LIVESTOCK BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A system for livestock breeding and management for use in a herd where each female animal carries a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, the system comprising:
- a herd management system; and
one or more breeding activity monitors to each be carried by a male animal, each breeding activity monitor adapted to;
(i) detect when the male animal is mounting a female animal based on the body position of the male animal;
(ii) read identification data from the RFID tag carried by the mounted female animal; and
(iii) generate breeding activity data including the identification data of the mounted female animal and timing data for each mounting for output to the herd management system,wherein the herd management system is adapted to process breeding activity data output from the one or more breeding activity monitors to generate herd management data.
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Abstract
A method and system for livestock breeding and management for use with a herd where each female animal carries a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The system comprises a herd management system and one or more breeding activity monitors to be carried by each male animal. Each breeding activity monitor is adapted to detect when the male animal is mounting a female animal based on the body position of the male animal, read identification data from the RFID tag carried by the mounted female animal, and generate breeding activity data including the identification data of the mounted female animal, mounting male animal and timing data for each mounting for output to the herd management system. The herd management system is adapted to process breeding activity data output from the breeding activity monitors to generate herd management data.
54 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A system for livestock breeding and management for use in a herd where each female animal carries a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, the system comprising:
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a herd management system; and one or more breeding activity monitors to each be carried by a male animal, each breeding activity monitor adapted to; (i) detect when the male animal is mounting a female animal based on the body position of the male animal; (ii) read identification data from the RFID tag carried by the mounted female animal; and (iii) generate breeding activity data including the identification data of the mounted female animal and timing data for each mounting for output to the herd management system, wherein the herd management system is adapted to process breeding activity data output from the one or more breeding activity monitors to generate herd management data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 26)
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7. A breeding activity monitor adapted to be carried by an animal for use in a herd where animals are provided with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, the apparatus comprising:
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a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag reader for reading identification data from an RFID tag secured to another animal in the herd; a mount detector to determine when the animal is mounting another animal based on the body position of the animal; a processor for processing the data from the RFID tag reader, processing data from the mount detector to generate breeding activity data including the identification data of the mounted animal and timing data for each breeding activity; and a communication interface to enable output of the acquired breeding activity data by an external device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for monitoring breeding activity in a herd where each female animal carries a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, the method comprising the steps of:
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attaching a breeding activity monitor to be carried by the animal to each breeding male animal in the herd; detecting by the breeding activity monitor attached when the male animal mounts a female animal based on the body position of the male animal; for each mount; reading identification data from the RFID tag of the mounted female animal; and generating breeding activity data including the identification data for the mounted female animal and timing data for the mounting, and; processing the breeding activity data output from one or more breeding data activity monitors to generate herd management data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27)
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23. A method for analysing breeding activity data to provide herd management data comprising the steps of:
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acquiring breeding activity data consisting of mounting data for a herd including for each mounting at least identification data for the mounted female animal and timing data; analysing the breeding activity data to determine one or more of; conception data for each female animal; birth date estimates for each pregnant female animal; male animal work rates; conception success rate data for each male animal; fertility and ease of impregnation data for each female animal; and offspring family data, and outputting the determined processing results as herd management information.
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24. A herd management system for analysing breeding activity data including mounting data including for each mounting at least identification data for the mounted female animal and timing data, the system comprising:
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an input interface adapted to enable at least breeding activity data to be manually or automatically entered into the system; a processor adapted to process the input breeding activity data to produce herd management data; a memory for storing breeding activity data and herd management data; and an output interface, wherein the processing of the breeding activity data provides herd management data including one or more of; conception data for each female animal; birth date estimates for each pregnant female animal; male animal work rates; conception success rate data for each male animal; fertility and ease of impregnation data for each female animal; and offspring family data. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification