SREBP1 is also known to be associated with inflammatory regulation. Thus, in the current study, we hypothesized that LPS induced milk fat depression in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells (DCMECs) operates via decreased SREBP1 expression and activity. To examine the hypothesis, DCMECs were isolated and purified from dairy cow mammary tissue and treated with LPS (10 ug/ml) LPS treatment of DCMECs suppressed lipid metabolism related transcription factor SREBP1 mRNA expression, nuclear translocation and protein expression, leading to reduced triglyceride content. The transcription levels of acetyl CoA carboxylase 1 and fatty acid synthetase were significantly down regulated in DCMECs after LPS treatment, suggesting that acetyl CoA carboxylase 1 and fatty acid synthetase involved in de novo milk fat synthesis was regulated by SREBP1. In summary, these results suggest that LPS induces milk fat depression in dairy cow mammary epithelial cells via decreased expression of SREBP1 in a time dependent manner.