By Miriam Martin, 2019-2022 FFAR Fellow
Have you ever wondered what your dog or cat does when you’re not around? Our team at Kansas State University has the same question, but we wonder about cows. Unlike nanny-cams, which might work well to see if your new puppy is doing okay, cattle have evolved to stoically conceal when they aren’t feeling well in order to avoid predation. Precision animal monitoring technologies (think of a super-charged Fitbit) allow us to collect data on how animals are spending every second of their day. This unlocks a wealth of information about their behavior such as rumination and activity – yes, how many steps they are getting in – and can help us better monitor their health and well-being.