Methods in cattle physiology and behaviour research – Recommendations from the SmartCow consortium

This book provides an inventory of guidelines for different recordings in an experimental unit. The chapters of this book will encompass methods that deal with measuring different metabolic, digestive, anatomic and behavioural traits in cattle. The experimental methods have been divided into two main categories:



a) routine measurements, conducted in different research infrastructures, e.g. daily feed or water intake of cattle, heat detection, body condition scoring and back-fat thickness measurement;

b) specific recordings, using particular methods, such as: estimating passage rate of digesta, respiratory chamber and/or nitrogen balance experiment.



Wherever possible, the authors sought to include the most recently established, innovative and non-intrusive tools/systems for each of the enlisted methods.