Development of an automatic monitoring system for ruminating activities of dairy cattle using a highly sensitive low-frequency pressure sensor

Short communication: Detection of mastication speed during rumination in cattle using 3-axis, neck-mounted accelerometers and fast Fourier transfer algorithm

“…Matsui and Okubo (1991) measured mastication speed as 0.60 to 0.80 s/bite using a transducer attached to a halter, requiring the halters to be mounted with a special device that was not easy to attach or manage. Doukoshi et al (2014) detected a peak of 1.3 Hz (i.e., 0.77 s/bite) during rumination from the spectrum analysis of data obtained from pressure sensors attached to the necks of cows. However, this report did not include data on the speed of mastication.…”

“…In addition, visible neck skin vibration was observed in each phase of opening and closing, which was transmitted to the sensor, and was thought to be involved in the expression of a clear second peak. Doukoshi et al (2014) measured rumination movements using a high-sensitivity low-frequency pressure sensor attached to the neck. When spectrum analysis was conducted, obvious peaks were observed at 1.3 Hz and 2.6 Hz, which they described as characteristic peak frequencies observed during rumination.…”

“…These variations might be reflecting some other factors. A report using a low-frequency pressure sensor and spectral analysis (Doukoshi et al, 2014) suggested that there were individual differences in the spectrum during rumination (equivalent to mastication speed). No other reports mentioned variations due to environmental or animal factors.…”

“…No other reports mentioned variations due to environmental or animal factors. Although feeding and management, in addition to individual cattle condition, might cause variations of mastication speed, it was difficult to find the trends from previous research (Matsui and Okubo, 1991;Dado and Allen, 1994;Tani et al, 2013;Doukoshi et al, 2014) because of diversity in age, feed, and management styles.…”