Wireless ear-tags and a camera helped track the movement of 14 heifers in a paddock at UQ Gatton. Image, UQ
Wireless ear-tags and a camera helped track the movement of 14 heifers in a paddock at UQ Gatton. Image, UQ Simple on-animal sensors could be a game changer for Australian beef cattle nutrition, according to University of Queensland research. Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation master's student Tamara Freitas-Kirk is using wireless technology and motion detection cameras to monitor individual food intake of a trial herd. "Current methods are only able to estimate feed intake of a herd, assuming all animals are consuming a predetermined amount," Mrs Freitas-Kirk said. "But there's no such a thing as uniform consumption - with one kilogram of supplements for 10 animals, two animals could be eating 500 grams each while the other animals miss out." To solve this problem Mrs Freitas-Kirk used biometric wireless ear-tags and a camera to track the movement of 14 heifers in a 10-hectare paddock at UQ Gatton over 12 weeks. "Previous research has shown that time at the feed trough correlates to intake," she said. "After tracking the animals and collating the data I developed an equation based on the time each animal spent at the trough.
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