Description of a detection model for oestrus and diseases in dairy cattle based on time series analysis combined with a Kalman filter

Sensor measurements can be used in dairy farming for the detection of oestrus and diseases. A new model has been developed to process the measured variables in a combined way. It is based on time series models for milk yield, milk temperature, electrical conductivity of quarter milk and the cow's activity, and a probability distribution for the concentrates leftovers. The parameters of the time series models and the probabilities are fitted on-line for each cow after each milking by Kalman filters. This makes it possible to combine the variables and to generate cow-specific alerts. Global results on the detection of oestrus, mastitis and other diseases are given. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.