15.10.2020
SmaXtec
The Austrian company SmaXtec Animalcare has developed an innovative stomach monitoring system for dairy herds.
Feeding dairy herds is very directly linked to dairy production, herd health and reproduction.
On ingestion, the animal's feed passes through the pharynx and oesophagus before reaching the rumen. Adult dairy cow’s rumen, which is the largest reticulorumen of the ruminant animals, holds 180-200 litres. Dairy cow reticulorumen forms an ecosystem with their microflora, with 20 billion bacteria with different functions and up to 1.8 billion protozoa per millilitre of gastric fluid. The same ecosystem induces rumen fermentation, during which a fairly large part of the plant feed mass is made available to the body, ie digestible and absorbed. Simply put: by feeding a cow, we are actually feeding the abdominal microflora, the viability of which in turn depends on the cow's feeding efficiency and milk production.
Proper rumen pH + proper feeding of dairy cows = stable rumen ecosystem = higher milk production and good health.
SmaXtec abdominal bolus measure abdominal pH, temperature and activity. The measurement takes place every 10 minutes and the results can be viewed and analyzed in real-time either from a computer or from a SmaXtec smartphone app. SmaXtec electronic boluses allow the farmer to control the reproduction, health and feeding of cows.
