Ruminating in cattle is more than just a routine – it is a key physiological process that directly reflects the health status, welfare, and production efficiency of the animals. Changes in the time, frequency, or intensity of rumination often signal health disorders even before clinical signs appear. Since it can be difficult to detect these changes in time, in modern practice the use of technologies such as MooHero smart collars is increasingly reasonable, as they allow farmers to monitor cow behavior and act promptly to maintain herd stability.
Understanding the principles of rumination, monitoring behavioral patterns, and taking timely action when deviations occur are becoming an indispensable part of modern cattle farming practice.
Cattle usually consume or graze feed quickly, swallowing it without thorough chewing. The feed that has already been ingested is later thoroughly chewed, either while standing during milking or lying down at rest – this process is called rumination.
Rumination is a physiological process of mechanical digestion in ruminants, which takes place in separate, rhythmic rumination cycles, during which cattle re-chew already ingested feed thoroughly.
Rumination appears in young animals in the second to third week of age, when, in addition to milk, we start offering solid feed and fiber, which stimulate the development of the rumen and its microflora. The main purpose of rumination is the fundamental mechanical processing and thus the breakdown of fibrous feed, which increases digestibility. At the same time, saliva with bicarbonates is produced, which helps regulate the pH in the rumen and prevents the occurrence of acidosis, which significantly contributes to the health and efficiency of the digestive system.
A healthy cow has a highly organized daily rhythm that includes feeding, resting, ruminating, milking, and other activities. Each day it spends 4 to 6 hours feeding in 9 to 14 meals, during which it consumes 40 to 60 kg of feed. It ruminates between 7 and 9 hours, divided into 8 to 20 rumination periods, and lies down approximately 12 to 14 hours, usually divided into 11 lying bouts.
Characteristics of rumination in a healthy cow:
Reduced time and frequency of rumination not only affect the health and productivity of the animals but also have serious economic consequences. With a decline in rumination, the risk of disease increases, especially digestive and metabolic, and consequently, digestibility and feed efficiency also decrease. This is often reflected in a drop in milk yield, more difficult treatments, and longer recovery.
For this reason, a decrease in rumination is considered a warning sign that requires the farmer’s attention. While a healthy cow ruminates approximately 450–550 minutes daily, rumination time below approximately 400 minutes daily is considered a warning threshold. Such a decline often predicts diseases and infections, but it can also be the result of stressful factors or physiologically normal events such as calving and estrus.
It is generally known that rumination decreases already 12 to 24 hours before the clinical signs of disease appear, such as: malaise and loss of appetite, decline in feed intake and rumination, weakness, loss of condition, and a drop in milk yield. By monitoring the time and intensity of rumination, declines can be detected early, which also enables timely action.
A decline can also occur as a result of inappropriate handling of animals, sudden changes in the environment, or other stress factors – in these cases, it decreases by about 20%. Heat stress in summer is the most common reason for such deviation – rumination falls by 20 to 30% at THI values above 75, which seriously threatens the health and production performance of cows. A decline in rumination is characteristic at estrus (up to 24%) and calving (up to 27%). Drops in rumination are very common on the day of calving or just before it, then usually stabilize in the first hours after calving. If a cow does not start ruminating sufficiently soon after calving, this often indicates a risk or occurrence of postpartum complications such as hypocalcemia, metritis, or mastitis.
Factors Affecting Rumination Time and Intensity
Differences between individual animals can be very large, so monitoring rumination at herd level is less effective – it is more reliable to compare each cow with her own average values.
Modern technological systems such as MooHero smart collars allow continuous recording of behavioral parameters, thereby creating a behavioral profile of each animal. With every deviation from this personal pattern, the system can alert the farmer to a possible health problem even before the first visible (clinical) signs appear.
Monitoring rumination is also useful after the onset of disease, since the return of rumination to normal levels is a good indicator of the success of treatment and the general recovery of the animal.
Rumination in cattle is closely related to overall health and welfare. Any disorder that affects appetite, movement, comfort, or well-being of the animal almost always results in a change in the rumination rhythm.
The most common and at the same time the most undesirable causes of decline are diseases, infections, and injuries. Compared to other factors, they represent the greatest health, production, and economic threat, as they often lead to complications, prolonged treatment, reduced production, and higher costs.
The most common disease conditions associated with reduced rumination include:
The dynamics of rumination can differ between diseases. Some diseases can be consequences of reduced rumination, such as acidosis. In certain conditions such as injuries, infections, mastitis, hypocalcemia, and bloat, rumination decreases sharply or even stops completely in a very short time. In other cases such as ketosis, metritis, moderate metabolic disorders, or chronic diseases, the decline is gradual and harder to detect without precise monitoring.
With advanced MooHero technology, today we can monitor the duration, frequency, and distribution of rumination and quickly detect both sudden and gradual deviations that could otherwise remain unnoticed.
Maintaining stable rumination is the basis of health, metabolic balance, and successful milk production. The key to this is proper nutrition, hygiene, animal welfare, and control of environmental conditions.
Modern solutions allow continuous recording and early detection of deviations even before visible signs of disease appear. This way the farmer can act in time and avoid health complications and economic damage, while maintaining the health and productivity of the herd.
Every cow tells more than we think – if we know how to listen. MooHero does it for you – quietly, precisely, and every day.