Recording animal weight and calculating daily weight gain can be a very valuable tool in animal inspection. Unfortunately, this tool is used far too seldom, as weighing and handling proves to be difficult, especially with fattening bulls.
The scale described here can help. And growing apart of the animals, which may be difficult to assess on very large areas, is also observed. The company GrowSafe offers water troughs for beef cattle with integrated front foot scale. GrowSafeBeef is designed to analyze drinking behavior and weigh the animals at the same time. The system converts this data to the total body mass. The daily weight gains, which can be called up in software, are intended to determine the ideal slaughter date. In addition, the system compares the data on an animal-by-animal basis and with other animals in the group. Conspicuous animals are to be automatically marked with a colour spray to make them easier to find.
Source: vytelle.com
The front food scale is integrated into the drinker. All animals are automatically weighed and conspicuous animals are additionally marked by a colour spray to be able to find them faster. It is possible to calculate weight for individual animals and compare it among the herd without handling the animals.
Literature:
- Reimink, A. (2018): Waage an der Wassertränke. Top Agrar 11/2018
- Anonymous (2021): Vytelle (viewed 2021/05/19) https://vytelle.com/vytelle-sense/
This innovation has an impact on:
- Socio-economic resilience: This innovation will increase the costs of equipment
- Animal health and welfare: This innovation can help to identify suspicious animals earlier and thus contribute to herd's stock health / animal health and welfare