Feed Intake

A GrowSafe Model 4000 Feed intake and Animal behavior system continuously monitors the individual feeding behaviors and intake of animals with minimal disruption to typical behaviors..

GrowSafe Model 4000E Feed Intake and Behavior Monitoring system capabilities include:

Proprietary GrowSafe ID technology - GrowSafe reads multiple transponders in close proximity and determines transponder orientation in a 2 D plane. The system reports the distance of the transponder relative to the back of the bunk, as well as the lateral location of the transponder. Location information is within 6 cm. accurate and can be sampled every second.

Unobstructed measurement of feed intake and feeding behavior - Neck bars can force isolated individual feeding - one animal from one trough - which provides absolute accuracy of individual animal intake data acquisition. By removing neckbars, multiple animals can feed from one trough simultaneously. When neck bars are removed, specialized GrowSafe software measures individual animal intake with a high degree of accuracy. Unobstructed measures ensures that trial data is collected under typical feedlot conditions - competitive feeding behaviors which impact feeding rates and daily intake are objectively measured.

Portability - The system has been designed in 'nodes' to enable multiple research configurations. The system can be used in feedlots and/or on pasture. One node to up to nineteen nodes can be bolted together as one system.

Accurate measurement and high volume data acquisition -GrowSafe feed intake nodes are sampled up to 8 times per second at a resolution of 5 grams providing detailed data:

• Duration and intake for every individual feeding event (feeding event criterion is user defined)
• Head down duration during the event
• Feed disappearance during the event
• Feeding rate throughout feeding event
• Animals standing at the bunk not consuming feed
• Grazing activity
• Time of the event
• Intervals between events
• Number of animals feeding simultaneously
• "Who feeds where" at the bunk within 6 cm. accurate
• "Who feeds besides who"
• The animal weight while feeding up to 250 gm accurate
• Feeding frequency over user selected time interval
• Automatic calculation of feed supply
• Individual bite sizes
• Number of bites within an event
• Feeding rates within a feeding event
• Animals seeking specific feed particles
• Force applied to the feed while taking bites
• Feeding patterns created by individual animals
• Daily Feed Intake

There are several other measurements such as head position, velocity etc. that will be enabled in future software releases.

Continuous Data Acquisition - GrowSafe continuously and automatically records every data sample to a computer hard drive which can be reviewed 'on the fly' and/or archived for later retrieval.

The main advantages of continuous data recording are:

• Data analysis is flexible, allowing a scientist to look at the data in many different ways.
• No data is lost - all events are automatically recorded
• Irregular events can be examined more carefully - micro-observations can be made within an event, interval and/or a study.
• Interstudy and intrastudy comparison are more easily enabled.
• Feed supply events and/or changes in load cell dynamics can be identified. Wind, trough cleaning, and feed supply are recorded by the system.

Back to top of page