Earlier than the milking robot – Managing herd health with smaXtec
Are you still relying on an automatic milking system for early disease detection? Then you often only notice illnesses like mastitis when it’s already too late. With smaXtec, you are right on time.
Cell count rising? – With smaXtec, you stay ahead of the curve!
smaXtec detects health changes not only when milk yield drops, conductivity changes, or cell counts rise, but before any clinical symptoms appear. While automatic milking systems observe the animal externally, a crucial aspect for comprehensive health monitoring is missing: insights inside the cow. This means you act preventively, not reactively – resulting in healthier animals, fewer losses, and noticeable savings.
Koen van Steen, Netherlands, 162 cowsWe weren’t really looking for a system. We already had some data from the milking robots, but we often reacted only when the cow was already ill or if something was already wrong. And in my opinion that wasn’t preventative enough.
An elevated body temperature is often the first immune response in cows. smaXtec continuously measures this gold standard of preventive health management – the internal body temperature – directly in the rumen with exceptional accuracy (± 0.01 °C). This allows the earliest possible intervention and effective reduction of disease costs.
Paul Doble, United Kingdom, 95 cowsThis reduces the vet’s bill on antibiotics, but it is also easier in the milking parlour because we are not dumping milk or having to separate milk.
Earliest possible detection, comprehensive management
In addition to early disease detection, the system offers many other benefits in managing your dairy cows’ health!
Only smaXtec offers:
- Concrete suspected disease alerts including probability via TruAdvice® technology (e.g. mastitis, ketosis, milk fever)
- Notifications for calving
- Precise heat detection
- Monitoring of dry cows
- Seamless integration with automatic milking systems from leading manufacturers
David Tait, United Kingdom, 110 cowssmaXtec gives you time to take action on a cow before you would have clinically seen her with your eye. Particularly mastitis you would generally get a temperature alert two days before you would see any sign in the milking parlour of reduced yield or cruds in the milk.
Dry cows fully under control
Another key advantage over automatic milking systems: With smaXtec, you not only monitor your lactating cows but also your dry cows. Each cow receives its own bolus, which adjusts individually to the animal and records the health status of each cow. This way, you can detect mastitis at the earliest possible stage.
We also keep a close eye on your cows during the critical calving period. Notifications about 15 hours before calving ensure a smooth process, and continuous monitoring immediately after calving means you are always one step ahead of diseases like milk fever. Thus, you can ensure a good start to lactation. “We have peace of mind knowing that smaXtec is working away in the background and that the system will pick up on unwell animals that may have been missed during milking or over the housed period”, confirms Anne Marie Ryan from Ireland.
The earliest possible disease detection not only safeguards the health and performance of your herd but also saves time and money.
Would you also like to start managing the health of your herd preventively? We would be happy to advise you in a non-binding initial consultation!
