User Guide V.14 – Oct 2012 English (UK) Information and Support Enquiries: Email: support@cowalert.com Tel: +44 131 541 2010 © IceRobotics Ltd 2012 Page 1 V0.
Contents 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................4 1.1 The origins of the IceQube and the CowAlert System............................................................4 1.2 Minimum System Requirements to view CowAlert................................................................5 2 Getting connected to CowAlert ......................................................................................
8.3 IceScore Mobility Historic Performance ...............................................................................31 8.4 IceQube Population ..............................................................................................................31 9 Site Information ............................................................................................................................32 9.1 User Settings ................................................................................
1 Introduction 1.1 The origins of the IceQube and the CowAlert System IceRobotics has been supplying animal science institutions worldwide with specialist behaviour monitoring solutions since 2005. Its IceTag and IceQube sensors are used by leading livestock researchers in over 20 countries to enable research into health, welfare and behaviour, principally in dairy cattle.
1.2 Minimum System Requirements to view CowAlert Using your unique User ID and password you can access CowAlert from anywhere there is a reliable internet connection and a modern web browser, whether that is the farm office or from the other side of the world. There is no software to be installed and all updates are automated so the most recent version will always be available. Accessing CowAlert through an internet broadband connection is preferred as this provides good speed and reliability.
2 Getting connected to CowAlert 1. You should have a modern internet browser (such as Google Chrome, Firefox 4, Internet Explorer 8 or Safari) installed on your PC or equivalent. 2. Ensure that you are connected to the internet 3. Open your internet browser 4. In the address bar, type this address and then press enter www.cowalert.com 5. You should now see this login screen: © IceRobotics Ltd 2012 Page 6 V0.
6. Click on Client login which will take you to the login page. 7. Enter your username and password and press Enter – this will take you to the Home Page of the CowAlert system for your farm. Your username and password are unique to you. Please do not share these details with others as they will then be able to make changes that may affect your data and therefore the effective functioning of the system. If however, you would like to authorise someone else to have access, please email support@cowalert.
3 CowAlert Home Page The Home Page allows you to access the different functions of the system – it is like a Table of Contents to direct you to where you want to go in the system. The functions are: • • • • • Animal activity graphs Heat alerts Health alerts if you have subscribed to receive them Average herd lying times IceQube management functions The illustration below provides an overview of the CowAlert front page. Click on your farm name on any page to come back to this front page.
Click on orange button to open up user profile options such as language selection and to logout. Other languages will be added as they become available. 3.2 Navigation Bar Details Separate sections will be covered in more detail below. The Dairy Farm Cow / IceQube: Search directly by Cow or IceQube number Help: Send an email to support@icerobotics.
3.3 Search for Cow or IceQube Numbers Search by Cow: Entering a number 1 shows all cows that have the number 1 in cow number Adding a second digit, in this case a 2, searches for the number 12 and displays all cow numbers with this number pair. Select the cow you wish to view and left mouse click to select, or enter a cow number and Use the same process to search for an IceQube number, using the IceQube field. © IceRobotics Ltd 2012 Page 10 V0.
4 Behaviour Graphs & Summary Information The behaviour graph page is divided into a graph and several tables. 4.1 Behaviour graph: Hours view The Hours activity graph provides more detailed information on the animal’s behaviour. This view is particularly useful when looking at heat events or suspected health anomalies.
4.2 Behaviour Graph: Multi-day view An example of a 30 day activity graph is shown below.
4.3 Behaviour Tables Several tables are shown on the screen along with the behaviour graph. Delete a cow by clicking here . Note that this will remove the animal from the cow list along with all its data. The data can not be recovered, so this function should be used with caution. Click on Edit to edit the Cow Number, Group or Eartag fields. Use Cancel to exit without saving. Summary information on the cow, including optional Group allocation and Eartag number.
4.4 IceScore Mobility IceScore is an optional paid-for subscription service subject to a free trial period during its validation phase. It provides an alert for animals that exhibit a change in mobility that is likely to be related to some sort of health issue such as lameness or mastitis. The example below shows an IceScore trace for a cow that was confirmed to have gone lame. IceScore identified a mobility issue Dairyman reported problem here, 2 or 3 days into the problem See also section 8.
4.5 Interpreting the graphs To assist in identifying unusual behaviour patterns it is useful to know the expected range of “normal” behaviours. Whilst this can vary between farms, the table below shows the typical ranges for Motion Index, Step Count and Lying Time. Behaviour Measure Motion Index Step Count Lying time Indoor 5000-10000 1000-3000 (generally around 1/4 of the Motion Index) 8-16 hours.
5 Heat Alerts 5.1 Viewing recent heat alerts and their associated behaviour graphs Heat alerts are shown in the left-hand table on the farm homepage. Click on any row to open the details of the highlighted alerts Use the Ignore button to cancel the Heat alert (eg if caused by a known event).
5.2 Viewing all Heat alerts A list of all cows and Heat alerts can be accessed by selecting Heats from the top menu bar. The table can be sorted Cow or Heat Start by clicking on the appropriate column heading 5.3 Note that the cows within a current AI time window are highlighted in yellow. See section 9.1 on how to set the AI window. Receiving Heat Alerts by email In addition to viewing heat alerts at any time via CowAlert, automated email messages can be sent to specific email addresses.
6 Lying Behaviour 6.1 Lying behaviour for the individual cow For the individual cow, CowAlert provides: • • • • • Cow-level: Graphical overview of lying time and average lying time (Activity graphs) Cow-level: Total Lying time per day, and as a 7 and 14 day average (table located below activity graph for the specific cow) and as a graphical view (Behaviour view option on Activity graph) Cow-level: Number of lying bouts each day. A lying bout is when a cow changes from standing to lying to standing.
Below is an example of a 90 day graph showing only the lying time plus 7 day average lying time. Hiding the Steps and MotionIndex from view clearly shows the lying pattern and lying time trend of this animal. © IceRobotics Ltd 2012 Page 19 V0.
