Cow estrus detection system and cow estrus detection terminal

Abstract

To provide a cow estrus detection system that enables highly accurate detection of cows' estrus.SOLUTION: Provided is a cow estrus detection system 1 for detecting estrus in cows, comprising: a cow estrus detection terminal 10 that is fitted to the lumbar region of a cow being monitored for estrus and includes a switch 12 operated via another cow; a server device 30 that stores switch operation information on the operation of the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10; and a notification terminal 40 that informs the switch operation information stored in the server device 30.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a cow estrus detection system and a cow estrus detection terminal for detecting estrus in cows. [Background technology]

[0002] Mating of livestock cattle is generally carried out by artificial insemination. In order to improve the conception rate, artificial insemination of cattle must be carried out when the female cow is in heat, which is the time suitable for insemination. Therefore, when artificial insemination of cattle is used, it is important to find the state in which the female cow is in heat in order to improve the conception rate.

[0003] A known cow estrus detection system capable of detecting estrus in cows comprises a master radio connected to a host computer and a slave radio attached to the cow and transmitting the number of steps the cow takes measured by a walking sensor to the master radio (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] The cow estrus detection system described in Patent Document 1 detects changes in the cow's activity level by analyzing the measured values ​​of the cow's steps sent from the slave radio and received by the master radio in a host computer, and determines that the cow is in estrus if the activity level increases.

[0005] However, the cow estrus detection system described in Patent Document 1 may determine that a cow is in estrus even when the amount of activity of the cow increases for another reason without the cow being in estrus, and therefore may have a low accuracy in detecting estrus in cows. For this reason, there is a demand for further improvement in the accuracy of detecting estrus in cows in livestock farming sites aimed at breeding cows.

[0006] Meanwhile, in livestock farming sites where the purpose is to breed cattle, multiple cows are raised together. In a group of multiple cows, a cow that is in heat is in a state where it allows other cows to mount on it (standing). Since a cow that is in a state where it allows other cows to mount on it can be determined with high accuracy that it is in heat, by detecting the state where a cow is allowing other cows to mount on it, it is possible to detect the heat of the target cow with high accuracy.

[0007] As a device for detecting estrus in a target cow by detecting a state in which the cow is allowed to be mounted by other cows, an estrus indicator is known which has an indication layer that is visually identifiable on the epidermis of the target cow and a flat cord layer that is detachably fixed to the surface of the indication layer and which is fixed to the buttocks of the target cow (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

[0008] The estrus indicator described in Patent Document 2 determines that a cow is in estrus when another cow climbs over the cow and separates the flat cord layer, exposing the indicator layer. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 06-141385 [Patent Document 2] Special Publication No. 2004-536613 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] In order to improve the conception rate, the timing of mating cows by artificial insemination must be determined based on the time elapsed since the onset of estrus in cows. In addition, when determining the timing of mating cows by artificial insemination, the degree of estrus obtained based on the number of times other cows have been mounted is taken into consideration, thereby further improving the conception rate. However, the estrus indicator described in Patent Document 2 can detect that a cow has been mounted by exposing the display layer, but cannot obtain information regarding the time when the cow was mounted or the number of times it has been mounted, making it difficult to perform mating cows by artificial insemination at an appropriate time.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a cow estrus detection system and a cow estrus detection terminal that are capable of detecting estrus in cows with high accuracy. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] The cow estrus detection system of the present invention is a cow estrus detection system that detects estrus in cows, and comprises a cow estrus detection terminal that is attached to the waist of the cow whose estrus is to be detected and has a switch that is operated by other cows, a memory unit that stores switch operation information regarding the operation of the switch of the cow estrus detection terminal, and an alarm unit that alarms the switch operation information stored in the memory unit.

[0013] In addition, in the cow estrus detection system of the present invention, it is preferable that the switch operation information is the time when the switch is operated by another cow and the time when the operation of the switch by the other cow is released.

[0014] In the cow estrus detection system according to the present invention, it is preferable that the switch operation information is the number of times the switch has been operated by another cow.

[0015] In addition, it is preferable that the cow estrus detection system of the present invention is such that the cow estrus detection terminal has a main body, the switch is a push button arranged on the outer surface of the main body, and the push button protrudes outward from the outer surface of the main body.

[0016] In the cow estrus detection system according to the present invention, it is preferable that a portion of the push button that protrudes outward from an outer surface of the main body is made of a soft material.

[0017] Moreover, it is preferable that the cow estrus detection system according to the present invention comprises a terminal holding member that is attached to the body surface of the cow and holds the cow estrus detection terminal.

[0018] In addition, it is preferable that the cow estrus detection system of the present invention is such that the terminal holding member has a terminal accommodating section in which the cow estrus detection terminal is accommodated, and an attachment section extending outward from the outer periphery of the terminal accommodating section and being attached to the body surface of the cow.

[0019] In the cow estrus detection system according to the present invention, it is preferable that a recess capable of holding an adhesive is formed on the surface of the attachment part facing the cow's body surface.

[0020] In addition, the cow estrus detection terminal of the present invention is a cow estrus detection terminal that detects the estrus of a cow, and has a switch that is attached to the waist of the cow whose estrus is to be detected and can be operated by other cows. Effect of the Invention

[0021] According to the present invention, the switch of the cow estrus detection terminal can reliably detect when another cow has climbed on a cow, and the notification unit can notify the manager that another cow has climbed on a cow. This makes it possible to detect the estrus of cows with high accuracy, thereby improving the conception rate of cows. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic diagram of a cow estrus detection system according to one embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cow estrus detection terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a side view of a cow estrus detection terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a terminal holding member according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a side view of a terminal holding member according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 13 is a plan view showing another example of the terminal holding member of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] Figures 1 to 5 show one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a cow estrus detection system, Figure 2 is a plan view of a cow estrus detection terminal, Figure 3 is a side view of the cow estrus detection terminal, Figure 4 is a plan view of a terminal holding member, and Figure 5 is a side view of the terminal holding member.

[0024] The cow estrus detection system 1 of the present invention is used for breeding cows as livestock in the livestock industry. The cow estrus detection system 1 detects the estrus of a cow, which is necessary for determining the timing of cow mating by artificial insemination.

[0025] As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the cow estrus detection system 1 comprises a cow estrus detection terminal 10 which is attached to the waist of the cow to be detected for estrus and has a switch, described later, which is operated by other cows; a terminal holding member 20 for fixing the cow estrus detection terminal 10 to the body surface of the cow; a server device 30 which is connected to the cow estrus detection terminal 10 via a communication network N such as the Internet and acts as a memory unit for receiving and storing switch operation information regarding the operation of the switch transmitted from the cow estrus detection terminal 10; and an alarm terminal 40 which is connected to the server device 30 via the communication network N and acts as an alarm unit for alarming the switch operation information stored in the server device 30.

[0026] As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the cow estrus detection terminal 10 comprises a main body 11 formed in the shape of a hollow box, a switch 12 arranged on the outer surface of the main body 11, and a wireless communication unit 13 provided inside the main body 11 for transmitting switch operation information regarding the operation of the switch 12.

[0027] The main body 11 has a hollow rectangular parallelepiped shape with a longitudinal dimension of 65 mm, a lateral dimension of 28 mm, and a thickness dimension of 12.2 mm, for example.

[0028] Switch 12 is a push button that can be pressed, and is disposed on one side in the longitudinal direction on the outer surface on one side in the thickness direction. Switch 12 protrudes outward from the outer surface of main body 11. In addition, the portion of switch 12 that protrudes outward from main body 11 in the push button is made of a soft material such as polyurethane foam.

[0029] The wireless communication unit 13 is connected to the switch 12 and transmits radio waves including a switch operation signal related to the operation of the switch 12. The wireless communication unit 13 is connected to a network N via a wireless base station 14 as shown in FIG.

[0030] Here, the communication between the wireless communication unit 13 and the wireless base station 14 is preferably based on a communication standard for IoT (Internet Of Things). Specifically, it is preferable to perform the communication by an LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) communication method such as SIGFOX (registered trademark).

[0031] The terminal holding member 20 is a soft sheet-like member made of, for example, polyvinyl chloride, and is formed in a circular shape as shown in Fig. 4. The terminal holding member 20 has a terminal accommodating section 20a formed in the radial center for accommodating the cow estrus detection terminal 10, and an attachment section 20b extending radially outward from the outer periphery of the terminal accommodating section 20a in the circumferential direction and attached to the body surface of the cow.

[0032] The terminal storage section 20a is configured such that the surface facing the cow's body surface is concave and the opposite surface is convex, as shown in Fig. 5, at the radial center of the circular sheet-like member, so that the cow estrus detection terminal 10 can be fitted into the concave portion on the surface facing the cow's body surface. The terminal storage section 20a is also configured such that the concave portion on the surface facing the cow's body surface can be opened and closed by the lid member 21.

[0033] The attachment part 20b is attached to the body surface of the cow with an adhesive. The attachment part 20b has a plurality of linearly extending groove-like recesses 20b1 on the surface facing the body surface of the cow, each of which is capable of holding an adhesive. The terminal holding member 20 is fixed to the body surface of the cow by pressing the attachment part 20b against the body surface of the cow with the adhesive held in each recess 20b1 of the attachment part 20b.

[0034] The server device 30 stores switch operation information related to the operation of the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10 connected via the communication network N. Here, the switch operation information is the time when the switch 12 was operated by another cow, the time when the operation of the switch 12 by another cow was released, and the number of times when the switch 12 was operated by another cow.

[0035] The notification terminal 40 is, for example, a communication terminal such as a smartphone connected to the server device 30 via the communication network N. The notification terminal 40 has a display unit 41 formed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like, and is capable of displaying switch operation information stored in the server device 30 on the display unit 41.

[0036] In the cow estrus detection system 1 configured as above, the cow estrus detection terminal 10 is attached to the cross part of the waist of the cow to be detected for estrus. At this time, the cow estrus detection terminal 10 is fixed to the cow by attaching the attachment part 20b to the body surface of the cow with an adhesive while being accommodated in the terminal accommodation part 20a of the terminal holding member 20.

[0037] A cow equipped with the cow estrus detection terminal 10 allows other cows to ride on it when it is in estrus. Therefore, when another cow rides on a cow equipped with the cow estrus detection terminal 10 when it is in estrus, the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10 attached to the cross part of the cow is operated by the other cow.

[0038] Here, the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10 protrudes outward from the outer surface of the main body 11, and the part protruding outward from the outer surface of the main body 11 is made of a soft material, so the switch 12 can be operated not only by a force directly above, but also by a force obliquely above. Therefore, it becomes possible to reliably detect the state in which a person is riding on the cow to which the cow estrus detection terminal 10 is attached.

[0039] When the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10 is operated, the cow estrus detection terminal 10 transmits switch operation information. The switch operation information transmitted from the cow estrus detection terminal 10 is stored in the server device 30 via the wireless base station 14 and the communication network N.

[0040] The server device 30 in which the switch operation information is stored transmits the stored switch operation information to the notification terminal 40 at predetermined time intervals, for example, every eight hours.

[0041] The notification terminal 40 displays the switch operation information transmitted from the server device 30 on the display unit 41 .

[0042] This enables a user of the cow estrus detection system 1 to determine whether or not the cow to which the cow estrus detection terminal 10 is attached is in estrus, the timing of estrus, the degree of estrus, etc., based on the switch operation information displayed on the display unit 41 of the information terminal 40, and to determine the timing of artificial insemination of the cow.

[0043] Thus, according to the cow estrus detection system of this embodiment, the cow estrus detection system 1 detects estrus in a cow, and includes a cow estrus detection terminal 10 which is attached to the waist of the cow whose estrus is to be detected and has a switch 12 which is operated by other cows, a server device 30 which stores switch operation information relating to the operation of the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10, and an alarm terminal 40 which alarms the switch operation information stored in the server device 30.

[0044] This allows the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10 to reliably detect the cow being mounted by another cow, and the notification terminal 40 to notify the manager that the cow has been mounted by another cow, making it possible to detect the cow's estrus with high accuracy and improve the conception rate of the cow. Also, the small switch 12 attached to the cow's waist makes it possible to detect the cow's estrus, which reduces the burden on the cow.

[0045] In addition, it is preferable that the switch operation information is the time when the switch 12 is operated by another cow and the time when the operation of the switch 12 by the other cow is released.

[0046] This makes it possible to accurately detect whether a cow is allowing other cows to mount her based on the time when the cow was mounted and the time when the mounting ended, and therefore makes it possible to determine with high accuracy whether the cow is in heat or not. Also, based on the obtained time when the cow's heat started, it becomes possible to accurately determine the time to perform artificial insemination.

[0047] Also, the switch operation information is preferably the number of times that the switch 12 has been operated by another cow.

[0048] This makes it possible to obtain the degree of estrus of a cow by measuring the number of times the cow allows itself to be mounted.

[0049] In addition, it is preferable that the cow estrus detection terminal 10 has a main body 11, the switch 12 is a push button arranged on the outer surface of the main body 11, and the push button protrudes outward from the outer surface of the main body 11.

[0050] In this way, when the other cow comes into contact with the switch 12, the switch 12 is operated, so that it is possible to reliably detect the state in which another cow is riding on a female cow.

[0051] Moreover, the portion of the push button that protrudes outward from the outer surface of main body 11 is preferably made of a soft material.

[0052] As a result, even if another cow comes into contact with the switch 12 from diagonally above, the switch 12 is operated by the restoring force of the soft member, making it possible to reliably detect the state in which another cow is riding on a female cow.

[0053] It is also preferable to have a terminal holding member 20 that is attached to the body surface of the cow and holds the cow estrus detection terminal 10.

[0054] This makes it possible to easily fix the cow estrus detection terminal 10 to the cow by attaching the terminal holding member 20 to the cow.

[0055] It is also preferable that the terminal holding member 20 has a terminal accommodating section 20a in which the cow estrus detection terminal 10 is accommodated, and an attachment section 20b extending outward from the outer periphery of the terminal accommodating section 20a and being attached to the body surface of the cow.

[0056] As a result, since the attachment portion 20b extends to the outer periphery of the terminal accommodating portion 20a, it becomes possible to reliably fix the terminal holding member 20 to the body surface of the cow.

[0057] In addition, it is preferable that a recess 20b1 capable of holding an adhesive is formed on the surface of the attachment part 20b facing the body surface of the cow.

[0058] This makes it possible to attach the attachment part 20b to the body surface of the cow by the adhesive held in the recess 20b1, making it possible to reliably attach the attachment part 20b to the body surface of the cow.

[0059] Furthermore, according to the cow estrus detection terminal of this embodiment, the cow estrus detection terminal 10 detects the estrus of a cow, and has a switch 12 that is attached to the lower back of the cow whose estrus is to be detected and that can be operated by other cows.

[0060] This makes it possible to reliably detect when another cow climbs on a cow by using the switch 12 of the cow estrus detection terminal 10, making it possible to detect the estrus of a cow with high accuracy and improving the reproductive performance of the cows.

[0061] In the above embodiment, the switch operation information is transmitted and received via the communication network N, but the present invention is not limited to this. The switch operation information may be transmitted and received via online communication or a short-distance wireless communication method.

[0062] In the above embodiment, the notification unit is the notification terminal 40 such as a smartphone, but it may be, for example, a display of a personal computer connected to a communication network, as long as it is capable of notifying the switch operation information stored in the server device 30. In addition, the notification unit is not limited to a unit that displays the switch operation information as character information, and may be a speaker that notifies the switch operation information as audio information.

[0063] In the above embodiment, the attachment portion 20b of the terminal holding member 20 extends outward in the circumferential direction from the outer periphery of the terminal accommodating portion 20a, but is not limited thereto. As long as the attachment portion extends outward from the outer periphery of the terminal accommodating portion, it may extend outward from a portion in the circumferential direction, as shown in FIG. 6, for example. [Explanation of symbols]

[0064] 1. Cow estrus detection system 10 Cow estrus detection terminal 11 Main body 12 Switch 20 Terminal holding member 20a Terminal storage section 20b Attachment part 20b1 Recess 30 Server device 40 Notification terminal

Claims

1. A cow estrus detection system for detecting estrus of a cow, comprising: A cow estrus detection terminal is attached to the waist of a cow to be detected as being in estrus, and has a switch that is operated by other cows; A storage unit for storing switch operation information regarding the operation of the switch of the cow estrus detection terminal; a notification unit that notifies the switch operation information stored in the storage unit; Cow estrus detection system.

2. The switch operation information is the time when the switch is operated by another cow and the time when the operation of the switch by the other cow is released.

2. The cow estrus detection system according to claim 1.

3. The switch operation information is the number of times the switch has been operated by another cow.

2. The cow estrus detection system according to claim 1.

4. The cow estrus detection terminal has a main body, the switch is a push button disposed on an outer surface of the main body; The push button protrudes outward from the outer surface of the main body.

2. The cow estrus detection system according to claim 1.

5. The portion of the push button that protrudes outward from the outer surface of the main body is made of a soft material.

5. The cow estrus detection system according to claim 4.

6. The device includes a terminal holding member that is attached to the body surface of the cow and holds the cow estrus detection terminal.

2. The cow estrus detection system according to claim 1.

7. The terminal holding member is A terminal housing section in which the cow estrus detection terminal is housed; and an attachment part extending outward from the outer periphery of the terminal housing part and attached to the body surface of the cow.

7. The cow estrus detection system according to claim 6.

8. The surface of the attachment part facing the cow's body is provided with a recess capable of holding an adhesive. The cow estrus detection system according to claim 7.

9. A cow estrus detection terminal for detecting estrus of a cow, The device has a switch that is attached to the waist of the cow to be detected as being in heat and that can be operated by other cows. Cow estrus detection terminal.

Images