Figure 2 Spikes in activity associated with heat cycles compared to days in milk - shows a typical screen shot from the control unit for an activity monitoring system showing data from a normally cycling cow. The x-axis show days in milk with the zero point being day of calving. The line showing daily activity is a result of readings from the neck or leg mounted activity monitor. It shows a sharp peak or spike when the cow comes into heat denoting increased activity. This spike is shown again approximately 21 days later. The cow would be a candidate for breeding 12-18 hours later. In this case if the cow has been bred and become pregnant there are no further sharp peaks in activity. If the cow had not been bred or been bred and not conceived one would expect another peak in activity to occur at approximately 21 days after the last peak.

Return to Factsheet 07-071 Pedometry to Improve Reproduction.