Short communication: Predictors of time to dairy calf bucket training

Dairy Worker Training in Newborn Calf Management

Dairy calf death rates from birth to weaning approximate 8 to 10% in the US. Stillbirths on dairies, measured as calves dead at delivery or within the first 24 to 48 hours after delivery, are less closely monitored, but are estimated between 6 and 12%. Numerous factors influence calf health and survival, but the key contributors to calf morbidity and mortality can be managed to greatly reduce t...

Reducing Dairy Calf Mortality

The loss of dairy calves from stillbirths and disease-related deaths places a significant challenge on the producer who wants farm-specific replacement heifers to maintain or expand herd size. Stillbirths are often overlooked as an important cause of calf mortality, as they are on some dairies. With improved record keeping, data analysis, diagnostic testing and herd monitoring, the appropriate ...

Feeding the Newborn Dairy Calf

Short communication: Lameness impairs feeding behavior of dairy cows.

The automated, reliable, and early detection of lameness is an important aim for the future development of modern dairy operations. One promising indicator of lameness is a change in the feeding behavior of a cow. In this study, the associations between feeding behavior and lameness were evaluated. A herd of 50 cows was investigated during the winter season in a freestall barn. Feeding behavior...

Identification and Control of MIMO Systems with State Time Delay (Short Communication)

Time-delay identification is one of the most important parameters in designing controllers. In the cases where the number of inputs and outputs in a system are more than one, this identification is of great concern. In this paper, a novel autocorrelation-based scheme for the state variable time-delay identification for multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system has been presented. This method is ba...