Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise G. Caporale, Teramo, Italy.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Reprod Domest Anim. 2020 Dec;55(12):1803-1807. doi: 10.1111/rda.13805. Epub 2020 Sep 15.
Buffalo breeding is common in Southern Italy. Dystocia compromises dam's and newborn health and welfare. Difficult parturition could be solved through prompt calving assistance, even if the identification of the beginning of delivery is challenging. Herein, we aimed to evaluate a remote calving alarm system in 15 Mediterranean buffalo heifers. An intravaginal probe was placed close to the external cervical os once premonitory signs of delivery were observed. No vaginal discharge nor signs of discomfort were notified in the days following the insertion of the probe. Heifers calved from 48 to 72 hr after the alarm was activated. The system correctly warned the farm personnel at the beginning of stage II of parturition, except for 2 cases. In the former, the intravaginal probe was expelled but the poor carrier network coverage negatively affected phone's signal quality; in the latter, recurrent vaginal prolapse was responsible for non-retention of the probe. Overall median expulsive phase was 68 ± 8 min, while the expulsion of a female calf took 54 ± 22.0 min and 90 ± 34.0 min in males, with significant difference (p =.02). Deliveries were homogeneously distributed across a 24-hr interval. No retention of foetal membranes nor metritis was identified at postpartum clinical examination. The calving alarm system used in this work was well tolerated in buffalo heifers. The introduction of smart technology in buffalo farming could contribute to the overall farm net return by reducing calf losses, especially for calves born from sexed-sorted semen, and by increasing animal welfare through quick resolution of dystocia. Further studies will be necessary to evaluate the net return in buffalo farms which will implement a remote calving alarm system on a wider population.
意大利南部地区普遍存在布法罗牛养殖。难产会危及母畜和新生牛犊的健康和福利。通过及时助产，可以解决分娩困难的问题，即使分娩开始的识别具有挑战性。在此，我们旨在评估 15 头地中海型布法罗小母牛的远程产犊报警系统。一旦观察到分娩前的预兆，就将阴道探头放置在接近外部宫颈口的位置。在探头插入后的几天内，没有通知阴道分泌物或不适迹象。小母牛在报警激活后 48 至 72 小时分娩。该系统在分娩第二阶段开始时正确地警告了农场人员，但有 2 个例外。在前一个例子中，阴道探头被排出，但较差的移动网络覆盖范围影响了手机信号质量；在后一个例子中，阴道反复脱垂导致探头未被保留。总体中位分娩期为 68 ± 8 分钟，而雌性小牛的排出时间为 54 ± 22.0 分钟，雄性小牛的排出时间为 90 ± 34.0 分钟，差异有统计学意义（p = 0.02）。分娩在 24 小时的间隔内均匀分布。产后临床检查未发现胎衣滞留或子宫内膜炎。本研究中使用的产犊报警系统在布法罗小母牛中耐受良好。在水牛养殖中引入智能技术可以通过减少小牛损失，特别是通过使用性别鉴定精液出生的小牛的损失，以及通过快速解决难产来提高动物福利，从而有助于提高农场的总体净收益。需要进一步的研究来评估在更广泛的人群中实施远程产犊报警系统的水牛农场的净收益。
