Association between a pyroelectric infrared sensor monitoring system and a 3-dimensional accelerometer to assess movement in preweaning dairy calves.

The objective of this study was to correlate movement assessed by a pyroelectric infrared sensor system in preweaning dairy calves with lying and standing time assessed by a 3D accelerometer considering the temperature-humidity index (THI). A total of 35 dairy calves (1-7 d of age) were enrolled in the study and 20 calves were included in the final analyses. The lying and standing time of the calves was monitored with a 3D accelerometer (Hobo Pendant G Data Logger, Onset Computer Corporation, USA), which was used as the gold standard reference. The infrared sensor monitoring system (IMS; Calf Monitoring System, Futuro Farming GmbH, Germany) was fixed to the fence of the calf hutch within the calf's reach. Temperature-humidity was monitored with 2 validated THI sensors inside and on outside of each calf hutch. Additionally, one THI sensor was located near the calf hutches. The observation period lasted 14 consecutive days. The average standing time assessed by the 3D accelerometer was 13.4 ± 12.7 (mean ± standard deviation) min/h and the average lying time was 46.6 (±12.7) min/h. The median (25th percentile; 75th percentile) number of movements measured by the IMS was 360 (60; 919) movements per hour. Number of movements per hour measured by the IMS was compared with data obtained with a validated 3D accelerometer. The Pearson correlation coefficient between both standing and lying time and the number of movements was r = 0.85 and r = -0.85, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficients were only slightly influenced by THI (low THI [<68]: r = 0.86; medium THI [68-72]: r = 0.85; high THI [>72]: r = 0.81). Our data show that the number of movements of dairy calves measured by IMS were highly correlated with the chosen gold standard reference method. High THI slightly affects the measurement accuracy of IMS.