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Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System

The recent development of advanced electronic sensors to monitor and record animal grazing activity provides a real opportunity to facilitate understanding of their behavioral responses. This study aimed to characterize the grazing activity and protein–energy requirements of grazing dairy goats in a...

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Autores principales: Chebli, Youssef, El Otmani, Samira, Hornick, Jean-Luc, Bindelle, Jérôme, Cabaraux, Jean-François, Chentouf, Mouad
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9371207/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35957185
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22155629
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author Chebli, Youssef
El Otmani, Samira
Hornick, Jean-Luc
Bindelle, Jérôme
Cabaraux, Jean-François
Chentouf, Mouad
author_facet Chebli, Youssef
El Otmani, Samira
Hornick, Jean-Luc
Bindelle, Jérôme
Cabaraux, Jean-François
Chentouf, Mouad
author_sort Chebli, Youssef
collection PubMed
description The recent development of advanced electronic sensors to monitor and record animal grazing activity provides a real opportunity to facilitate understanding of their behavioral responses. This study aimed to characterize the grazing activity and protein–energy requirements of grazing dairy goats in a Mediterranean woodland in northern Morocco by combining two sensors, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and three axis accelerometers. An experiment was conducted in a representative woodland with eight dairy goats. Measurements were undertaken during the three main grazing seasons (spring, summer, and autumn) for two consecutive and contrasting years. Grazing activity parameters were assessed using GPS collars and leg position sensors. The results showed that grazing time was higher in spring (57% and 59%) than in summer (39% and 36%) and autumn (41% and 45%), respectively, for the dry and wet years (p < 0.001). During the two studied years, the daily horizontal distance traveled by the goats increased from spring (about 4.5 km) to summer (about 6.5 km) and autumn (about 7.4 km), while greater daily vertical distances were recorded over similar distances during summer–autumn. Several protein–energy intakes that were insufficient to cover the requirements of the grazing goats were recorded, especially in summer. The combination of GPS collars and accelerometers contributed to a better understanding of the grazing activities of dairy goats in the studied Mediterranean woodland. These findings provide useful data on the protein–energy balances of dairy goats and offer additional information that could be useful for herders and managers to enhance goat-feeding strategies and guarantee high-performance in the semi-extensive traditional goat farming system.
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spelling pubmed-93712072022-08-12 Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System Chebli, Youssef El Otmani, Samira Hornick, Jean-Luc Bindelle, Jérôme Cabaraux, Jean-François Chentouf, Mouad Sensors (Basel) Article The recent development of advanced electronic sensors to monitor and record animal grazing activity provides a real opportunity to facilitate understanding of their behavioral responses. This study aimed to characterize the grazing activity and protein–energy requirements of grazing dairy goats in a Mediterranean woodland in northern Morocco by combining two sensors, the Global Positioning System (GPS) and three axis accelerometers. An experiment was conducted in a representative woodland with eight dairy goats. Measurements were undertaken during the three main grazing seasons (spring, summer, and autumn) for two consecutive and contrasting years. Grazing activity parameters were assessed using GPS collars and leg position sensors. The results showed that grazing time was higher in spring (57% and 59%) than in summer (39% and 36%) and autumn (41% and 45%), respectively, for the dry and wet years (p < 0.001). During the two studied years, the daily horizontal distance traveled by the goats increased from spring (about 4.5 km) to summer (about 6.5 km) and autumn (about 7.4 km), while greater daily vertical distances were recorded over similar distances during summer–autumn. Several protein–energy intakes that were insufficient to cover the requirements of the grazing goats were recorded, especially in summer. The combination of GPS collars and accelerometers contributed to a better understanding of the grazing activities of dairy goats in the studied Mediterranean woodland. These findings provide useful data on the protein–energy balances of dairy goats and offer additional information that could be useful for herders and managers to enhance goat-feeding strategies and guarantee high-performance in the semi-extensive traditional goat farming system. MDPI 2022-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC9371207/ /pubmed/35957185 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22155629 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Chebli, Youssef
El Otmani, Samira
Hornick, Jean-Luc
Bindelle, Jérôme
Cabaraux, Jean-François
Chentouf, Mouad
Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System
title Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System
title_full Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System
title_fullStr Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System
title_full_unstemmed Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System
title_short Estimation of Grazing Activity of Dairy Goats Using Accelerometers and Global Positioning System
title_sort estimation of grazing activity of dairy goats using accelerometers and global positioning system
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9371207/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35957185
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22155629
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